The South African Council of Churches wishes to congratulate the United Democratic
Front on their 20th anniversary, but also to express sadness that one of the
UDF patrons, Dr Allan Boesak, could not find it possible to be part of the anniversary marking
"the final push of our struggle against apartheid, racism and oppression".
In a statement issued today, the General Secretary of the South African Council of
Churches, Reverend Dr Molefe Tsele, said: "We want to congratulate the UDF on its
20th anniversary, and the commitment of its leaders to mobilise the people of
this country for our final push to our liberation. We are proud of the UDF's leadership, and
the work of liberating this country while the ANC and other liberation movements were
banned. We as the SACC can relate to their struggle, and actually have a bond with them since
it was us who housed them during the dark days of apartheid," said Tsele.
Recalling the days when Khotso House was bombed by the apartheid regime in the 1980s,
Tsele said: "We still recall with a mixture of sadness and joy when Khotso House was
bombed. It was bombed precisely because the SACC had aligned itself with the struggle of the
people, and consequently housed UDF to continue their work of liberating this country. Once
the regime realised that they could not deal with this, they then resorted to their dirty tricks of
destroying our headquarters."
But Tsele expressed sadness that Boesak had sought to demonise Archbishop Desmond
Tutu. " We regret that Boesak is unable to put aside the past difficulties with the ANC, and
has now sought it fit to demonise Archbishop Tutu. We are aware of his contribution to the
struggle, and how he suffered a great in the hands of his own conservative church officials for
the stand he took against apartheid and injustice. We would rather he consider come back to
the fold rather than resorting to the approach of demonising organisations and personalities
who contributed to the emancipation of our people," Tsele said.
Issue on behalf of the SACC by Fr Joe Mdhlela 083 641 1281
21 August 2003
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