| THE Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, has condemned the violence directed at immigrants in South Africa, many of whom have fled from Zimbabwe.
The attacks started in Alexandra, a suburb of Johannesburg, and led to what police reports described as “orchestrated anarchy”. The Central Methodist Church was attacked when the presence of 1000 Zimbabweans became known.
Archbishop Makgoba acknowledged that South Africa had failed to help its poor. “Much of the appalling violence being inflicted by our people on foreigners in Alexandra and elsewhere is rooted in deep frustration arising from our failure to distribute the gains of economic growth in South Africa to all,” he said.
“But it is unacceptable for those who suffer poverty and deprivation to express their anger by attacking others who are also suffering from poverty and deprivation. Sadly, foreign people are labelled, abused, and killed, but those from other countries who live among us are just as much our neighbours, whom we are commanded by Jesus to love as ourselves.”
The South African Council of Churches condemned violence against “strangers and uprooted people”, and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies appealed for strangers to be treated with ubuntu, a philosophy of reaching out to others.
Up to three million Zimbabweans are in South Africa. Their presence has brought accusations of increases in crime and unemployment. The centre of Johannesburg was reported to resemble a war zone at the weekend. Armed police used tear gas and rubber bullets on the crowds.
Last Sunday was another day of violence and obstruction by police against the Anglican churches in Zimbabwe. Congregations continue to be locked out of St Mary’s Cathedral, Harare; and parishioners at St Francis’s, Waterfalls, were beaten by police as they knelt to take communion (News, 16 May).
The violence is reported to have extended to all 58 Anglican churches on Sunday. Armed police moved in to surround churches after warning them not to hold services that day. The moves follow a court ruling two weeks ago that dismissed Nolbert Kunonga’s demand that church premises should not be shared with the legitimate Anglican Church, as the court had earlier ruled. Bishop Bakare has asked other denominations for use of their buildings on Sunday.
Churches in Zimbabwe are being urged to speak out against what is happening in the country. A South African cleric, the Revd Allan Boesak, visited Zimbabwe in April as part of a church delegation, and reported back in an open letter to church leaders this month.
“Your cry is the voice of the poor and oppressed, the downcast and the powerless in Zimbabwe,” he said. He was shocked at “the fear with which our pastors live, how they are afraid to say anything at all, for fear of being targeted by the regime”.
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