In Cape Town, Pippa Hudson of the radio station Cape Talk interviewed the Archbishop on the role that St George's Cathedral played and continues to play in South Africa's democracy. The Cathedral has launched a campaign called Under One Roof to raise money to replace the tiles on its roof.
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
"Hear the cries of the poor and marginalised"
Remarks prepared by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba for an Anti-Xenophobia Rally at the City Hall, Cape Town on April 22, 2015:
Thank you, Cosatu, for the initiative you have taken in bringing us together.
After the attacks of 2008 on migrants from other parts of Africa, we hoped that we had seen an end to xenophobic conflict in our country.
But more than five years on, the tension has erupted again.
People are dying again.
And now we are seeing the ominous threat of counter-attacks from people who say they can no longer sit and wait to be killed.
Today, we are here of course to condemn xenophobic attacks.
To say: Enough is enough!
To say: Cut it out! This is not ubuntu!
To say: Foreigners are God's people too! All foreigners, not just those from Africa!
And we are here to express our condolences with the families of those who have been killed, and our sympathies with those who have been injured.
But we must go beyond that – way beyond that.
Firstly, we must condemn the irresponsible talk of those South Africans, whether leaders from public platforms or ordinary citizens on social media, who fan the flames of violence.
Secondly, we must go beyond condemnation. We must come up with long-term solutions.
Thank you, Cosatu, for the initiative you have taken in bringing us together.
After the attacks of 2008 on migrants from other parts of Africa, we hoped that we had seen an end to xenophobic conflict in our country.
But more than five years on, the tension has erupted again.
People are dying again.
And now we are seeing the ominous threat of counter-attacks from people who say they can no longer sit and wait to be killed.
Today, we are here of course to condemn xenophobic attacks.
To say: Enough is enough!
To say: Cut it out! This is not ubuntu!
To say: Foreigners are God's people too! All foreigners, not just those from Africa!
And we are here to express our condolences with the families of those who have been killed, and our sympathies with those who have been injured.
But we must go beyond that – way beyond that.
Firstly, we must condemn the irresponsible talk of those South Africans, whether leaders from public platforms or ordinary citizens on social media, who fan the flames of violence.
Secondly, we must go beyond condemnation. We must come up with long-term solutions.
Monday, 20 April 2015
Call for action against xenophobic violence
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has called on Anglicans and other people of faith to join acts of public witness this week against xenophobic violence.
He appealed to the people of Cape Town and Gauteng to join:
“Please join me in your numbers,” he asked Anglicans and other South Africans.
“Please pray for an end to xenophobia and for tolerance. Let us be voices of reason, acknowledging the anxiety and desperation which leads to attacks on foreigners.
“Let us look at sustainable ways of removing the conditions which cause these attacks, and each commit ourselves to one act of witness to change the situation.
“We need not fear the future,” he concluded. “During the season of Easter, we celebrate that God in Christ Jesus has overcome sin and death. ”
After issuing a statement on the violence last week, the Archbishop planned this week to join high-level initiatives, including walks of witness against xenophobia in affected areas in Gauteng.
In meetings he held last week with clergy and their spouses, as well as directors and staff of Church children's homes, they shared with me the xenophobia they observed among people they ministered to – including learners and workers – and supported his call for tolerance.
He appealed to the people of Cape Town and Gauteng to join:
- A service at 12 noon on Tuesday April 21 at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town, and a silent vigil on the steps of the Cathedral at 1 pm, organised by the Western Cape Religious Leaders' forum;
- A civil society anti-xenophobia rally at 6pm on Wednesday at the Cape Town City Hall, organised by Cosatu;
- A march in Johannesburg at 1pm on Thursday, beginning at the Peter Roos Park, Empire Road, and ending at Mary Fitzgerald Square in the city, arranged by the People’s Coalition Against Xenophobia & Friends.
- A “One Million March Against Xenophobic Attacks” beginning at 9am on Friday April 24 at the Pretoria City Hall and ending at 11am at Union Buildings in Pretoria. The Archbishop will join Mrs Graça Machel, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Prof. Pitika Ntuli as a speaker.
“Please join me in your numbers,” he asked Anglicans and other South Africans.
“Please pray for an end to xenophobia and for tolerance. Let us be voices of reason, acknowledging the anxiety and desperation which leads to attacks on foreigners.
“Let us look at sustainable ways of removing the conditions which cause these attacks, and each commit ourselves to one act of witness to change the situation.
“We need not fear the future,” he concluded. “During the season of Easter, we celebrate that God in Christ Jesus has overcome sin and death. ”
After issuing a statement on the violence last week, the Archbishop planned this week to join high-level initiatives, including walks of witness against xenophobia in affected areas in Gauteng.
In meetings he held last week with clergy and their spouses, as well as directors and staff of Church children's homes, they shared with me the xenophobia they observed among people they ministered to – including learners and workers – and supported his call for tolerance.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
'Foreigners are God's people too' - Archbishop Thabo
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town has added his voice to calls for an end to the current outbreak of xenophobic violence.
He issued the following statement in Cape Town today. A slightly shorter audio version of the statement, sent to radio stations, follows below the text version:
After the attacks on African migrants in South Africa were ended in 2008, we hoped we had seen the end of xenophobic conflict in our country.
But more than five years on, the tension has erupted again, people are dying again and now we are seeing the spectre of revenge attacks from migrants.
Foreigners are God's people too and deserve the dignity and protection we enjoy. This is not ubuntu, it is painful and deeply regrettable.
I join my colleagues in the churches and other religious leaders in calling for an end to the attacks, in calling for restraint on all sides and in sending our condolences to the families of those who have died.
Friday, 10 April 2015
Archbishop Makgoba calls for "creative, society-wide" campaign for change
Archbishop
Thabo Makgoba called on Friday for the energy behind
campaigns for the removal of colonial and apartheid-era statues to be harnessed "into rigorous self-examination
and action to expand the current campaigns into a creative,
society-wide drive for real transformation."
He was responding in Cape Town to the removal of a statue of the British colonial politician and empire-builder, Cecil John Rhodes, from a central position on the campus of the University of Cape Town. Its removal followed a vigorous student-led campaign which became defined by its Twitter hashtag, #RhodesMustFall.
Archbishop Thabo said in a statement:
"The campaign against symbols of the injustice of our past, along with service delivery protests and public outrage over corruption, reflect the anger of South Africans at the inequalities that continue to plague us.
"From students to unemployed youth on the streets, from the middle-classes to women struggling to make ends meet in township homes, South Africans are tired of our collective failure to improve all our people's lives for the better.
"We must harness the energy being poured into protest into rigorous self-examination and action to expand the current campaigns into a creative, society-wide drive for real transformation.
"The churches, along with government, business and educational institutions, must all join this, the new struggle for equality of opportunity."
He was responding in Cape Town to the removal of a statue of the British colonial politician and empire-builder, Cecil John Rhodes, from a central position on the campus of the University of Cape Town. Its removal followed a vigorous student-led campaign which became defined by its Twitter hashtag, #RhodesMustFall.
Archbishop Thabo said in a statement:
"The campaign against symbols of the injustice of our past, along with service delivery protests and public outrage over corruption, reflect the anger of South Africans at the inequalities that continue to plague us.
"From students to unemployed youth on the streets, from the middle-classes to women struggling to make ends meet in township homes, South Africans are tired of our collective failure to improve all our people's lives for the better.
"We must harness the energy being poured into protest into rigorous self-examination and action to expand the current campaigns into a creative, society-wide drive for real transformation.
"The churches, along with government, business and educational institutions, must all join this, the new struggle for equality of opportunity."
Sunday, 5 April 2015
Listen to the Archbishop's Reflection for Easter 2015
Archbishop Thabo reflects on today's Gospel reading, Mark 16:1-8, after a quick survey of how each of the Gospel writers describes the scenes at Jesus' tomb after the Resurrection.
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