3 April 2002

PREAMBLE

The South African Council of Churches has been accompanying the people of Zimbabwe since the crises of Zimbabwe worsened nearly two years ago.

We have had the leadership of the SACC pastorally visiting the beleaguered country, talking, listening, and wanting to hear more about political violence from the Churches, including the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

We have also been extensively briefed about the politicisation of the land reform. This has resulted in the creation of an unstable climate in Zimbabwe. Because of this, we know that the agricultural sector in that Country has been greatly affected.

Zimbabwe Election

While we accept that the WCC and the South African Observer missions arrived at different outcomes about the Zimbabwean Elections, and also that the SACC position is still to be made, it is necessary to make the following observations arising out of our experience as members of the SA Observer Mission:

The conditions which were deliberately created by the incumbent government in Zimbabwe, including the harassment and jailing of political opponents, the abuse of the presidential powers to amend laws, and the government's collusion with the police to harass the Opposition, served as an impediment to the creation of free and fair elections.

The timing of the election coincided with moments and a period characterised by social, economic, and political turmoil which by itself contributed to a climate of instability.

Taken as a whole, it can be said that these conditions were bound to have a negative impact on the outcome of the election that it could hardly be honest to describe them as fair and free.

However, it would be incorrect, in our view, to suggest that the outcome of the elections were illegitimate. We think they reflect a legitimate will of the Zimbabwean voters who turned out in large numbers to express their say through the ballot box.

That said, the SACC wants to take the position that in consultation with our member churches we would now like to focus our attention on what needs to be done to help the people deal with their post-election trauma.

We believe the debate on free and fair verdict will not help this process, and that controversial as the outcome may be, it is important to take into account that the Zimbabwe nation is badly haemorrhaging; the society is polarised and the economy is hurting, and that as the SACC we will have to close this chapter and concentrate our efforts on healing the wounds.

Post-Election Healing Process

The challenge for the Mugabe government is to reach out to all Zimbabweans including those who did not vote for them to embark on the policies and programmes which will contribute towards reconciliation in that Country.

For our part, we will work with our counterpart, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), towards overcoming the polarisation that is tearing apart the society as a result of the election.

Inter-Congolese Peace Talks

The SACC plans to mobilise its resources to contribute to the peace process of the DRC. As churches we will establish a support group for the various stakeholders in the DRC conflict in order to deal constructively with difficult situations.

We believe that because of the trauma as a result of war, and the failure to reach agreement, the various stakeholders can benefit from the "pastoral support" offered by the SACC.

As the SACC, we are saddened that a mechanism to find lasting peace, including the implementation of the Lusaka Peace Accord, have still not been implemented. However, we are hopeful that the protracted dialogue will bear fruits, and that a new era of peace will dawn on the people of the DRC.

NEPAD

The SACC fully endorses Nepad as a new commitment by the African leaders to put the continent on an accelerated path of development.

We want to see this initiative as African-driven with development programs uniquely suited to respond to the needs and conditions of our people. This is the vision we enthusiastically endorse as SACC.

However, we are beginning to detect a threat to this vision. There appears to be no plan to make this initiative to be people-driven. We seem to detect the impression that the priority is to sell the plan to the West even before it is fully supported and sold to the African people. It appears that since Nepad will need to be heavily funded, our priority is to look to the West for funding.

Our view is that the success of Nepad must be wholly depended on our own initiative, and that any funding from the West must only serve to be complimentary. Our fear is that if we leave this initiative to the West, the Western World might feel duty-bound to control its destiny, a position we think we should avoid.

The SACC HIV/AIDS CONSULTATION

The question of AIDS continues to pose a challenge to all of us, as is the raging the public debate around AIDS.

The recent court action spearheaded by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), and the decision by the Pretoria High Court to force the government to provide anti-retrovirals to pregnant women who are HIV-positive, continue to challenge our conscience as a faith-based organisation. Even the government's decision to challenge the High Court's decision, and the continuing inability by the AIDS protagonists to reach a consensus as to whether or not HIV causes AIDS, continue to challenge us to reflect deeply on these difficult issues.

In fact, this Consultation was mandated by the SACC Triennial Conference held in Johannesburg last August, which among other things, resolved that the SACC host a national theological for its members to consider how to respond to HIV/AIDS pandemic.

It is therefore against this background that the SACC is convening this Ecumenical HIV/AIDS consultation due for Johannesburg from April 8 to April 10.

Our objective, among other things, will be to achieve the following:

• To seek a unified response from the Church to the current situation on HIV/AIDS
• To contribute to the current debate on the causes and effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the lives of ordinary people
• To consider and review the effectiveness of the SACC programmes aimed at addressing the issue
• To establish a theological rational for this ministry
• To encourage the Christian community through its leadership structures to identify a niche in response to the pandemic
• To consider the suggestion of the Nairobi Plan of Action

Speakers from the government, Treatment Action Campaign, Association of People Living with Aids, doctors, and legal fraternity, have been identified to make an input in this consultation

Transcending RACISM Campaign

The SACC, mindful that our nation comes from a past that was dominated by racism, has embarked on a campaign to bring to the consciousness of all South Africans that no effort should be spared to overcome the demon of racism.

The SACC takes the position that racism is not only a sin, but that it divides, and that all South Africans have a duty to welcome refugees, affirm strangers, embrace people living with HIV/AIDS, and protect human rights.

We still live with daily reminders of racism in cases such as the Tshepo Matloga murder case currently before our courts.

Post-TRC Report

The SACC wishes to express its joy that the final report of the TRC will be released shortly. In this regard, we wish to call upon all South Africans to see the final report as something that will help us deal once and for with our sad past of oppression and discrimination.

It would be a sad day for all South Africa if the report were to be used as a tool to seek revenge and retribution. Rather, our view is that it should help us as a nation to foster a process of nation-building.

For more information contact: Joe Mdhlela at 082 456 5548