Platinum miners made "real gains" in strike

Platinum miners have achieved "real gains" in the settlement signed yesterday, says Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town.

Archbishop Makgoba, who joined other church leaders in maintaing contact with both parties during the strike, issued the following statement today:

"I want to congratulate AMCU and the platinum mining companies on settling the strike.

"The negotiations and the strike have been tough and drawn out, but negotiation has triumphed. Although democracy is messy and complex, it creates a more secure atmosphere for harmony and collaboration in the longer term.

"The union and its members can feel satisfied they have achieved real gains - for now and the future - on the best terms available. The managements can feel that a more equitable deal for their workers will help to secure labour peace in the future."

An Appeal for Renewed Prayer for Platinum Miners

Please join us in renewed prayer at this delicate stage of consultation and negotiation to end the dispute in the platinum mining industry: 

RENEWED PRAYER FOCUS ON THE PLATINUM MINERS' STRIKE

We continue to pray in this week after Pentecost Sunday

For the spirit of truth to prevail in resolving the dispute in the platinum mining industry

And that God will guide and lead the labour union, AMCU, and the mining houses to reconciliation.

We pray for the parties to return to the talks and find lasting solutions to the social and wage problems they face at this time.

May each put themselves in the shoes of the other and move forward together for the sake of the common good and the safety of all, especially the employees.

Lord, we are confident that there is a solution, that a compromise can be found, and that these will be attained.

The journey has been long, Lord, and each party has flexed its muscles but now each has to help carve out the way forward as they return to the collective bargaining table.

Lord you are creator and owner of all that there is: mines, minerals and all your people, employer and employee,

Act now, Lord, through these so that your glory may be revealed,

For your name's sake,

Amen

 +Thabo Cape Town

To the Laos – An Invitation to Hear the Archbishop of Canterbury - May 2014

To the Laos – To the People of God, May 2014

Dear People of God

In just over a month’s time, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd. Justin Welby, will be visiting Johannesburg as one of the stops in a series of visits to Primates across the Anglican Communion.

His initial purpose was to visit Lungi and me as part of a “getting to know you” trip to a number of African archbishops. However, wanting to share our time with Archbishop Justin with our bishops, their spouses and at least some clergy and lay people from around the Province, we asked him also to give the keynote address to the Anglicans Ablaze Conference and to join a dinner with the bishops, and he generously agreed.

Anglicans Ablaze will take place from July 2 to 5, and I warmly encourage you to join the conference. In particular:

• All our clergy are invited to join me and all our bishops;

• You are urged to bring a team along – including young people;

• Parishes, please help with fund-raising; and

• Please announce this invitation from the pulpit.

To help the organizers with their planning, I urge you to book early. For details, go to: www.anglicansablaze.org or call 021 763 1315 / 021 797 9997. If you are from Gauteng, and you simply cannot make it to the whole conference but want to hear Archbishop Welby, please call the organisers to register for a shorter visit. If you are from outside Gauteng, never fear: we will be inviting the Archbishop for a formal visit to the whole Province just as soon as he can accommodate us in his schedule. 

Talking of archiepiscopal visits, by the time you read this I will be on my way to the Diocese of Zululand for a visit during which, among other things, I will be blessing the diocese’s new Mothers’ Union Hall and Skills Centre – a great achievement. We congratulate the MU, Bishop Dino, his Chapter and the whole diocesan family on this milestone.

Then, later in June, I am asking for your prayers as I visit northern Mozambique, where we will consecrate the Ven. Manuel Ernesto as the new Bishop Suffragan of Niassa on Saturday June 14 and commission him at a celebration on Sunday June 15. We congratulate the Diocese at being able to elect their new bishop.

Back in South Africa, please continue to pray for the Diocese of Mthatha and the candidates who offered themselves for election as suffragan bishop in the recent election. Sadly the Diocese was unable to elect and after seven ballots they have used their right to refer the matter to the Synod of Bishops.

Still in South Africa and on an ecumenical note, I ask every parishioner to soak theMarikana area in North-West Province in prayer. A human disaster is unfolding there as a consequence of the crippling strike, and the hardship will continue even after the strike is settled. Together with ecumenical and academic leaders in Gauteng, I have joined an appeal for food donations for the Marikana community. If you are outside Gauteng, you can make donations to the Provincial Disaster Relief Fund. Details of how to donate appear below.

Finally, do join me, the Province and the Diocese of Niassa in praying – as we will pray at the consecration of Bishop Suffragan-Elect Manuel Ernesto – that “by the indwelling of [God’s] spirit he may grow in holiness and serve [God’s] people in wisdom, truth and love.”

God bless you,

+Thabo Cape Town

Marikana appeal:

Food parcels can be donated at:

1. Gift of the Givers (call toll-free 0800 786911 for details)

2. SkyNet courier branches anywhere in South Africa

3. All campuses of the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand

4. Khotso House, 62 Marshall Street, Johannesburg

5. St George’s Cathedral and Anglican Church Warehouse, 12 Plantation Road, Wetton, Cape Town

6. Alternative Information and Development Centre, 129 Rochester Road, Observatory, Cape Town

7. St Alban’s Cathedral, Frances Baard Road, Pretoria

Further drop-off points will be announced on the Gift of the Givers website: www.giftofthegivers.org

Monetary donations can be deposited in this account, using "Marikana" as the deposit reference number:

ACSA Disaster Relief Fund

Standard Bank of SA Ltd

Thibault Square

Branch code: 02 0909 00

Account number: 07 007 8394

A Prayer for Platinum Miners

A Prayer for Platinum Miners

Lord, we have travelled this journey before,
We have seen and tasted death, anguish and despair,

Lord, we are still mourning and grieving,
We are still searching for the full truth about Marikana.

Lord, we cannot go there again,
We can't kill and maim to sustain inequality,
Nor can we allow the fight for equality to kill others.

Lord, there is something amiss in this economic system and we know it.
Help us to uphold the dignity of all involved in the current dispute,
Give us the courage to stand for all, especially for the miners,
Let us hold before us a vision of fairness and accountability as we pursue what makes for peace.

May owners, investors and shareholders feel the pain and longing for peace,
May workers and mine-owners find one another,
May further hurt, pain and killings be averted, and
May politics serve the people for the sake of peace.

Amen

Anglicans Unite in Outrage, Prayer for Schoolgirls Kidnapped in Nigeria

London (ACNS) - Primates from countries including Brazil, New Zealand and South Africa have joined the worldwide outcry the abduction of more than two hundred young girls from Chibok, Nigeria.

Over the past week Church leaders on five continents have added their voices to the multitude of others calling for the safe return of the girls.

Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Thabo Makgoba condemned abductions of Nigerian Schoolgirls as an 'outrage'. He called for "all of Africa, and especially South Africa" to rise up and demand the release of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted from their school three weeks ago.

Primate of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, Francisco da Silva issued a lengthy statement condemning the “terrible act”.

“It was with a heavy heart that the Brazilian people, along with the rest of the world, learned of the kidnapping of over 200 young girls in Nigeria, at the hands of extremist group Boko Haram,” he wrote. “Many of us, especially in the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, have remembered the girls, their families, and the Nigerian people with prayers, tears, and compassion during this time.

“Nigeria, like so many countries, has of course had its trying and difficult times as a multi-religious society – but it is in times of difficulty like these that we set aside our differences, and stand together—in solidarity, in demanding peace, and most importantly, demanding the safe return of these young women. Not simply a return to their families – but their return to the lives they knew, their ability to go to school and be educated, to have a better future, and to be beautiful, active members of a future Nigerian society.”

Canadian primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz called the Anglican Church of Canada to pray for the situation in Nigeria, “The group behind the schoolgirl kidnappings, Boko Haram, and its declared intention ‘to sell them in the market’ is appalling. It is an abomination against internationally held human rights, and an absolute affront to the efforts of many nations to honour the Millennium Development Goals to empower women and young girls through a good education.

“I am asking Anglicans to offer prayers of special intent in the coming weeks with people of all faiths who are appalled by these crimes,” he added.

The Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of New Zealand called on people to pray for the release and protection of the 200 schoolgirls. Anglican Archbishops Philip Richardson and Brown Turei, and Roman Catholic Archbishop John Dew said this Sunday is an opportunity for churches across the country to pray for, and so stand with governments and churches across the globe, wanting a safe return of the young women.

Primate of the Episcopal Church the Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a statement that the Church was “horrified” and what was taking place. “The unfortunate truth is that girls and women are still deemed dispensable in much of the world, or at least of lesser value than members of the other sex,” said the Presiding Bishop. “The necessary response is education – of girls and boys, in equal numbers and to an equal degree, that all might take their rightful place in societies that serve all their citizens with equal respect and dignity.

Calling what happened “an atrocious and inexcusable act” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said, “My prayers and thoughts go out to the young people and their families at this upsetting time. I appeal to those who have taken these schoolgirls to release them immediately and unharmed.

"This is in a part of Nigeria I have visited and in a country whose people are close to my heart. Let your hearts be open in compassion and mercy to those who have suffered so much.” - Anglican Communion News Service

King Letsie III Renews Family Ties With Bishopscourt

King Letsie III of Lesotho renewed family ties with Bishopscourt going back more than 150 years when he paid a courtesy call on Archbishop Thabo and Mrs Lungi Makgoba in Cape Town on May 2.

He had visited Bishopscourt previously, but said he learned for the first time on this visit that two of his ancestors - the younger sons of King Moshoeshoe I, Tlali and Tsekelo - had studied there. He had known they had been educated in Cape Town, he said, but not that they had been at Bishopscourt.

Tlali and Tsekelo were among the sons and daughters of southern African leaders, among them Maqoma and Sandile of amaRharhabe, who were taken to Cape Town in the late 1850s as part of a project of the British colonial authorities.

They received an education at Bishopscourt in an institution which was first established at the residence of the first Bishop of Cape Town, Robert Gray, and which later became Zonnebloem College in District Six.

According to a history of Zonnebloem College by Janet Hodgson, Gray described the aim of the Cape colonial governor, George Grey, in starting the school as being "That England might exercise, through means of an institution which conferred great benefits upon them, her due influence over the native chiefs around us, and at the same time give a high education to those who are likely to influence the destinies of the various tribes within our reach."

For his part, Robert Gray hoped that the students might become "witnesses for Christ to their fellow-countrymen, and, if we qualify them for the work, as schoolmasters, catechists, and we trust also, even as ordained ministers".

Bishop Gray also said the aim of the initiative had been to bring the students into "contact with the highest intelligence and the most striking proof of England's power, and of the advantages of civilization to be got in this country".

PHOTOS by Shaun Cozett: Top, Archbishop Thabo and King Letsie III; Middle, the Archbishop and the King with Mrs Lungi Makgoba; and the King's delegation with Archbishop and Mrs Makgoba and Bishopscourt chief of staff, the Rev Margaret Heyns.