Once again the month of April has teetered to an end leaving behind a trail of celebrations associated with the freedom of the South African people from the colonial and apartheid rule – freedom that also represents the aspirations of the Southern African region and indeed of Africa as a whole.
For the first time in 1994, those who were disenfranchised by human design had the opportunity to cast their ballot and put in office a democratically elected a government of their own choice led by the former President Nelson Mandela – a world icon who, many others of his generation and younger, led the struggle for the emancipation of all South Africans.
For the Christian community, in particular, who also commemorated the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, April served as a reminder that Jesus Christ came into the world precisely to offer himself as a sacrifice for the redemption of humanity as a whole. Through his death on the Cross which three days later was followed by his resurrection from the dead, humanity was freed from sin, ignorance and death.
Because nothing forbids us from tapping into the wisdom, understanding and interpretation of human freedom from the perspective of the legendary Mr. Nelson Mandela – who himself became the First President of the freed and democratic South Africa, we do so by reflecting from his Presidential Inaugural Speech:
“Let there be justice for all Let there be peace for all Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all…”
Guided by the pernicious history that was lined with malice, evil and prejudice where people denied others the opportunity to experience justice and peace, Mandela correctly understood that the dawn of freedom was the negation of that history.
Further he understood that once people are freed from such history, they will access work, bread, water and salt as the basic resources offered by freedom and liberation.
Far much earlier before Mandela could say this, Jesus Christ himself pronounced that:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; Because he has anointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners (captives), And recovery of sight for the blind, And to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18)
From this excerpt we emerge with knowledge that freedom means a disengagement from suffering, pain and restraint. It is an offering that provides the space for anyone to live in fullness.
This country has all the possibilities to provide its citizens with such fullness. However, because it has people and leaders who still subscribe to the tendencies of greed, self-centredness and abuse, it is failing to unlock its potential to offer freedom in fullness to its citizenry.
That we still have people in this freedom who go to bed without “work, bread, water and salt” is not an exaggeration of anything. While others celebrate the fact that this freedom has brought to them jobs in high offices, huge salary packages and ownership of many houses and farms, we still have those who live in squalor and are without shelter and access to sanitation. We still have children and infants who walk to school on foot for long distance, those who learn under trees and are even without text books.
Eighteen years into this freedom, it can no longer be justified why the delivery of basic social services takes so long to reach the poor.
It baffles the mind and defies simple logic that a construction of a mere 10km road that leads to my grand-mother’s village, Dithabaneng, has not been completed after work had started four years ago. Several meetings held with government officials have yielded nothing as villagers watch daily a community project intended to improve their lives apparently gone wrong. In their helplessness, they have resigned to fate for our freedom has failed to liberate them. They are simply forgotten and will be remembered later when some politician would turn them into an election fodder. At the least, this is very painful.
On an occasion such as this, where to others freedom still represents neglect and exclusion, Jesus Christ teaches us how to pray:
“Give us this day our daily bread…”
It appears the poor hold title to this bread because they are taught to name it “our” bread. Further the provision of bread has to be a “daily” feed – opening room for failure on the part of God to provide. This prayer also makes it clear that those who deny the poor of bread are not the custodians of this resource for it belongs to God from who it is asked in this prayer.
Leaders all over the world are put in charge of God’s resources and there must never be time when this role gets translated to mean that they own these resources.
A girl gang-raped, a woman emotionally-abused, a child drugged with illicit substance, school children roaming the streets in school uniform, a police arrested for robbery, hospital failing to provide medicine, an informal trader removed from their trading post, a pastor exploiting congregants, are all indicative of a nation yet to be free.
Let us rise and be counted among those who will be determined to advance the cause of the poor, the vulnerable and the excluded.
February 2012
In a prayerful manner and dictated to by the strong statements of faith, the South African Council of Churches joins the entire Christian family in South Africa, Africa and the world over to celebrate and observe the Lent Season. We are confident as we enter the Ash Wednesday (22 Feb.) that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we shall walk the full mile through the forty days and nights to emerge with a renewed faith and strength of purpose on Easter Sunday (08 Apr.).
Lent is a season characterized by prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial. It is a period through which our communication with God remains constant and consistent – seeking to amend and correct our ways of relating to him. It is a time through which we deny ourselves privileges and luxuries that are intended to reward self rather than serving the other. Throughout Lent we submit ourselves wholly to God and allow Him the space to lead, guide and guard our lives.
In our resolve to take care of the weak and the vulnerable, we need to reflect also of individuals and nations in the world who are devastated by war, violence, conflict and strife. Our role is to share peace with those circumstances have excluded them from love. As we deprive ourselves of a delicious meal, we do so in remembrance of those who starve and are denied food and drink.
The SACC dedicates this Lent Season to the Palestinian people who suffer repression and exclusion. These are people who know no peace and their children are denied the opportunity to appreciate love, to be loved and to love their neighbor(s).
This dedication goes for the Libyans as well, the Sudanese, Syrians, the people of Afghanistan, Egyptians, Zimbabweans, and many others in the world who are deprived justice.
We further call upon all South Africans to use this Lent to pray for the redemption of our country, the recovery of our humanness and the values that affirm us as the People of God. Our desire to be restored as a nation must become a prayer priority so that those who are corrupt and live in perpetual temptation can be delivered.
All churches are urged to hold special services of worship from the 04 March to 08 April focusing on the following themes:
Prayer
Penance
Repentance
Almsgiving
Self-denial
The following readings are recommended:
Genesis 9:8-17
2 Cor. 5: 20, 6:10
Mat 6:1-6, 16-21
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15
Ps. 119: 9-16
Ps 51:1-17
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
Ps. 118:1-2, 19-29
Ps 25:1-10
1 Cor. 1:18-25
Mark 9:2-9
Is. 50: 4-9a
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 2:13-22
Ps. 31:9-16
Ps 22:23-31
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 3:14-21
Ex. 12:1-14
Ex. 20: 1-17
Philippians 2:5-11
John 12:20-33
Ps. 116:1-2, 12-19
Ps 19
1 Cor. 11:23-26
Mark 14:1-15;4
Numbers 21:4-9
Mark 15:1-39
Ps. 107:1-3, 17-22
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
JANUARY 2012
“TEACHERS TEACH and LEARNERS LEARN”
Acts 8:26-40, reference on 30 and 31
In this commonly read text, Phillip was sent by GOD through an Angel to reach out to the Ethiopian eunuch – a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians - who was travelling from worship in Jerusalem back home. His struggle was READING a text which was filled with LIFE and yet couldn’t understand. Philip initiates a conversation with him and this is in part how it goes:
30. Philip said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31. And he (eunuch) said, “Well, how could I unless someone guides me?”
This brings me to the theme of this message: TEACHERS TEACH and LEARNERS LEARN.
From this conversation and the willingness by both parties to carry out their respective responsibilities, GOD’s objective to save the eunuch was achieved and eventually through baptism he belonged to the LORD.
This model of relationship extends well to teachers and learners in class. As learners struggle with the reading material in search of saving knowledge, teachers must be there for them to guide and encourage. It must always ring in the minds of teachers that without them interpreting and analyzing knowledge, learners, like the eunuch, will always find it a struggle to understand.
Similarly, it remains primarily the responsibility of learners to take the initiative to learn and struggle through the knowledge material in order to demonstrate the willingness and readiness to learn. This attitude then encourages the teachers since they will realize the learner to be a willing partner. As the saying goes, “it takes two to tango…” For education to thrive both the learner and teacher must play their roles to the fullest.
In this way the South African Council of Churches (SACC) joins the rest of the country in great anticipation as schools re-open and children grabbing the opportunity to be taught, learn and acquire the necessary knowledge that will improve their lives and save them from destitution.
Over years the Church has always been an accompaniment in matters of education which is life-giving. This is because through education communities learn sound values upon which the human view of life is sharpened. Through education leaders are produced and society acquires skills to turn living conditions into better experience. South Africa stands to become even more of a better nation provided we take education seriously and invest all our resources in ensuring that children access it.
Equally, our role on the continent of Africa and the world will be enhanced and made even much more visible provided children of this nation are helped to go through a sound, balanced, well-resourced and competitive education system.
As the year of teaching and learning begins, we appeal to all parents to ensure that their children are fully registered for school. In cases where children stay by themselves, orphaned or neglected, we plead with churches, neighbors and other welfare community organisations to take responsibility and ensure that no child is left out of school.
It is very disheartening that we have children in this country who live on the streets and are without care and support. It is a growing culture that demands of society to make the necessary interventions.
We similarly implore on all teachers to defend the right of these children to learn by committing themselves to effective teaching. Over the years we have seen how some teachers would neglect their responsibilities to teach only to blame it on the children when they later fail. Teachers are parents, leaders and guides.
Their vocation is endowed with the high responsibility that children in South Africa do not continue to live in ignorance and backwardness but are able to join the demands of the competitive world to make their contribution as equal world citizens. This is a noble responsibility second to none and teachers must carry it out with honour.
As it has been said time and again, no amount of teaching and parental accompaniment will ever produce results if learners are themselves not ready to learn. It has to be drilled in the mind of our children to take their own education seriously by using all the resources of time, mind and effort to learn and be teachable. Success is driven by the energy and willingness to fight back all temptation and distraction that cause delay in life.
Obviously the Department of Education has to carry out its responsibility of ensuring that material resources are made available. Unlike in Limpopo Province where it is reported that there are no books at schools as the Department of Education failed to order stationery and textbooks on time, government has the sole responsibility of ensuring that the environment of learning and teaching is highly equipped with the required resources. Scholar transport, feeding programmes, grants for norms and standards must all be made available so that nothing is used against our resolve to produce an educated nation.
We wish all learners, teachers and parents a very fruitful and successful year of learning and teaching; knowing that knowledge liberates fully. Let us later converge at the end of this year to celebrate real success and not mediocrity.
The Rev. Mautji Pataki
2011 GS Messages
Christmas Message from the GS
“The Spirit of the Lord is with me. He has anointed me To tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me To announce forgiveness to the Prisoners of sin And the restoring of sight to the blind, To forgive those who have been shattered by sin, to announce the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Luke 4:18-19
Fellow believers, we have now come full cycle and have arrived at a point where the celebrations of the redeeming birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ have begun in earnest. We sense and see the mood of celebrations all over the streets, in our homes, cities, towns and villages. It is a birth in the history of the Christian faith that is responsible for having saved the world from what loomed large as a potential human catastrophe. Without Christ, the people of God could have perished in sin – both of omission and commission.
Human character has a way to drift away from God’s prescribed ways and in this way committing a sinful act. This is because once we are a distance away from God we tend to love ourselves more than Him. We get drawn into selfishness while despising others. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ heralds a new and saving beginning where as the Prophet Isaiah puts it,
“The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow.” Is.9
As we celebrate this birth we must resist the temptation to engage in those activities that add darkness and death to our lives. We must refuse to remain a people led by darkness and evil because the opportunity to live in light and to walk away from death is presented to us.
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is awake to the fact that there are some people who would use this time to destroy their lives and those of us through reckless and negligent driving which in many cases end up in fatal motor vehicle accidents. Our roads are forever painted in blood because we fail to respect each other, fellow motorists and the law that seeks to guide and lead us. In this way we deny many families the joy that comes with Christmas because this is the time when many children who because of the migrant workers system live without their parents and only get to see them.
Christmas must be defined by the presence of organised worship, joy and noise that seek to glorify God. Excessive intake of alcohol, illicit drugs and other intoxicants militates against this spirit. This is because those who engage in all this end up initiating acts of abuse and violence against others. Him born on this day decried suffering that is caused by one on another. He advocated peace that is found in the knowledge of God.
Let us therefore use this time to remember, prayerfully, all those nations and individuals who experience war, famine and neglect. Their experience hurts Christ’s mission among the people of the world.
We have to be of one mind with the Lord Jesus Christ when he talks about the vulnerable groups whom he has come to save from the strong forces of the world responsible for their misery. Our calling is to embrace one another in the spirit of unity and allow God’s Spirit to lead our ways and direct our intentions.
South Africa is one such nation where people are still divided based on material accumulation and class. The most vulnerable continue to groan in their loneliness and weakness. The powerful, on the other side, look the other way and feel detached from the suffering of their fellow citizens. This is not the environment conducive to receive the Lord who calls us to repentance and we seek his face.
The Church must rise to the occasion and lead the processes of national reconciliation. Those who cry for land must be accorded land according to the principles of sharing and caring for one another. Those who crave for food and for shelter must be listened to and be afforded the opportunity to cut their slice in this competitive economy. The poor cannot continue to experience death when the rich and the affluent live in opulence...and we are made to believe that there is nothing wrong with the system.
For Christ to restore sight to the blind is to move us out of the misery of illiteracy and the poverty of education. As we celebrate him, let us be mindful that there is a throng of our people who live and are without decent educational facilities. There must be a deliberate effort to advance education as a defence in the world where the uneducated are despised and rejected. Every child must therefore be provided with an opportunity to be in school and to be supported throughout without dropping out of school. This is adding sight to the blind.
Similarly, access to health is part of Christ’s historic mandate. He comes into our lives so that we may “have life and life in abundance”. What Christ advocates is life without need. Our hospitals, clinics and other facilities that are designed to provide good health must be equipped in such a way that this purpose is not defeated. Life in abundance must be translated into a happy life. This is how our Lord Jesus Christ has to be celebrated.
Those who turn Christmas into a festival to display wealth and opulence, materialism and social class contradict the very nature and character of he whose birth took place in a manger, at a small village of Bethlehem in Judea. Whereas he was a King, he wasn’t born in the comforts of Kings. Whereas he was a Master, his birth was announced to the shepherds far away from Herod and those in his league. His own mother could not find maternity space in the Inn. It was a humble birth and yet the most powerful the world has ever seen.
SACC wishes you a happy Christmas filled with joy.
Nov-Dec 2011 The much awaited COP17/CMP7 has started in Durban and listening to some of the delegates, it is quite important that much must be done in order not to prolong the debate but rather find solutions to a challenge that threatens the demise of the world including human life. On the positive is the spirit of determination to fight by those who represent even poorer communities. The powerful still has to say something to energise the passion and anxiety already displayed by the weak.
For its part, the SACC invites all Christians to pray for the success of these discussions. It must not happen that on our very soil in Africa, powerful nations take decisions about our own demise. This is because it is factually recorded that those who emit lethal gases more than anyone else are not the African nations. We need to call upon God to guide the talks so that humanity could be saved.
The SACC released a small liturgical booklet, "The Healing of Creation: Climate Change, COP17 and beyond" to inspire worship services all across the country in search of God's solution that is clearly beyond human capability. The booklet is a resource which would be found in churches and Provincial Councils' offices for easy reading and reference.
There are also extensive documents on CD roms which will also be accessible through our website to serve the same purpose as that of the booklet. Our determination is for all Christians to join this struggle of saving what God gave to us as a gift to be in charge of. We can only become good stewards if we save water, recycle plastic and tin, preserve the soil, and purify the air. These we do by planting more trees in our environment while urging communities including children not to litter.
I am hopful that each one of us would do something in our own environment to ensure that this campaign becomes a success and mother nature saved.
October 2011
On Climate Change:
From where many South Africans and I sit, we have come to observe that the momentum for our country to host COP17 is gaining huge grounds.
We hear even in the corridors of government through the pronouncements of the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation that South Africa is indeed ready to host the world as its descends on Durban in Kwazulu-Natal to hold the 17th International Conference of Parties on Climate Change.
Our challenge as South Africans and indeed Africa is to confront the question, “what will make COP17 different from all the other 16 that went through much earlier hosted by other countries and nations?” In other words, at the end of this Conference, what is it that the world could show to demonstrate the willingness and the readiness of the powerful to share good life with the weak and the less influential in our societies. These are pertinent questions behind which lay answers for the redemption or destruction of the planet earth.
Over time, we are told, heavy industrialization and technological advancement by countries of the North and West has led us to this near calamity through the works of carbon emission and energy resources. This is because those among the multi-nationals and corporate who persistently pursue capital and profit at the expense of the poor have now posed serious danger to how the environment is supposed to feed and to take care of humanity.
It is in God’s original plan and intention that the air, the waters, minerals, soil and many other natural sources are meant to sustain human life than destroy it.
So the question that begs the attention of the Church and indeed the SACC is “how does climate change connects with the gospel of Jesus Christ”? In an effort to give answer to this question a lot has been done by theologians in a variety of presentations. Whereas Paul refers to the “groaning creation”, David refers to “the earth as belonging to God with all in it…”. The writings of the Genesis also refer to how God appointed human beings to be stewards of creation, not to spoil it but to preserve it. So, this puts it beyond question how the gospel would relate to issues of environment.
Several consultations have been organized by the ecumenical organizations including All Africa Conference of Churches, Fellowship of Eastern and Southern Christian Councils, Ecumenical Justice Network, Southern Africa Faith Communities Institute and many others who on certain occasions work with the relevant government departments and NGOs.
Our appeal therefore is for member churches and Christians in general to participate in all manners possible to make this conference a success. In small cells and communities, Christians are encouraged to pray for both the environment and the talks that will be taking place in Durban so that they go far to reach the objective which is to save both the environment and people.
These prayers must be sustained and theologically sound. They must call for action on the part of the part of those with the responsibility to design appropriate policies to save the earth, environment and the people from apparent calamity.
People are invited to attend the rallies, demonstrations and lobby groups that will be taking place in Durban as from the 27th November to 04th December, this year. There will be a rally about which detailed information will be given. Similarly an Interfaith service whose particulars would also be later related.
The intention of this message is to galvanise youth, women and everyone else including clergy and Church Leadership to take the lead and make COP 17 work out in the favour of the people who suffer more.
Without any doubt, the celebration of Workers’ Day, the 1st of May every year in South Africa must be understood equally as the celebration of the vital role the ecumenical movement played in the struggle for the recognition of the dignity of the workers. After eighteen years of democracy in South Africa, the National Planning Commission, with many other commentators in public life, acknowledges the good our land has hitherto achieved, while it also Read More >>
Come Celebrate! was published to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the South African Council of Churches in 1993. It consisted of two books in one volume. The first, written by Rev. Bernard Spong, then head of the SACC's Communications Department, is a brief account of the Council's first 25 years. The second, by the head of the SACC's Faith and Mission Unit at the time, Rev. Cedric Mayson... Read More...
Mission Statement
The SACC works for moral reconstruction in South Africa, focussing on issues of justice, reconciliation, integrity of creation and the eradication of poverty and contributing towards the empowerment of all who are spiritually, socially and economically marginalised.
Vision Statement
G A L L E R Y P H O T O S
The SACC as part of the Body of Christ is a communion on a pilgrimage promoting Justice, Dignity and the Fullness of Life
S O U T H A F R I C A N C O U N C I L O F C H U R C H E S
BREAKING NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Reflections on Workers’ Day – May 2012
Author: Rev. Dr. Vuyani Vellem
Director - Centre for Public Theology
University of Pretoria
Celebrating May Day in the Midst of an ‘e-tolling Jesus’
Matthew 20: 1-16
Without any doubt, the celebration of Workers’ Day, the 1st of May every year in South Africa must be understood equally as the celebration of the vital role the ecumenical movement played in the struggle for the recognition of the dignity of the workers.
After eighteen years of democracy in South Africa, the National Planning Commission, with many other commentators in public life, acknowledges the good our land has hitherto achieved, while it also recognizes that there is still more that needs to be done to improve the lives of the millions of our people. Workers’ Day is thus part of the broad celebration of our achievements in our land, indeed the bright sun that shone since 1994 after centuries of oppression.
One thing certain, South Africa is different today—of course not different from any of the African countries—but different from what it was destined to be, as a construct of the colonial and apartheid ponderings of the past. We must never take this country back to that past.
08 May 2012 at Khotso House Chapel,
SACC National Office starting at 10h00.
The Consultation will be attended by Church Leaders, beneficiaries of the SACC, partners and Provincial Councils. Agenda: The State of SACC, its Challenges and Possible Solutions. We ask for the public and churches to pray for this Consultation.
South African Council of Churches
Khotso House, Johannesburg
30/04/2012
Media Statement SACC Mourns the death of Former Minister Sicelo Shiceka
The South African Council of Churches receives the news on the death of the former Minister of Co-operative Governance, Mr. Sicelo Shiceka with deep sadness and a sense of loss.
As we uphold his family in prayers and we also wish the nation could come to terms with his passing on. We thank God for his life and his availability to have served the nation.
May his soul rest in peace.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki
General Secretary
e-Tolling - SACC Official Statement
Khotso House, Johannesburg
Press Release
26 April 2012 SACC welcomes government’s announcement to postpone the implementation of e-tolling in Gauteng.
The South African Council of Churches welcomes the government’s decision to put on hold the implementation of the e-tolling system in Gauteng Province as a courageous step in the right direction on how to take seriously the concerns raised by citizens on this matter.
We call on both SANRAL and the Department of Transport to consult on a re-designed a model of funding that will not burden motorists and other road users who are already overstretched.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary
Featured Article on e-Tolling - Have Your Say
e-Tolling
Submitted by Pastor Harry Heydon Senior Pastor – Peniel Ministries South African
IFP: COVER-UP ON E-TOLLING PROJECT REMINISCENT OF PRE-1994 TACTICS
It is absolutely UNTHINKABLE.......!!! IFP: COVER-UP ON E-TOLLING PROJECT REMINISCENT OF PRE-1994 TACTICS
The IFP said today that it was shocked to learn the real reasons behind government's push to ensure the controversial Gauteng e-tolling project succeeds It is reported today, that the Public Investment Corporation – an investment manager for state institutions - has bought R17 billion in SANRAL bonds. 89% of this investment is made-up of the Government Employees Pension Funds.
SACC Parliamentary Officer appointed to African People's
Charter for Climate Justice Interim Committee
The SACC deems it a privilege for Revd. Keith Vermeulen to have been appointed to the Interim Steering Committee continuing work on the draft African People's Charter for Climate Change.
Within the Interim Committee, Revd. Vermeulen will work closely with the Peoples Budget Campaign sectors - COSATU, SACC and SANGOCO - in order to advance further discussion on the Charter to be available for the Rio+20 Earth Summit, 20-22 June 2012. The draft Charter is based on principles of the rights of nature that emerged from Cochabamba Summit 2010.
The Interim Steering Committee will seek to further develop the Draft prior to discussions with other communities working for climate justice and mitigation of climate change. The South African Council of Churches is committed to listening to and including the voices of African indigenous communities - the Cape Khoi, Nama, Griqua, Korana and San - within the draft Charter.
The draft Charter emerged from discussions on climate change held with different communities throughout South Africa aboard on the Climate Train before, during and after COP 17 in December 2011.
The Climate Train was a project of climate change awareness run by South Africa's Environmental Agency, Indalo Yethu.
South African Council of Churches
Khotso House, Johannesburg Press Statement
25 April 2012
SACC Welcomes the Report on Press Regulation in South Africa
The SACC welcomes the recommendation by the Press Freedom Commission (PFC) to have a co-regulated press by both the media and members of the public. The exclusion of government from this model is highly appreciated while the involvement of the public will give the Press Council of South Africa (PCSA) more credibility.
The SACC further commends the PFC for having taken into consideration the protection of children in its formulation of the Press Code. No country in the can be respectable and honoured unless it takes care of its children and the more vulnerable.
It is reassuring that those who will continue to violate the Press Code and act in all manner that negates the constitutional rights of citizens will be punished. We are an agency that supports accountability of the press and this recommendation gives us hope that the situation in the press room will improve so that the people are God are served with the dignity they deserve.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary
South African Council of Churches
Khotso House, Johannesburg
Press Statement for Media Release
23 April 2012
SACC tackles Financial Literacy in partnership with Financial Services Board.
Tomorrow, Tuesday the 24 April, the SACC in partnership with the Financial Service Board (FSB) will launch the Consumer Financial Literacy Programme at Khotso House – SACC Head Office in Johannesburg. Proceedings which will be addressed by among others, the General Secretary of SACC and the Executive Officer of FSB will begin at 10h00 followed by a Press Conference at 11h30.
The focus of this partnership will be the rolling-out of sustainable, educational programmes to empower communities with information on financial matters. This will enable communities to make sound and informed decisions on how to use their finances including the importance of savings in a financial environment where the economic system consistently breeds poor people.
While educating consumers about good financial stewardship, we shall also lobby and advocate for good ethical practices within the financial institutions, calling them to promote and reaffirm the positive and ethical values, uphold the culture of honesty, truth-telling when marketing their products, urging them to adhere to moral integrity when conducting their business and showing compassion to their clients.
Both SACC and FSB will use the partnership to instil similar values in the life of the Church through training and public campaigns. The output and outcomes of the programme will improve the spiritual growth of participants and their relationship with money. Training will be conducted by several professionals relevant to the programme.
At the ultimate, the programme will:
give priority to the needs of the poor,
work for social, economic and political justice and
ensure that we create a safe sustainable environment for people to exercise
their economic rights.
educate communities to make informed decisions on financial matters in particular on occasions of death and bereavement.
To educate people to desist from unnecessary expenditure during bereavement.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki
General Secretary
South African Council of Churches
Khotso House, Johannesburg
Press Statement for Immediate Release
SACC Outraged by the Gang Rape of a Soweto 17 Year old Girl 18 April 2012
The South African Council of Churches finds the gang raping of a 17 year old girl in Soweto to be an outrageous and despicable incident that calls for outright condemnation from all sectors of our society. We are angry and worried that this society continues to give birth to people who have no regard for the sacredness of human life as God’s gift.
How else and what more should we say about these people in our society whose lifestyle is shaped by violence and brutality – people who trample upon others’ human dignity, rights and freedom to the extent of making mockery of our constitutional liberties.
We call upon the church community in Soweto and all over the country to go on an offensive and refuse criminality a space within society. Freedom Day, the Church is called upon to occupy streets in solidarity with those whose freedoms are denied and organize at the local level. Until prayer dominates our lifestyle, it will be hard to clean our streets of people who are bent of making it difficult for others to enjoy their freedoms and liberties.
Released by the Office of The General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki
General Secretary
South African Council of Churches
Khotso House, Johannesburg
Press Statement
16 April 2012
Ban on Liquor Adverts
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is both concerned and shocked at the seemingly malicious intention of those who already leak and pre-empt the discussions on the content of the Control of Marketing of Alcoholic Beverages Bill as a way of swaying the public to influence the process which is still at a drafting stage. The Business Day headline, “Battle looms over shock move to ban liquor ads” is a case in point.
We are aware how highly contested and emotional the issue of controlling advertisement of alcohol is and would therefore encourage South Africans to act in a more responsible manner and allow the bill to be presented for public comments before engaging its content.
In as much as there would be those who are interested to raise the social, moral and ethical questions, there would also be those who raise economic and political issues. And unless, the discussion is allowed to take a particular focus which will be prescribed to us by the bill, the so-called “looming battle” remains illusory and misleading.
At the ultimate we will, as South Africans, have to receive the bill, apply our minds and correct those ills that come up with the high consumption and excessive advertisement of alcohol in our society.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki
South African Council of Churches Khotso House, Johannesburg 21 March 2012
Human Rights Day in South Africa - SACC Press Statement
This year marks the eighteenth year since our country got its liberation from the colonial apartheid rule. With this liberation and freedom came the adoption of the Democratic Constitution with a chapter on the Bill of Rights which primarily promotes and protects the citizens’ human rights.
More than being legal, human rights are God-given rights. They promote equality of God’s people before the law and indeed before God. They emphasis the universal truth that all people are created by God and therefore are to be treated as equals without any form of discrimination and injustice.
Authors: Emily Mnisi and Helen Vale Co-Clerks of Central and Southern African Yearly Meeting, (C&SAYM), 2012
Reflections on Human Rights – March 2012
Here are a few reflections on the concept of human rights taken from Living Adventurously (2009) compiled by Quakers in Southern and Central Africa as a way to capture in words our experiences, witness and insight from living our faith in this region which we are sure that Christians from all churches in Southern Africa will be able to relate to as we ponder the significance of Human Rights Day in South Africa
Author: Rev Dr Frank Chikane Former General Secretary of the SACC
REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS – A FEELING OF HOPE BUT FEAR OF DISAPPOINTMENT!
“They gave to anyone as he had need” Acts 2:45
The State of the Nation Address by President Jacob Zuma came at a historical moment of joy and celebration of the 100th anniversary of the African National Congress (ANC) – an anniversary that spoke to extra-ordinary men and women who took a stand that they would not let the dehumanisation, oppression and exploitation of the people of God continue without end.
They called on all Africans to unite against the odds (tribal, language, regions, distances, racial laws, and others) to resist the injustices perpetrated against them. Pursuant to this the ANC was formed in January 1912 at the little Wesleyan church in Mangaung (Bloemfontein). From there on many generations of South Africans sacrificed their lives, their professions and possessions; many were detained and tortured; some spent many years in jail and many others were forced into exile, for the freedom of our people and for justice to be done.
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY
Khotso House
Press Statement: SACC PRAYS FOR FORMER PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA’S RECOVERY
The South African Council of Churches wishes the former President Nelson Mandela a speedy and full recovery after having learnt that he took ill recently.
Released in JOHANNESBURG on 25 February 2012.
Rev. Mautji Pataki SACC General Secretary
“Break the grip of poverty, inequality and jobless growth” Submission to the Portfolio Committee on Labour for its Strategic Review 2012
Challenging injustice through the courage of faith
The South African Christian community through the SACC, SACBC and other several ecumenical agencies join the other parts of the Church in the world to remember the Israeli/Palestinian people in their celebration of the 8th International Israeli Apartheid Week starting from the 5 -11 March.
Our participation in this Week is influenced highly by our own history of struggle and suffering in South Africa for over many decades when the values of justice, peace and love were suppressed in the interest of apartheid, division, exclusion and conflict. We found through the teachings of the Gospel how these values formed the core of Christ’s ministry.
It is only regrettable that the voice of the Church against injustice in our society is highly weakened today. It is an observation that South Africans have made with a desire now rekindled to resuscitate the voice of prophesy.
As this reflection is made on the life of our own nation in South Africa, many of you will remember that Israel remained the single supporter of apartheid when the rest of the world implemented economic sanctions, boycotts and divestments to force change in South Africa.
Our brothers and sisters in Palestine have made a call in this regard, that we should question what kind of regime Israel is. And to this, after many debates and exchanges, the answer is that it shared and continues to share a similarity with the old South Africa in implementing apartheid where all non-Jews of Palestine are discriminated against, displaced of their land and homes, and subjected to refugee camps and a permanent state of violent military rule.
Today the Palestinians cry out to the world and to God, saying:
How long, O God, will they steal our livelihood? Oppress, imprison and humiliate our people? Deprive our children of their childhood? Indeed how long, God, will the multitudes of Christians of the world ignore the anguish of our Palestinian sisters and brothers and all of the oppressed?
From South Africa we are called to repent of this ignorance and oblivion we have shown. We are called to return to the way of truth, community in humanity and speak out from the podiums to the mountain tops. We are called to tell the truth and join in prayer, in the pursuit for justice, peace and love in their land.
In their Kairos Document, similar to the one South Africans put to the world in the 1980s, Palestinians say:
Our question to our brothers and sisters in the Churches today is: Are you able to help us get our freedom back, for this is the only way you can help the two peoples attain justice, peace, security and love? Israeli Apartheid Week
We urge all South Africans and the Church in South Africa to join in the Awareness Campaign that over 100 Universities in the world including those in our country are engaging in during what is called Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW): 05 – 11 March 2012
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events (including rallies, lectures, cultural performances, film screenings and multimedia displays) held -by ordinary people- in cities, communities, churches and campuses across the globe.
IAW seeks to raise awareness about Israel's apartheid policies towards the Palestinians and to mobilize support for the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Last year IAW was incredibly successful with over 90 cities worldwide, and 9 universities in South Africa, participating in the week’s events. We now urge churches in South Africa to join in collective intercession for Freedom in Palestine before the Israel Apartheid Week takes place in different parts of the World. On the 4th of March we will join in collective prayer to bring Palestine to God our Father.
The South African Council of Churches has designed a Worship Liturgy which is obtainable on the SACC website and from all our Provincial and National Offices. Our contact person is Ms. Dudu Masango contactable through dudu@sacc.org.za ; (011) 241 7800/3.
We hope and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that this effort will be possible.
We thank you all in anticipation of your passionate and positive response to this call and participation in Israeli Apartheid Week.
God bless you
Revd. Mautji Pataki Bishop Revd. Dr Jo Seoka General Secretary President
We believe that every human being is created in God’s image and likeness and that every one's dignity is derived from the Almighty. We believe that this dignity is one and the same in each and all of us. This means for us, here and now, in this land in particular, that God created us not so that we might engage in strife and conflict but rather that we might come and know and love one another, and together build up the land in love and mutual respect .
In the absence of all hope, we cry out our cry of hope. We believe in God, good and just. We believe that God’s goodness will finally triumph over the evil of hate and of death that still persist in the land of Palestine. We will see here "a new land" and "a new human being", capable of rising up in the spirit to love each one of his or her brothers and sisters.
Gracious God our Heavenly Father, Creator and sustainer of each human life,
we give you thanks and praise for your gift to us of your only Son, Jesus Christ -- His birth in Bethlehem, His ministry throughout the Holy Land, His death on the Cross and His Resurrection and Ascension. He came to redeem this land and the world. He came as the Prince of Peace.
We give thanks to you for every church and parish in the country that is praying with Palestine this day for peace. Our Holy City and our land are much in need of peace.
In your immeasurable mystery and love for all, let the power of your Redemption and your Peace transcend all barriers of cultures and religions and fill the hearts of all who serve you there, of both peoples - Israeli and Palestinian - and of all religions.
In the land you made holy, free us all from the sin of indifference, contempt and violence which only brings hatred and killing. Free the souls and hearts of Israelis and Palestinians. Give liberation, freedom and dignity, to the people of Gaza who live under trials, threats and blockades. Guide the leaders in that land; purify their minds and hearts, to become true servers of their peoples. Speak your word of love for all to hear, guide them to justice in all lands, grant them power to proclaim your reign, bridge the gaps that divide and unsettle them and let your Kingdom come.
All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, barrier breaker and sharer of our humanity. and in the power of the Holy Spirit, who prays in and with us all. Amen
Church Leaders and Members of the Kwazulu-Natal Christian Council Executive Committee;
Heads and Representatives of other Ecumenical Agencies;
Representatives of Inter-faith formations and Communities;
The Honourable Speaker and Other Members of the Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Legislature;
Government Officials and their Representatives at all levels;
Representatives of Political Parties and Traditional Leadership;
Business;
Distinguished Guests;
Fellow South Africans;
I take this opportunity, first, to thank very much the leadership of the Kwazulu-Natal Christian Council under the Chairmanship of Bishop Mike Vorster, the Ecumenical Secretary Dr Douglas Dziva and their team of able organisers for having found it fit, necessary and perhaps even appropriate that I be invited to share this informative evening with the rest of you.
I use this opportunity further to bring you greetings from the South African Council of Churches on whose behalf I stand here tonight to share with you some thoughts around the Church and State relations which I am certain you are aware is an ancient debate that refuses to resolve for as long as it relates to the contested issue of human power and authority.
Tackling a subject, therefore, as exciting and perhaps even as challenging as this, I might just need to introduce the discussion by tapping into the Pauline literature to the Roman congregation where he authoritatively writes,
“Every person should obey the government in power. No government would exist if it hadn’t been established by God. The governments which exist have been put in place by God. Therefore whoever resists the government opposes what God has established.”
And of course the Apostle proceeds in an instructive tone that, “Those who resist (government) will bring punishment on themselves.” ...
SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES-(EAPPI) CALLS FOR ALTERNATIVE TOURISM TO THE HOLY LAND
The Kairos call from Palestinian Christians to Churches around the world: Come and see. We will fulfil our role to make known to you the truth of our reality, receiving you as pilgrims coming to us to pray, carrying a message of peace, love and reconciliation. You will know the facts and the people of this land, Palestinians and Israelis alike. At the same time we call on you to say a word of truth and to take a position of truth with regard to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.
For decades, millions of Christians have journeyed to the Holy Land and returned home without even realising that their pilgrimage was missing something very important; face-to-face human encounters with those who share their faith. Palestinian Christians continuous presence for more than 2000 years in the land of Christ’s life, death and resurrection gives them a unique connection to Christianity and its traditions.
A true Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land is an invitation to “come and see”; a journey to find new and deeper truths about ourselves and the meaning of our Christian faith and be transformed so that we may test and approve what is the will of God, what is good and well pleasing and perfect.
In most of the time, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the oppression this brings to their daily lives is not well understood and is often obscured in the media and by powerful interests. While some are misled and disempowered to speak or act, many Christians and other people of conscience feel disturbed by a one sided narrative that justifies the ongoing occupation and its gross human rights violations.
Yet true faith requires more from a Christian than purveying stereotypes and untruths and supporting injustice. The genuine Christian pilgrim seeks the living Christ in the now, in solidarity with the oppressed, the poor, and the marginalised. They look for truth and seek for justice, supporting both Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers.
Each time a group of South Africans were to travel to Israel we would urge them to include in their itinerary Palestine. Such tours must be organised and planned in such a way that relevant guides are found who could tell the story of Israel/Palestine in a more objective way.
The SACC would just be too happy to share more information and guidelines with the local organisers of such tours.
For more information contact Ms Dudu Masango at dudu@sacc.org.za and (011) 241 7828.
HAVE YOUR SAY PAGE - New Featured Article (if you have anything you would like to share on this page please email support@sacc.org.za)
It also produces adults that were raised with discipline and love as kids, making responsible, generous, honest and caring adults.
Parents live balanced lifestyles balancing time for work and family and sport, so the parents spend enough time with their kids, giving them the attention and love they need.
So people are less lonely, as its easier to make friends if you are one of these kinds of people, and because you've been brought up right and you are going to Church and praying daily and fasting regularly, you are constantly hearing what the Lord has to say helping you have the right direction on where to go and what to do in fulfilling the calling on one's life.
This also sees a society that lives by God's standards, accepting life in the womb of the mother being from the moment of conception, the sanctity of marriage being between one man and one women only, and this is the only covenant relationship for sexual inter course. We will also be living below our means in order to give 10% of our gross salary, or companies giving 10% of a bottom line figure towards charity, churches, helping someone's parents pay for their kid's education whose parents can't afford it, etc. If we accept the New Testament, Jesus Christ showed us a new way, of non violent, unbiased diplomacy with prayer and fasting to bring change, every single one of Jesus' disciples lived out this example of been pacifists, and it cost everyone of them their lives, except John who got confined to a island.
But when we abandon the laws God gave us to live by, and the new laws ushered in under the New Testament covenant,(re pacifism vs military wars), and replace these laws with our own manmade laws, because we are so smart and high tech, and are able to improve on God's laws, we get a society that accepts consensual sex over marriage, to satisfy our lusts, and use our bodies as skateboards for a quick thrill, only to abort the unwanted babies, because we would rather murder than err on the side of caution to satisfy our self centeredness, we don't live below our means in order to give 10% sacrificially(tithes), instead we become bling orientated and upgrade either our car or home, making us easy pray for the banks to get us debt ensnared and become debt slaves only to be dispossed of the house we bought with our tithes, making bust and boom economies....[... ]
The SACC invites you to have your say on issues of ecumenism, politics, economics and many others you wish to share with us; and who knows, it might just be featured for discussion on this page. Please drop us a page or two here support@sacc.org.za
Disclaimer:
Article Content and contributions on this page does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of SACC. SACC also reserves the right to have final decision on material which is acceptable for publication.
Now let's get writing...and be blessed!
Political Hit Squads – Enemies of the Nation! 26 January 2012
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) finds the recent media reports on the existence of political hit men squads in Limpopo to be very disturbing, concerning and outright unacceptable within the values of the peaceful and democratic South Africa.
At the heart of our concern is the failure by certain groups and individual to understand and respect life as sacred and GOD-given opportunity. No one, it doesn’t matter how powerful they are, have the right or even the privilege to end another person’s life. This is a right reserved only to GOD who remains in charge of our beginning and end – the Alpha and Omega.
The SACC therefore calls upon those who are behind the establishment of hit squads in Limpopo Province and elsewhere in the country to desist from this practice and invest their energy in finding solutions through dialogue, debate and engagement. GOD has endowed all of us with brains and minds to resolve even the most incomprehensible challenges.
We are quite happy and do congratulate members of the Hawks, Crime Intelligence and the Police who acted on time and with precision to effect the arrest of the suspects. We further invite members of the public with information to come out and report these kinds of criminal activities to the law and security agencies.
We deserve a peaceful, secure and stabilized country in order to enjoy the fruit of our constitutional democracy. Advocates of death are therefore a great disappointment to what this country has so far achieved and thus need to be locked up in prison!
Rev. Mautji Pataki SACC General Secretary
e-tolling - January 2012
In Defence of the Poor People of South Africa who are already over-burdened with tax and fuel levy, the SACC calls on Government to scrap the e-tolling system immediately.
South African Council of Churches -
Khotso House, Johannesburg -
Press Statement
19 January 2012
Call to Government to scrap e-tolling
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) in support of the call made by other civil society organisations including Cosatu, calls on the Government of South Africa to scrap completely the controversial e-tolling system that has been initiated by SANRAL in Gauteng Province.
Whereas we are aware that Government through the Minister of Transport brought the implementation of the project to a halt so that, as he says, other alternative ways of proceeding could be explored, we find it unacceptable and unaffordable for the poor people of this country who have no other viable public transport system to turn to, to be made to pay even much more than they are doing at the moment.
We are definitely mindful that once the e-tolling gets implemented, prices on basic food and fuel will rise while the people’s income levels remain the same and low. This system of doing economy is evil for it reduces human beings to mere objects meant to feed a system that does not improve but destroy their livelihood.
We hold strong the position that the South African government has the responsibility to ensure that the road infrastructure caters for the needs of its citizens. These citizens are already heavy-burdened with taxes and fuel levy where money for the maintenance of the road infrastructure should come from. Government’s argument that our tax base is not sufficient enough to take care of our public road infrastructural needs is lame and devoid of all accuracy if one was to take into consideration the report by the Auditor-General pointing to the fact that corruption and mismanagement of public funds is on the rise in this country. Therefore paying more taxes can only be interpreted to be making up for the difference attributed to corrupt activities.
It would therefore be in the interest of justice for the people of South Africa not to register for the e-tolling system and allow government to foot the bill.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary
South African Council of Churches - Press Statement on Department of Education in Limpopo
January 2012 -
Khotso House, Johannesburg
The South African Council of Churches is highly disturbed by reports from many parts of Limpopo Province that point to lack of stationery, books and other learning materials as schools re-opened for the new year of learning and teaching. The act is so unfortunate that it is tantamount to feeding learners darkness when they ask for light, ignorance when they ask for knowledge.
We find it inexcusable that the material that was supposed to have reached the schools by now has not yet been delivered at a time when learners and teachers are ready to start work. Apart from all these accusations and counter accusations as to whose responsibility it was to order books, we call upon the parents, communities, parent associations and civil society including churches to organize themselves and demand books, scholar transport and food-at-school on behalf of their helpless children who are clearly failed by those who are supposed to be facilitating their success. Strict deadlines must be adhered to in this regard because it would not be helpful for anyone to receive books in June.
In this embarrassing instance, communities, learners and teachers must refuse to be drawn into a mudslinging exercise that seeks to apportion blame on the National Department of Education which we learn took over the administration of Limpopo in December when books could have long been ordered.
This act is a violation of the learner’s right to education and therefore those who are responsible have to be drawn before court to answer for a deed so destructive in the life of the innocent people. It is criminal and therefore not a matter to be treated lightly when adult leaders and officials violate the constitution of this Republic.
Released by the General Secretary of SACC
Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki, General Secretary
South African Council of Churches (SACC)
January 2012
“Glitzy Funerals” - A Capitalist Ploy to rip the Poor of their little earnings!
Thabo Rampola’s writing in the City Press Edition of 15 January captioned, “Let’s bury these glitzy funerals” demands an elevated attention as it echoes the sentiment already expressed by the SACC’s Triennial Conference Resolution 14 of 2004. That resolution reads as follows:
“As people are created in the image of God, we affirm this God-given dignity in our earthly life and even after death…and therefore extend our respect for life to those who have also passed on and their families. In respecting the dead, we should however not respect death and burial, but the person”.
The Conference, attended by just about 26 Member Churches including Church Leaders, went on to commit itself to the following programme of action:
To promote and invest the churches’ resources in life enhancing initiatives;
To call upon church members including leaders, ordained and lay, to make public pledges about their burials, i.e how they would wished to be buried in line with the spirit of this commitment;
To accompany the bereaved families with (financial) advice and guidance pre, during and post burials.
To cushion these noble ideas, Conference further resolved to invite all church members in South Africa to set up living legacies and endowment funds for their beloved. Instead of using huge sums of money for burial, funds could be channelled to establish bursary funds and memorials in the name of the departed person.
Like the resolution and the letter of its spirit, Rampola goes for the jugular vein from the onset, targeting values that are out to promote “crass materialism” and selfishness while eroding the basics of African and Christian values of bereavement. Indeed the world with all its cultures might have evolved over time but that is no justification to use human death, suffering and the loss life to justify the raking of massive profits by individuals who are only driven by greed and self-enrichment.
In his article, Rampola correctly argues that the public advertisements and the commercialization of funerals demonstrates a deliberate portrayal of black people to be the principal consumers of “glitzy funerals” and yet there are other population groups in the country who are by far wealthy and opulent but who are by design not targeted by these advertisements. This then leaves those behind the adverts with some tinge of racial innuendos and yet death knows no colour, wealth, poverty or social class for that matter. As to when and where it strikes, we all end up in the grave – in our case, a place elsewhere beneath the ground where it is highly impossible for the dead to receive their admirers.
Our point is to alert the unsuspecting prey of this hegemonic attack which comes in the name of “decent funeral” that it is in fact modesty and not display of opulence that lends decency to the way the living treat the dead. In Rampola’s words, “the very last but not least thing that should be erased from our list is the revered casket which takes away the largest amount of cash as we budget for a burial.”
Those who peddle and promote a lie that caskets are made of highly durable and costly can’t-get material valued at R50 000 and more as Rampola contends, only need to be exposed and their businesses paraded as exploiters of the poor in the name of decent service.
Communities, rich and poor, need to be dissuaded from investing in death for in it there are no returns. In other words life, including self-satisfaction, fulfilment and spiritual healing, cannot be attained through burying your loved one in a “glitzy” way. Those who are bent on this illusion are just showy victims of a highly capital-driven ideology which seeks to present wealth possession, materialism and affluence as affirmation of the worth and value of a human being even in death.
There is no beauty in a corpse and therefore no need exists to clothe it in fancy and expensive bed-linen as though it would ever feel the comfort normally reserved for the living. It is only when the mind fights reality that a corpse could be treated as a “living organic”. Otherwise it is the soul of the departed that lives.
In recent time and in pursuance of its own resolution, the SACC went into partnership with the Financial Services Board (FSB) on a financial wellness programme that seeks to educate communities on “modest funerals” and the value attached to them. Of course in our present-day South Africa you hear people referring to it being their right to bury the loved ones in any costly manner possible as long as they have the money to do so. This is definitely not the point. The point is people have to learn to be good stewards of the resources under their care so that other people who have none or less have the possibility to benefit from the same resources while still alive.
Investment is made wiser when its proceeds and dividend improve the lives of the less fortunate than to be splashed deep into the grave where no one stands to benefit. This is Christ’s teaching, to take care of one another and never to boast publicly of your wealth in from of those who are hungry, poor, unemployed and destitute. What do you think the biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man is all about if it doesn’t teach that it is a sin to brag about your possessions in front of those who can’t afford?
In my vocation I have come across family situations where after bereavement members are left destitute following failure to service the debt accrued from the funeral. As Rampola states that expensive and highly celebrated “lunch” is served at “breakfast” time I could only agree that it is an anomaly associated with funerals as the distinction between the two meals is naturally clear.
Let us wake up from this deep sleep and allow ourselves to be counted among those nations whose resources get used to advance life rather than celebrate death.
South African Council of Churches (SACC) Khotso House, Johannesburg Press Statement SACC Mourns the Death of Ilse Naudé.
The South African Council of Churches is deeply saddened by the death of Ilse Naude, wife to the late Rev. Dr Beyers Naude who once served as the Council’s General Secretary. The SACC coveys its heartfelt condolences to the family with great hope that the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom Ilse and the rest family have invested their trust, will bring healing.
We have always known Ilse to be the strong force and character behind Oom Bey’s ministry at a time when he had to disengage from the Afrikaner community following his convictions against apartheid and state theology. We remember how sad and difficult it was for him to arrive at such decision and yet with Ilse alongside him it was achievable. In Ilse, Oom Bey had a strong shoulder to cry on.
The South African Council of Churches thanks God for a life so well-lived and meaningful as Ilse’s life demonstrated. We wish it were possible for the nation to produce more of such women as Ilse so that the challenges we face today could be confronted with solid faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So much was Ilse dependable that Oom Bey never felt lonely on a path that was destined to define him as a traitor. Throughout his house arrests, Ilse remained a symbol of hope for him and the children.
As we lay her to rest, our fulfilment is derived from her fighting spirit for justice and peace in our land. We hold no regret, as the ecumenical movement in this country and the world that we had a gift in Ilse at the time when we needed such as her. We may not as yet have achieved the goals that he lived and fought for as injustice and poverty continue to characterise our land. However, we are confident that one day we will achieve a nation where no one goes to bed hungry, without water and food.
The SACC will pay the family of Ilse and Beyers Naude a special pastoral visit in the next few days.
We pray to God to receive Ilse’s soul that she may rest in eternal peace.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary 02/01/2012
South African Council of Churches (SACC) Condemns Bomb Attacks on Christians in Nigeria
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) finds the bombing attacks on churches and Christians in Nigeria to be unacceptable and thus condemned in the strongest way possible. We find it even more insulting of the Christian movement that the attacks were planned to coincide with the celebrations of the birth of Christ. Christmas is about joy and peace, life and redemption. He whose birth gets celebrated was named by the Prophets to be The Prince of Peace – suggesting that he wouldn’t advocate for anyone’s death or injury. When we celebrate his birth, we are reminded of him as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Irrespective of who is behind the attack, the killing of other people for whatever reason is unjustified and does have no space in the hearts of the God-fearing. Christians need to be afforded their own space, equal to all other religions in the world, to worship God devoid of any such attacks as we have witnessed in Nigeria. It is not a choice but a duty on our part to come together for fellowship and glorify God. We therefore call upon all South Africans, Africa and the world to:
Hold national prayers in remembrance of the victims of this attacks
Express solidarity with those that are under attack
Extend word of condolence to the bereaved families
Pray for all the people of Nigeria including those behind the attacks
Campaign for a Peaceful Nigeria
The world is a better place to be when there is goodwill among its people.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki
General Secretary
26/12/2011
PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA
President Jacob Zuma’s Statement is a disappointment.
The South African Council of Churches finds the statement by the President Jacob Zuma on the role of Christian faith in South Africa to be very disappointing and irrelevant to the project of building a nation where all religions receive equal respect and recognition. We are even taken aback by the fact that his statement is made out of no provocation.
There is more sense when Christians take care of orphans and the aged because that is the command from our Lord Jesus Christ – to take care of one another, to love one another, feed the hungry and cloth the naked. It is this command about the vulnerable groups which brings out the solid foundation upon which the Christian faith is built.
Without going anywhere deep in history, the church has established some of the most solid health and education institutions where personality of high note were also produced. South Africans continue to live the legacy of such individuals. Our contribution to the liberation struggle against colonial and apartheid regimes speaks volumes of how much the Church has done. Those who will celebrate the Centenary of the liberation struggle in Mangaung next year will find that a Wesleyan Methodist Church has become a national heritage because community meetings used to take place there. This history cannot simply be erased from the face of our nation by a statement that seeks to demobilise Christians.
We call upon the President to view Christians not as a threat but a community of believers whose mandate is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ whose core values are care, justice, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and many others intended to build our nation. Our intention is to live by these and make South Africa a happy home.
Released by Office of the General Secretary
The Revd. Mautji Pataki
22/12/2011
SACC
YOUTH FORUM
On the road to the SACC Youth Forum Elective Conference, Johannesburg 13 – 15 December 2011
As a result of 2008 SACC Youth Forum Church Youth Leaders’ Consultation, the Forum has gone through the restructuring process; as Dr Brigalia Bam was quoted in EcuNews of 1996 “the need for united Christian witness and action is as demanding in the new South Africa as ever before” and as such this in our view is very important. The ecumenical youth movement in South Africa must be consistent in being lively. Some of the changes made and those that will be proposed are not radical shifts in basic purpose but only in emphasis.
These proposed changes are meant to make the SACC Youth Forum lively, and most importantly relevant to the constituency we serve; while remaining prophetic. There is no doubt that the cornerstone of the churches and youth’s role in the societal development of our nation is through having youth who are united in purpose and critical in thinking, to create the desired change. The SACC Youth Forum is looking forward to a Conference which will change the course of history of our society and its people.
PRESS RELEASE COP17 CMP7 6 DECEMBER 2011
South African Council of Churches (SACC)Welcomes statement by the People’s Republic of China Urges Carbon Quartet to end Climate Insensitivity
DURBAN: SACC welcomes the statement by the People’s Republic of China (the number 1GHG polluter in terms of total GHG emissions* but not per capita) signaling that it is now ready to commit to a legally binding agreement on reduction of GHG’s. We find this position morally sensitive to the need to build world solidarity on matter affecting climate change.
A binding commitment during the Durban round of talks on Climate Change will strengthen both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also benefit the BASIC group of countries (Brazil, South Africa, India & China) which includes the host nation. Read More
PRESS Statement
SACC-LED WORSHIP SERVICE FOR COP17 AND CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTION
Who can attend?
Everyone is welcome The Service is organised at a special request from the President of COP17 and the SA Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, The Honourable Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and will be conducted by the General Secretary of SACC, The Revd. Mautji Pataki and other local clergy.
The SACC regards the participation of churches and Christians in matters of climate change and climate justice action as driven by ethical, moral and spiritual imperatives in solidarity with the poor, marginalised and vulnerable communities.
The service will spread the ecumenical message on Climate Justice Action and use the "Liturgy for the Restoration of Human Communities" contained in its recent publication,
"The Healing of Creation: Climate Change, COP17 and Beyond".
Released by the office of the general secretary
30 November 2011
The Rev. Mautji Pataki - 082 862 4396
Contact: Rev Keith Vermeulen 082 523 0701
PRESS RELEASE The South African Council of Churches (SACC)
Conference of Parties (COP) 17/ COP Members of Parties 7
SACC Resolution supporting the promotion of the Green Climate Fund
The 16th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) held in Cancun Mexico resolved to establish the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Given the urgency and seriousness of climate change, the purpose of the GCF is to make significant contributions to the international community’s attempts to mitigate its effects.
The Fund seeks to make a significant contribution towards the achievement of the ultimate objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and, in the context of sustainable development.
The Fund (GCF) will promote the paradigm shift towards low–emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their Green House Gas emissions.Read More
What? A Service to Uphold the Discussion and Decisions being made at UN International Conference on Climate Change.
Where? The Uniting Presbyterian Church on D 1059 Hambakahlemkhonto Road, UMLAZI
When? Sunday the 4th December 2011
Time? 10h00
*Applications close on the
5th December 2011*
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) seeks to support local and international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and bring a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with just peace, based on international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
SACC co-ordinates EAPPI inSouth Africa. To become one of the Ecumenical Accompaniers and spend three months in Israel/Palestine experiencing life with survivors of the occupation, and return home to advocate for just peace in Israel and Palestine, people of all faith and religion are welcome (25yrs and above).
Please contact the SACC office of EAPPI at the following address: dudu@sacc.org.za
An application form and relevant information will be forwarded to you.
Rev. Mautji Pataki, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches shared with us the story of his journey and what motivated his decisions in life.
The Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA) seeks to appoint a Director for its Theological Seminary. The mandate for this position is to provide management and leadership in respect of the academic and administrative functions of the seminary; to plan, manage and evaluate the performance of student ministers and oversee their training programmes up to the B.Th honours and Licentiate level. CLOSING DATE 25 NOVEMBER 2011Read More...
The SACCYF will be holding its elective conference in December 2011 with church
youth structures of member churches of the SACC.
SACCYF President
Vuyani Pule
As such Koinonia and many other issues will be reflected upon. An agenda for the ecumenical youth movement in South Africa would be paved.
Church youth structures would be composed of youth leaders and members from various sectors of society in which they serve besides their respective churches. The conference would provide an opportunity to have critical theological reflections on many thematic issues which affects both our spiritual and physical lives. Read More...
SACC Youth Forum The SACC Youth Forum is the fellowship of ecumenical youth organisations within the Church which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures which proclaimed in Word and deed the gospel of incarnation of Jesus Christ... Read More...
RECENT EVENT
The meeting with the Public Protector took place on Monday the 21st November 2011.
Rev Mautji Pataki (SACC General Secretary), Adv Thuli Madonsela (Public Protector), Ms Rinel Hugo (SACC NEC Member), Bishop Lunga Ka Siboto (SACC NEC Member).
New South African Outlook Magazine
Ecumenical Magazine for Thinkers & Decision Makers
Do not miss this one… New South African Outlook Magazine Special Edition now out!
It features the interview of the new SACC General Secretary, the Rev Mautji Pataki, a vibrant ecumenical activist who among other things comments on problems that confront South Africans today.
The Special Edition also features important conversations on the vision of ecumenism in the 21st Century, with contributions from such sharp scholars as Dr Simangaliso Kumalo and Rev Dr Prince Dibeela.
You cannot miss contributions by Provincial Councils, our Parliamentary Office and also the SACC Youth Forum
MORE than 200 youths representing the African continent are coming to Soweto. The youths will take part in the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Durban from November 28 to December 9.
The South African Council of Churches Youth Forum arranged for a caravan to travel from Nairobi, Kenya, to Durban, to teach youth about the environment Read More....
