In a context of prayer and Bible Study, inspired by insights gleaned from the season of Lent currently being celebrated by many Christian churches, the Central Committee of the South African Council of the Churches (SACC) met in Kempton Park to reflect on the challenges facing the Ecumenical Movement and our country at this time.

On the Call for Moral Dialogue

Recognizing the forty days and forty nights that our Lord Jesus Christ spent being tested in the wilderness as part of what we focus on during Lent, Central Committee took time to focus on the ways in which the ecumenical movement and the people of South Africa are being tested at this time. Central Committee was especially concerned with the extent of moral degeneration, rampant corruption, unacceptably high levels of violent crime as well as the worsening plight of the poor in our country.

While we welcome the call of the State President for a national dialogue on morality, we have a number of concerns in this regard. It is important that our leaders, including the President, lead this process not merely with words but by example as well. Ultimately, morality is not a matter of words but of action and behavior. Furthermore, morality and ethical behavior concern much more than personal behavior to include structures, systems and processes. In this regard dialogue about morality cannot be divorced from issues of exclusion, poverty and lack of service delivery.

We are concerned about the growing insensitivity shown by government and government agencies (such as NERSA and ESKOM) towards the plight of the poor. We see the same tendency in the practice of what has become known as tenderpreneurship in our land.

Central Committee accepts the need for lifestyle audits which should also include the audits of the systems that make human beings to succumb to corruption. What has become known as tenderpreneurship in our land elicits worse forms of personal aggrandizement dangerous for our country. To this end, Central Committee laments the fact that South Africa is in its second decade of democracy, yet the economy is still in the hands of a few.

The Ecumenical space

Central Committee is appalled by the fragmentation of the ecumenical organizations in this country. This situation is made worse by some of the interventions of the ruling party and its Commission for Religious Affairs which appears to have taken it upon itself to reconfigure the ecumenical space. They have since formed a new entity called NILC which in our view replicates the work of the National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF). It also creates – perhaps deliberately – a lot of confusion among our members. We have also observed an unwillingness from the Presidency to engage with the SACC.

Central Committee resolves to do everything in its power to engage all Christian ecumenical bodies with a view to a united witness. While continuing to engage with the leadership of NILC, the SACC shall maintain distance from NILC and will not become a member.

National Planning Commission

We also welcome the idea of a national Planning Commission but make a call for the participation of faith based organizations with the view to supporting pro-poor policies in that Commission.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup

Central Committee joins the rest of the nation in welcoming the world in South Africa for the World Cup. We affirm the interaction with our global neighbours and look forward to showing our hospitality to all those who will be on our shores. This pleasant moment in our land is however tempered with the marginalization of the poor – such as informal traders – from the benefits of the event. Against the harrowing possibilities of human trafficking we caution especially young people to be alert to the possibility of being lured by phony employers and in the process being victimized. We encourage the churches to be in solidarity with those who are already in this struggle.

We condemn the demolition of church structures and poor people’s residences in Cape Town under the guise of cleaning the city for the World Cup.

May the Lord Almighty guide and influence our leaders. May God open his heart on the people of this land, especially the poor, and bring us peace, prosperity and abundant life.

For further information please contact:
Prof Tinyiko Maluleke, SACC President, 082 925 5232
Eddie Makue, General Secretary, 082 8538781 or 011 241 7817