Shattered dreams.  A new Kairos moment in South Africa

 

Statement of the SABC Bishops

 

Executive Summary

Nearly thirty years after the advent of democracy in South Africa, the expectations we had of a better life for all are far from being met. Despite the goodwill of many citizens, our society is in deep crisis. The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening. The infrastructure is crumbling. The rule of law is on the brink of collapse. Corruption is rampant. Crime is at unprecedented levels. The hardly won liberation of South Africa was supposed to improve the life of the most vulnerable members of society. The opposite is happening. 

We salute the work of the Zondo Commission but do not understand why, more than a year after the publication of its report, none of its recommendations has been implemented. In particular, we regret that the practice of cadre deployment, which is known for enabling nepotism and corruption, goes on unabated, and not only in the ruling party. This reinforces the impression that corrupt politicians, officials and service providers can loot the state in all impunity at the expense of the poor.

It is our responsibility as church leaders to hold ourselves and others in leadership accountable for the manner in which we exercise power and use public resources. The crisis we face as a country is not only a political crisis. It is also a moral crisis and a spiritual crisis. We would like to add our voice to those who justly denounce the greed of the few who enrich themselves at the expense of the many. That their action increase the suffering of the poor has to be of prime interest to everybody. For us the fight for justice cannot be separated from the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Together with all people of good will, we have received from God the mandate to promote the common good.

That there is a high sense of disillusion and despair in South Africa is clear. Evidence is that vast numbers of young people have lost faith in democratic institutions, and refuse to vote. They are like sheep without shepherds, ready to follow merchants of illusory solutions. It is our duty, as leaders of a community of faith, to proclaim a message of hope and work towards an alliance with all those who want a better country for their children. We cannot remain silent.

We call on political leaders, public officials, civil servants, members of the judiciary, senior executives in the corporate sector, business people and members of the public to recognize the gravity of the current crisis. The truth must be told. Any form of corruption, nepotism, vandalism or dereliction of duty is a sin because it weakens the Body of Christ. We have to develop a new sense of belonging in the country, beyond the barriers of race, class, generation and gender. Everybody from the CEO of a listed company who awards himself an obscenely high salary to the vagrant who paralyses the electrical network of their area by stealing copper for a few rand should have the common good in mind. Some brave citizens take risks to denounce crime and corruption. We must support them and take risks ourselves if the culprits want to silence them.

We believe that, with the help of God, a joint action of those who want a better future for South African can make a difference. The time has come!

 

Introduction

Nearly thirty years after the advent of democracy in South Africa, the expectations we had of a better life for all are far from being met. Despite the goodwill of many citizens, our society is in deep crisis. The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening. The infrastructure is crumbling. The rule of law is on the brink of collapse. Corruption is rampant, and Crime at unprecedented levels.

The pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes, one of the most significant documents promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, reminds us that to fulfil its mission the Church ‘has always had the duty of scrutinising the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel’.^[1] In doing so, the Church has only one goal, to carry forward the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came ‘not to be served but to serve’ (Mark 10:45). What are the signs of the times in South Africa today?

Resisting the temptation of discouragement

As church leaders, we do not claim to have professional expertise in socio-political and economic matters even though we have a lived experience of what happens in the country. We know that is our responsibility to hold people in leadership accountable for the manner in which they exercise power and use resources. To do so is not becoming involved in party politics but simply demanding good governance and quality of service to those in charge. The crisis we face as a country is a political crisis but also a moral crisis and a spiritual crisis. We add our voice to those who justly denounce the greed of the few who enrich themselves at the expense of the many. That their actions increase the suffering of the poor has to be of prime interest to everybody. Furthermore, for us the fight for justice cannot be separated from the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That there is a high sense of disillusion and despair in South Africa is evident from the high rate of emigration, which is depriving the country of vital skills. Equally worrying is the fact that numbers of young people have lost faith in democratic institutions, and refuse to vote. They are like sheep without shepherds, ready to follow merchants of illusory solutions. It is our duty, as leaders of a community of faith, to proclaim a message of hope and work towards an alliance with all those who want a better country for their children. We cannot remain silent.

The crisis South Africa faced during apartheid was of a different nature. We must remember how unjust and unequal society was during that time. This sad era is fortunately over. Yet, what we experience today in some way reminds us of the past. Again there is a widespread atmosphere of fear and distrust, and a strong sense that things can only go from bad to worse.

But we can also draw lessons from the apartheid period. In those days, many men and women, Christians and non-Christians, did not give up hope. They took risks for their country. Shortly after the declaration of the first State of Emergency in 1985, a group of believers declared, in a message called the Kairos Document, that the time had come to reclaim the initiative. ‘South Africa has been plunged into a crisis that is shaking the foundations,’ they wrote, ‘and there is every indication that the crisis has only just begun and that it will deepen and become even more threatening in the months to come. It is the kairos or moment of truth not only for apartheid but also for the Church.’ They concluded their appeal with a vibrant call to action: ‘The Church should challenge, inspire and motivate people. It has a message of the cross that inspires us to make sacrifices for justice and liberation. It has a message of hope that challenges us to wake up and to act with hope and confidence.’^[2]

In a message delivered in October 2022, Pope Francis also called us to resist the temptation of discouragement and indifference. ‘Brothers and sisters,’ he said, ‘in our world today there are stories of corruption like in the Gospel: dishonest conduct, unfair policies, selfishness that dominates the choices of individuals and institutions, and many other murky situations. But we Christians are not allowed to become discouraged, or worse, to let go of things, remaining indifferent.’^[3]

The scourge of poverty

Before envisaging a response, we must take cognisance of the ills that plague our society. Three deserve special attention: spiralling poverty, failing state services and corruption.

South Africa has the sad distinction of being the most unequal society in the world.^[4] The rising price of food, transport and other commodities disproportionately affects those living on the margins of society as well as the unemployed. More than 50% of young people are looking for a job.^[5] In 2021 about 2.1 million (11.6%) of South African households reported experiencing hunger.^[6]

Everywhere we see the signs of a dual society. Those who can pay high school fees send their children to independent schools or public schools with additional services paid by parents to ensure their future. The other children study in overcrowded and poorly equipped public schools. High quality health care is provided to the beneficiaries of Medical Aid. For the rest of the population there is no other option than public hospitals and clinics whose standards of care keep declining. The rich live in gated neighbourhoods or hire security companies to protect their houses against criminals. The poor live in constant fear of being attacked because they can only count on themselves to deter assailants.

Meanwhile, company owners and shareholders, especially in the energy sector, make huge profits. CEOs and other company officials allocate to themselves obscenely high salaries, perks, bonuses and other benefits. It would take years if not centuries for an ordinary worker to earn what some high executives earn in a month. Currently, the top 1% of the adult population (350,000 individuals) owns 55% of aggregate wealth and the top 0.1% (35,000 individuals) owns almost a third of the country’s wealth.^[7] Many of the ultra-rich find ways of legally avoiding or illegally evading tax to increase even more their wealth at the expense of the poor.

A failing state

The South African state is incapable of delivering basic services to its population. According to a report 80% of publish schools are dysfunctional.^[8] The public health system is also in bad shape, especially in the Eastern Cape.^[9] Currently, 19 percent of the rural population lacks access to a reliable water supply and 33 percent do not have basic sanitation services.^[10]. Potholes have become a common occurrence in many cities and rural areas. A number of provincial and national roads are no longer maintained.^[11] Police do not respond to calls because their vehicles pile up in garages for lack of maintenance, as reported in KwaZulu-Natal.^[12] Unlicensed guns circulate freely, causing countless loss of lives. About 3.8 million unregistered illegal fire arms are said to be in circulation in the country.^[13] Public buildings, cemeteries, museums and national parks are crumbling.^[14] Refuse is no longer collected in poor areas.^[15] Since 2004 four children died in pit toilets in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. When the media report a problem, the authorities satisfy themselves with short-term solutions. There is no sign that comprehensive plans are made for the maintenance of public facilities. For lack of maintenance, the infrastructure is falling apart. Yet, money is always there for the bodyguards and the luxury cars of senior officials and for conferences in expensive venues.

No sector has reached the same degree of crisis as energy. Load shedding is now part of life and there as well there are deep inequalities. Small towns and townships have much longer periods of power cuts than affluent areas. There is little hope that Eskom, the national company of electricity, which is in deep trouble, will soon be able to cover the electricity needs of the population.

The delivery protests are testimony to the anger of the population. In areas deprived of basic services, the perception is that one has to turn to violence in order to get attention. The authorities come and make promises, which most of the time they do not keep. Then violence erupts again.

One of the main causes of this situation, apart from the phenomenon of corruption to which we shall return, is the incompetence or lack of zeal of public servants, from the top to the bottom of the state’s administration. In 2022, only 16% of South African municipalities got a clean audit. Considerable amounts of money are not accounted for despite the crying needs of the population.

One of the reasons of this state of affair is poor management. More often than not, cabinet ministers, directors general, heads of state-owned agencies, municipal managers and other managers or supervisors are not chosen on merit but because they are part of a network of politically connected individuals. The same happens at the lower levels of administration. Belonging to a party or to a faction within a party is the door to employment, not qualification and competence. Law-compliant human relations policies are conveniently set aside to assure the perpetuation of this system of patronage. Candidates with a documented history of fraud or illegal behaviour are deemed suitable provided they have the right connections.

The report of the Commission of Enquiry into Allegations of State Capture, also known as the Zondo Report, highlighted significant gaps in the country’s system of governance, particularly in the appointment process for the heads of law enforcement agencies and the boards of state-owned enterprises. In a statement issued in November 2022 the Catholic bishops expressed concern about the business and political elite’s appetite for wealth and encouraged President Cyril Ramaphosa to implement the Zondo Commissions’ recommendations:

We continue to condemn the greed and the indifference displayed by the business and political elite in our country, which has generated high levels of public sector and private sector corruption, diverting resources that the country needs to recover from its legacies of economic inequalities and poverty. Our wish and prayer are that our people work together to adopt a new vision of politics and economy guided by the common good and the concerns of the most vulnerable in society, not the narrow interests of the business and political elite.^[16]

The Zondo Report aptly described the governing party’s cadre deployment policy as one of the main enablers of state failure and recommended that this practice be dropped.^[17] According to experts, doubling the normal appointment structures by a party-run deployment committee is illegal and unconstitutional. Such deployment is meant to facilitate the development of ‘revolutionary socialism’. In practice, it consists in putting party loyalists at all echelons of government, whether or not they are suitable for the task. Inefficient or corrupt officials are not the only ones at fault. Also guilty are their colleagues in government or in the party who knowingly appoint the wrong people because they need their political support.

Corruption

Corruption has become a buzz word in this period of post-apartheid history. The term corruption implies that something is rotten. A corrupt fruit is inedible and should be thrown away. The widespread corruption that affects South Africa today undermines the rule of law and prevents the state from fulfilling its function, which is to deliver basic services to all people living in the country, including foreigners, and to ensure their well-being.

Corruption is not unique to South Africa. It is worldwide phenomenon. It is not proper to post-apartheid South Africa either. There were high levels of corruption under the previous regime. But that is not a reason to condone the current situation. There are indications that in recent years corruption has reached levels never experienced before. South Africa reportedly lost R1,5 trillion between 2014 and 2019, which should have been allocated to service delivery.^[18]

One should also note that while corruption often involves public servants, it also concerns the business people who harbour a corrupt relationship with them. Decision makers and service providers often know each other. They sometimes belong to the same family or clan. Both the corrupter and the corrupted are at fault. In some cases, the corrupter is an international company as in the infamous arms deal scandal in the late 1990s whose political and judiciary consequences are still felt today.

Corruption is not restricted to the rich and the powerful. The car driver who gives ‘cool drink’ money to a Traffic Department official to avoid a speed fine contributes to the moral decline of the country. One can speak of corruption when civil servants enjoy the benefit of a salary without doing the job for which they are paid, thus depriving the public of a service to which it is entitled.

The most common pattern in corruption is a manipulated tender with hugely inflated prices and appointment of recently registered companies with no experience in the field that are linked to the officials awarding the tender. When whistle blowers reveal the scandal, the authorities speedily suspend the culprit with full pay to appease the noise in the media. The corrupt officials and their accomplices in the business sector are rarely called to account. Thanks to internal complicity, the disciplinary hearings mandated by law never take place. The corrupt use all the legal resources at their disposal to avoid sanctions. Not infrequently, they lay trumped up charges against the whistle blowers with the complicity of equally corrupt members of the South Africa Police Service or the judiciary to silence the witnesses. The majority of implicated officials and related business companies accused of corruption thus escape prosecution. The impunity they enjoy inspires other role players to follow their example.

The Zondo Report documented in great details massive fraud and corruption in South African Airways (SAA), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Transnet, Denel, Bosasa, Eskom, the State Security Agency and Crime Intelligence and other state agencies. In a letter dated 24 August 2020 to the ANC members about corruption President Ramaphosa denounced ‘a disturbing level of grand corruption, where individuals were placed in various institutions to manipulate procurement and other processes to siphon off massive amounts of funds for a network of politicians, public servants and businesspeople.’ There is no sign, however, that the South African government and the governing party have the political will to put an end to corruption.

 

A case in point is the so-called ‘Blanketgate’ scandal. In March 2023 KwaZulu-Natal Social Development officials who were placed on suspension after being implicated in the 2020 irregular procurement of blankets to the tune of R22 million, were allowed to return to work. Among other things, the officials had been accused of procuring 48 000 blankets at inflated prices, with some suppliers paid in advance in contravention of treasury’s procurement guidelines.

Corruption and organised crime often go hand in hand. Two reasons explain why corruption goes on unabated despite the political leaders’ regular promises to put an end to it. The first is that it relies on a vast network of patronage which maintains these political leaders in power. The second is that, in a mafia-type fashion, corrupt officials and their partners in the business world do not hesitate to resort to crime to silence whistle blowers. It is risky to denounce corruption. Violence monitors such as Mary de Haas, a respected human rights advocate in KwaZulu-Natal, speak more and more of the criminalisation of the South African state.^[19] Not all violent crimes are linked to corruption but many of them are. There are numerous unresolved cases of murders, never properly investigated, which are allegedly linked to beneficiaries of corruption.

The Eskom crisis, which undermines the economic prospects of the country and causes distress among small business owners and ordinary citizens as a result of load shedding is also related to corruption and crime. In 2022, Eskom confirmed that some acts of sabotage were done by contractors looking to secure further work from the power utility after a culprit was caught in the act and confessed. According to a report, Eskom is ‘under siege by criminals, from low-level opportunistic and petty thieves to complex and highly organised syndicates’. The list of criminal activities includes coal theft, diesel theft, contract exploitation, high-level corruption and threats of violence.^[20]

Looking at the root causes of the crisis

It is our responsibility as citizens and disciples of Jesus Christ to look at the root causes of the current crisis and, once these are identified, to search for solutions in the light of the Gospel.

1. Lack of a sense of belonging

An important cause of the crisis is a general lack of a sense of belonging. To put it differently, it is the inability to develop among the inhabitants of the country a proper South African identity. This is another aspect of the legacy of apartheid when people were governed by unjust laws. One of the main failures of post-apartheid South Africa has been its inability to develop among all, rich and poor, black and white, young and old, a new sense of belonging. The dream of a rainbow nation remains elusive. If so many crimes are committed, if so little care is taken of the environment, if simple rules of life in society are not respected, it is because the citizens do not realise how interdependent they are and that they should care for others if they want to be cared for by others themselves. Instead we have a situation when people grab the opportunity to make quick money when they can, leaving their brothers and sisters on the side of the road.

A sign of this phenomenon is the looting and burning of commercial centres, health infrastructures and banks in July 2021 by people who previously used these facilities. They destroyed their own infrastructures without realising that these belonged to them and were necessary for their own survival. People in South Africa have not developed respect for their own country. They do not feel responsible for it. The absence of a sense of belonging is indicative to an absence of social cohesion.

1. A widespread culture of entitlement

Related to this is a widespread culture of entitlement. Many believe that they are entitled to power and wealth without recognising that these benefits, if they accrue to them, ought to be associated with a sense of responsibility. The South African Constitution, on paper one of the best in the world, not only speaks of rights, it also speaks of duties. It is understandable that those who have been deprived of dignity by a violent and unjust regime for a long time want respect and consideration. It is legitimate for the poor to do everything they can to move away from poverty and have a good life. But this does not justify being rich and powerful at the expense of the poor when the opportunity arises. South African society was unequal under apartheid. That it continues to be unequal today, with a certain redistribution in the top echelons of society but still massive poverty at the bottom, is a tragedy.

1. No empathy for the suffering of the poor

This leads us to the third cause of the crisis, linked to the first two, which is a general lack of empathy for the suffering of the other. How should we understand otherwise the desire to accumulate wealth – big mansions, fast cars, expensive travels – of people who not so long ago lived in the same street, the same area as brothers and sisters who live today in utter poverty? They often want to share their newly acquired privilege with family members and include them in the same system of patronage. They refuse to see, however, that their wealth deepens the gap between them and their former neighbours. They are like the rich man of the Gospel who lives a luxurious life without seeing the hunger and the pain of Lazarus at his door (Luke 16:19-31).

A similar lack of empathy is displayed by the civil servants who neglect their duty while long queues of customers, some of them aged or with children, wait outside the building. Or the health workers in public hospitals and clinics who leave patients unattended in the corridors for long periods of time without a word of comfort, forgetting that these patients could be their father, their mother, their brother or their sister. Overall, the culture of service is lacking.

The common good

All these dysfunctions, whether at the institutional or the interpersonal level, have a similar cause. They denote a lack of concern for the common good. The corrupt officials and the political leaders who condone their actions for the sake of political expediency, the company owners who acquire wealth without paying decent salaries to their workers, the petty criminals and crime syndicates who attack people or destroy infrastructures to reap immediate benefits, all refuse to see that by their action they destroy the very fabric of society. Undue enrichment, corruption and fraud deprive the poor of the services to which they are entitled.

This is where, as Christian believers, we have something to say. The notion of common good is universal but it occupies a particular place in the social teaching of the Church. The first community of believers put it into practice by pooling their financial resources and striving to be ‘one in heart and mind’ (Acts 4:33). As early as the late first century the term was already in use in the Christian communities.^[21] The doctrine of the common good was articulated by St Augustine and further elaborated by St Thomas Aquinas. Most recent popes, including Pope Francis, mentioned it in their pronouncements. The principle of the common good stems from understanding of the Catholic Church as revealed in the Word of God that all people are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Therefore, all share in this most fundamental dignity which is the basis for recognising and striving for greater human equality and human solidarity in every society.

A society driven by the common good is a society where the needs of all people are taken care of and where the communal aspects of life are enhanced. Humans cannot find fulfilment in isolation. They exist ‘with’ others and ‘for’ others. The African notion of ubuntu – we are human through other humans – refers to something similar. Everybody is responsible for the common good.^[22]

One cannot claim to be Christian and ignore one’s responsibility for the common good. Ultimately, all comes from God and returns to God. Those who exercise a political function or hold a position in an enterprise should remember that ultimately their power does not belong to them. They are stewards, not owners.

In the same way, nobody owns the state. The state belongs to all. Elected representatives or members of the government appointed by law are bound to serve the common good and not their own interests or the interests of their political party. The current crisis stems for the deliberate misrepresentation of the nature of the state. It is a political community under a government which aims at fostering the common good. The term ‘state capture’, which has become part of the South African vocabulary, expresses well the crisis under which we labour. Some divert the resources of the state for their exclusive profit. They cheat the poor. This is clearly against the will of God as expressed in the scriptures and the tradition of the Church.

4. A Christian response

There is no immediate solution to the current South African crisis. Christians, however, may contribute to a change of direction by using more effectively the resources of their social, theological and spiritual traditions. The following guidelines will help them in their search for the common good.

1. Telling the truth

‘The truth will set you free’ (John 8:32). Christians know what is right and wrong. Corruption is a sin because it amounts to theft. Neglecting one’s duty when employed in the public or private sector is a sin, since it causes harm to the community. Resorting to crime to protect one’s interests is a sin because it puts innocent lives in danger. Accumulating wealth at the expense of the poor is a sin because it is tantamount to robbery. Pretending otherwise is a lie.

Time and again the Church must affirm the obvious. The attitude of many people in positions of power directly contradicts the message of Jesus Christ. Hiding this truth for reasons of political expediency is morally wrong.

1. Church and State

With the massive amount of nepotism, corruption and state-driven crime we are witnessing it is important to understand how the Church should relate to politics.

Respecting the government and praying for political leaders is legitimate. Church members can and should be involved in politics. To do so is to contribute to raising the moral standards of public life and serving the common good. Therefore, loyalty to a party or a government should never be unconditional. There are moments when the Church should draw the line and refuse to participate in wrong actions or to condone them by its silence. Christian leaders in South Africa today would do well to emulate the example of St Ambrose, the bishop of Milan in the fourth century, who did not hesitate to excommunicate a Christian ruler, Emperor Theodosius, until he repented and did penance. Closer to us, we can find inspiration in the courageous attitude of church leaders such as Beyers Naudé, Desmond Tutu and Denis Hurley who denounced without fear of retribution the brutality and inhumanness of the policies implemented by the South African government of the day. Countless South Africans adopted a similar attitude during those apartheid years.

State religion has always been a problem as is any form of collusion between church and state. People of faith are part of society but they do not identify with it. Party politics is necessary but often morally and spiritually compromised. Parties do not necessarily work for the common good. Loyalty to members of the former liberation movement is understandable given our history of colonialism and apartheid but the amplitude of the current crisis compels the Church to reassert its freedom and independence.

1. Seeing the positive

As much as we should consider with independence of mind and critical spirit the current government’s failure to care for the poor and the vulnerable, so we must avoid adopting an attitude of systematic opposition. Restoring the dignity of the state is a common task. There are indeed civil servants who do their best to accomplish their duty.

We should not throw out the baby with the bath water. That would condemn us to despair. Let us also recognise what goes well. For example, we should note that South African Revenue Service which was in deep crisis a few years ago is on the way to recovery. In 2022-23 the tax collection surpassed that of the previous tax year by 9.7%.

Let us support the government agents and the members of civil society who contribute to the common good. We should also support the community initiatives for the protection of victims of abuse, the establishment of more secure communities and the defence of the environment. The solution lies in a coalition of all people of good will, Christians and non-Christians alike. In today’s South Africa, unless one can form a strong coalition of civil and church organisations who can unite together against or for an important cause or issue, the prospects of succeeding are very poor.

1. Taking risks

What has been said above about the criminalisation of the state must be taken seriously. The criminal networks which benefit from corruption with the complicity of state agents are prepared to do everything to protect their interests. The alarming multiplication of political murders – which is reminiscent of the times of political violence during the last years of apartheid – is a clear sign of this dysfunction.

The whistle blowers risk their job, their security and sometimes their lives when they bear witness to crimes committed by their colleagues or their associates. It is the Church’s duty to give them shelter and protection. Church leaders should use the moral authority they enjoy in the community to denounce the bad faith and the lies of the corrupt officials, politicians and business people who try and use the cover of religion to dissimulate their evil deeds.

But that comes at a cost. Church members who provide assistance to whistle blowers may well, in their turn, fall victims to the criminal actions of the beneficiaries of corruption. The Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer issued a similar warning in his book The Cost of Discipleship. He was subsequently murdered by the Nazi in a concentration camp.

1. The task of education

Thanks to its presence on the ground, its infrastructure and its spiritual tradition, the Church is well placed to help South African society take up and confront the current challenges. Its role is to affirm timelessly the basic values of honesty and mutual respect illustrated in the Gospel.

When handling money, dioceses, parishes and faith-based organisations should lead by example and follow rigorous accounting practices. Irregular or immoral practices unfortunately also happen within faith communities. When that happens, church leaders and members should intervene rapidly and decisively to avoid further harm.

It is also the Church’s responsibility to develop among the faithful and in society at large a better understanding of the nature of the state. In Sunday sermons, in Science, Communication and Reflection (SCC) reflections, in catechism classes as well as in seminary formation more should be taught about the function of government, Parliament and judiciary in a true democracy in order to eliminate violence, theft, fraud and corruption.

 

Conclusion

There will be hope for the country if all sectors of society develop a stronger sense of the common good.  To all we address this pressing call:

To political leaders: lead by example – be the first to respect the rule of law by condemning and eradicating corruption from your own life and practice.

To Members of Parliament: be thoroughly committed to the welfare of your constituency and see to it that government’s promises of service delivery do not remain empty words.

To public officials: ensure that you respect the laws of the country at all times by being accountable for the funds entrusted to your care.

To civil servants:  Do your duty diligently with particular consideration for the needs of the poor.

To the courts of law including the Constitutional Court: strive tirelessly to affirm respect for the law by giving just sanction to officials and members of the public found guilty of fraud and corruption.

To senior executives in the corporate sector: play an active part in reforming the prevailing unequal income distribution system.

To the business community:  contribute to economic development by eschewing fraudulent profits at the expense of the poor struggling.

To the general public:  remember the basic rule to do unto others as you wishes to have done to you, and therefore take care of all creation including the environment.

To priests, religious and all Christ’s Faithful: inspire love for the common good in your community and practise what you preach.

As Catholic bishops in Southern Africa, we have resolved to take the following actions.

We call for a coalition of churches, faith communities and civil society organisations to  find ways of jointly addressing the serious challenges facing us as a nation.

We invite all the concerned parties to join in the initiative to drafting Charter of Responsibilities, complementing the existing Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution, for submission to Parliament for discussion and adoption.

We invite the political parties to reflect seriously on the form of government, be it government of national unity, coalitions or any other type of government, that may be able to follow the journey towards social justice, equitable transformation and democracy that the men and women who fought for liberation had in mind. Such a government would put the common good at the centre of the political agenda.

We request the current South African government or any future government to abandon unambiguously and decisively the practice of cadre deployment, which necessarily includes nepotism and corruption, two of the main drivers of state failure.

 

Let us pray

Merciful Father,
send forth your Spirit upon us the people of Southern Africa.
May we hear anew the voice of Jesus Christ,
inviting us to walk with him across the turbulent waters of our time:
‘Courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.’

By the grace of the Holy Spirit empower us
to bring comfort to the restless,
hope to those who despair,
healing to victims of violence,
and reconciliation where there is division.

May the Holy Spirit heal our families and communities.
Grant us moral and courageous leaders
who put the good of others before their own interest.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
we commit ourselves to speak the truth with courage,
to act justly in all we do,
to share with those in needs
and always and everywhere to respect your gift of life
as we strive to proclaim the values of the Kingdom
in solidarity with all people of goodwill.

Amen.

^[1] Gaudium et Spes, 4.

^[2] The Kairos Document. A theological comment on the political crisis in South Africa (Braamfontein: ICT, 1985, 2^nd ed., 1986), pp. 1, 30.

^[3] Pope Francis, ‘Christians cannot be indifferent to corruption’, Angelus address, Rome, 18 October 2022.

^[4] South Africa’s Gini coefficient, a statistical measure of the inequality of income or wealth within a nation or a group, is currently of 63, which is by far the highest in the world.

^[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/813010/youth-unemployment-rate-in-south-africa/.

^[6] https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=16235.

^[7] ‘Extreme inequalities. The distribution of household wealth in South Africa’, Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED), December 2020.

^[8] Equal Education Law Centre report, quoted in Tebogo Monama, ’80% of schools are dysfunctional, serve mostly black and coloured pupils, says report’, News 24, 11 July 2022.

^[9] Luvuyo Mehlwana, ‘Fed up community in rural Eastern Cape starts their own health facility’, Spotlight, 3 December 2020.

^[10] Joan Igamba, ‘Water crisis in South Africa’, Greenpeace Africa, 5 July 2022.

^[11] ‘South Africa is road-shedding because provincial and local governments don’t maintain roads, not because of e-tolls’, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), 17 February 2022.

^[12] Zainul Dawood, ‘More than a third of police vehicles in KwaZulu-Natal are in various stages of repairs at police garages’, IOL, 3 June 2023.

^[13] Wandiswa Ntengento, ‘South Africa: smuggling of rifles fuels violence’, Africanews, 14 July 2022.

^[14] Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, quoted in Chris Ndaliso, ‘Ezemvelo building crumbling’, The Citizen, 3 February 2022.

^[15] Amos Motloding, ‘Stop the dumping pandemic in townships’, The Sowetan, 18 November 2022.

^[16] SACBC, Statement in response to the President’s implementation plan on State Capture Commission, [7 November 2022].

^[17] Judicial Inquiry into State Capture, Part 6, Vol. 4.

^[18] Londiwe Buthelezi, ‘SA lost R1,5 trillion to corruption in five years’, News 24, 23 June 2021, quoting  a study commissioned by the South African Institute of Chartered Accounted (SAICSA) to the Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Complex Systems in Transition. See

^[19] Mary de Haas, Keynote Address, Summit on corruption held in Mariannhill, KwaZulu-Natal, under the auspices of the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council, 1^st March 2023.

^[20] ‘Sabotage at Eskom is rampant: report’, Businesstech, 29 January 2023.

^[21] Epistle of Barnabas

^[22] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 164-168