The brutal killing of Shirley Sebenya who was ambushed and gunned down by hijackers on Sunday, once again highlights the moral degeneration of our society, the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, Dr Molefe Tsele, said in a statement today.

Shirley Sebenya was the wife of an Ebenezer Evangelical Church minister, the Reverend Itumeleng Sebenya, and the couple was hijacked while they travelled together in Dobsonville, Soweto, on Sunday.

As the SACC, we are greatly disturbed that a young life was snuffed out so quickly by hijackers whose action displayed hardness of heart with no consideration for the value and sanctity of life.

Our heart goes out to her husband, the Reverend Sebenya, who escaped death by the skin of his teeth.

We can only deplore this action as barbaric, trusting that the perpetrators will be brought to book. More fundamentally, though, is our desire that the launch last week of the Moral Regeneration Movement may serve as a beacon of hope to all our people who face such incidents of brutality on a daily basis. As the Council, we are hoping that the Movement will create, and inculcate, a new set of ethics among all our people so that a spirit of true Ubuntu is fully developed among all God’s people.

We look forward to the day when a culture of respect for human life will be fully developed to a point when all will view all life as sacred and worthy of being preserved. We also call upon all South Africans to consciously deplore all acts of evil and immorality with revulsion.

As the SACC, we want to assure the bereaved family of our support and prayers, and invite all clergy to rally around the family at this hour of need.

Issued on behalf of the SACC by Joe Mdhlela, Director: Communications Unit (082 456 5548)