The
S outher n C ross
August 14 to August 20, 2013
When is violence justified?
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‘Use Constitution and ethics to fix SA’s problems’ BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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HOSE who fought for a democratic South Africa “got what we were fighting for”, and now the democratic structures must be used to fight corruption and inequality, according to retired Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs. Addressing a round table discussion on leadership of service, hosted by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, Mr Sachs said: “We’ve got the constitution that we fought so many years for. It alone won’t solve issues of inequality and corruption, but the structures it provides will.” Mr Sachs was in exile in Mozambique where he served the constitutional committee and the national executive committee of the African National Congress. After the movement’s unbanning, he played an active role in the negotiations which led to South Africa becoming a constitutional democracy. In his address, he recalled his work with Oliver Tambo, president of the ANC in exile during the 1980s. “OR [Tambo] had the greatest influence on my life, yet he is barely known outside of this country; only as an airport,” Mr Sachs told the group of civil society leaders. He said Nelson Mandela played a “fantastic” role in the country’s democracy, but “he didn’t create the movement, he didn’t create the values, he didn’t create the culture”. “All the qualities that people admire in Nelson Mandela were in Albert Luthuli [ANC president from 1952-67]. They were in Oliver Tambo [1967-91]. When it’s three people in a row, it’s not a coincidence; it’s a culture.” Trevor Manuel, minister in the presidency, said he had a “problem with the beatification of Nelson Mandela”. Mr Manuel was also speaking at the Catholic event. He said there was a difference between leadership and authority of office. “Leadership is behavioural and it happens whether one is in office or not.” Mr Manuel called for coherence of intention and action. He said a public representative needed to have inner core values. The minister pointed out that ethics and law are not the same thing. Referring to the Gauteng freeway improvement scheme, he said in the context of the constitution, one cannot just make decisions because it would eventually undermine the democracy of the constitution. In light of eTolling, the minister said the government had taken the decision to not tax everyone but only those who choose to
Trevor Manuel, Zubeida Jaffer, CPLO director Fr Peter-John Pearson, and Albie Sachs. use their private vehicles on the roads. It was an issue of ethics, he said. “We have to ask constantly whether steps have been taken to ensure they are in line with our ethics. It’s a matter of checks and balances—with ethics on the one hand and law on the other.” The round table also included a presentation by award-winning journalist Zubeida Jaffer. Speaking on leadership and service, Ms Jaffer said South Africa had a long history of service, faith and education. “We have a strong sense of right and wrong, a strong conscience. Why, if we have it in our blood are we seeing so many straying off that path?” Ms Jaffer said for many it was an attitude of “it’s the way of the world”. This, she said, is corroding our future. The journalist said that South Africans have not transitioned from a war-time attitude into peace-time attitude. “We only know how to march and protest. We don’t know how to be during peace-time.” She said this is an area where faith-based organisations can make a difference. “Interfaith organisations must be in the business of hope. We need to learn to transform ourselves before transforming the country. Interfaith communities can help achieve this.” Mr Sachs said it was sad that South Africans don’t fully recognise how great the country is. “It’s good that we take so many things for granted, but at the same time it’s sad.” He concluded: “Leaders come and go; we should not worry about the personalities we see, but the institutions—those are important. Those are there forever.”
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier signs copies of the book A Story Worth Telling, a collection of essays about the Southern African Church edited by Frs Anthony Egan SJ and Stuart Bate OMI, at its launch in Mariannhill. The book is dedicated to the cardinal.
Catholics: Mugabe win not quite fair, but at least peaceful BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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INE elections and nine wins for Robert Mugabe—some of them marred with violence, some considered undemocratic. And the latest election has been met with mixed reactions. “This time round there was little or no intimidation and violence,” said Fr Seán O’Leary of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute, one of the observers representing the Southern African bishops. Fr O’Leary said political rallies in the runup were not using hate speech but instead could be described as “robust campaigning”. Even before the election, Fr O’Leary noted that the voters’ roll was seriously flawed, with security forces being able to vote where they were based, not where they were registered, and the list of voting centres made public only two days prior to the elections. “It seems rigging has replaced violence and intimidation for these elections,” Fr O’Leary told The Southern Cross. The Church in Zimbabwe was concerned about the significant number of voters who could not find their names on the voters’ roll despite having registered to vote. In Mutare, for example, 433 people were turned away. Similar incidents were also reported in Gokwe and Hwange. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe (CCJPZ) and the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops in Southern Africa (Imbisa) noted the positive achievements in
mostly peaceful voting conduct which was described as an improvement of previous elections. But Bishop Alexio Muchabaiwa, chairman of the commission, said by the close of polls, the CCJPZ had identified 47 incidents, including intimidation or coercion near polling stations, irregular or inconsistent vote-counting, and a number of observers being denied access to polling stations. Other issues included unexplained shifting of ballot boxes and ballot booklets with inconsistent serial numbers. Fr Peter Chimombe, general-secretary of the Zimbabwean bishops’ conference, noted that many analysts felt the absence of violence alone does not render an election credible since there are many other issues which needed to be addressed. These include “the short time for campaigning by political parties” after President Robert Mugabe unilaterally declared the election date; the shambolic voters’ roll which the opposition parties lambasted for having “ghost voters” and was made available for inspection a day before the elections; state media bias in favour of the ruling party; and the “intimidating role of chiefs in rural areas which gave Zanu-PF an edge over the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)”. However, even if the voting procedure was entirely democratic, Fr Chimombe suggested that the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai might have still lost the election owing to “his soft stand on the issue of homosexuality”. Continued on page 3
HOLY LAND YOUTH PILGRIMAGE 5 - 14 July 2014 Led by Fr SAMMY MABUSELA (SA national youth chaplain) Accompanied by Claire Mathieson of The Southern Cross
A TIME OF FAITH, FELLOWSHIP, FRIENDSHIP AND FUN!
Jerusalem with Calvary | Garden of Gethsemane | Via Dolorosa | Mary’s Tomb | Mount of Olives | Bethlehem | Nazareth | Sea of Galilee | Capernaum | Church of the Multiplication | Armnageddon | Jordan River | Dead Sea | and much more. PLUS Outdoor Masses and hikes in the footsteps of Jesus
For itinerary or to book phone Gail at 076 352 3809 or 021 551 3923 info@fowlertours.co.za www.fowlertours.co.za