Religious leaders of the Western Cape welcomed President Jacob Zuma, President of the ANC and of South Africa, at a meeting at Bishopscourt, the home of the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, on Saturday October 17. The full text of the welcoming address given by the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba follows below.
Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Cynthia Michaels on 021-763-1320 (office hours)
Mr President, Leaders of the Religious Communities, Representatives of Government and the ANC, Honoured Guests, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Bishopscourt this morning – the home of Archbishops of Cape Town for over 150 years.
Mr President, it is always good to have the opportunity to speak, and speak freely and honestly, about matters of common interest.
Gathered here today are representatives of a great breadth of faith traditions. We are fortunate that within the Western Cape, under the general umbrella of the Western Cape Religious Leaders’ Forum, we enjoy good relations with one another. Indeed, we benefit from a rich heritage that comes from living alongside one another over several centuries; and, particularly, from close collaboration forged during the struggle years. I am also glad to say that we work together frequently, and, I confidently believe, effectively – sometimes in partnership with City or Province – to meet various needs, respond to crises and generally further common interests.
Of course, our faiths are very diverse, and we may use different language to express our perspectives. Yet at heart we all share the same fundamental commitment: namely, to human dignity and well-being – and to seeking this in the various ways that seem best to us.
Our Constitution similarly enshrines the human dignity and well-being of every citizen and resident of this country. We therefore find the Constitution provides a fruitful context for shaping our relations with the public sector – whether elected representatives, government officials or political parties. It is the high principles of the Constitution to which we must hold one another accountable, and encourage one another to defend and advance.
Mr President, as you know, all faith communities consider Truth to be one of the highest virtues. You can therefore always expect of us that we should be truthful to you: expressing with honesty and independence whatever is on our hearts and minds, on every matter that concerns us – being critical where necessary, but, I hope, always being constructive.
This is the most valuable role, I believe, that we can play.
As for the matters which concern us – well, these can be nothing less than the entirety of human life and activity. For either God is God of everything, or he is no god at all. There is nothing in all of creation that lies outside his concern, and therefore outside ours. It is a failure to grasp the essence of what it is to have faith, to imagine that life can be divided into religious and secular spheres.
Let me illustrate this from Christian tradition – drawing on the heritage we enjoy from Judaism. (At this point, Mr President, let me mention my regret that the timing of your visit has meant that our Jewish friends were unable to join us this morning; and that the celebration of Diwali has likewise made it difficult for some Hindu representatives.)
As the Bible tells us, Jesus said he came that he might bring ‘life in all its abundance’. Abundant life is no bad goal for either politicians or faith communities! The scope of this abundant life is reflected in the Two Great Commandments – Jesus’ own summary of the teaching of the Hebrew Scriptures. We are created to live in love with God, with all our heart, and soul, and mind and strength. And we are created to live in love with our neighbours, caring for them as for ourselves. Therefore, our aim must be to bring about abundant life in all of these dimensions – heart, soul, mind and strength – and to do so for both individuals and for families, communities, nations, and in all human relations.
This gives us a broad and comprehensive matrix – describing the essential elements of what it is to be human and to flourish. This matrix also offers us a framework for critiquing life, bringing into focus whatever it is that in any way diminishes the spiritual, emotional, mental or physical well-being of individual or community. As we each of us – politicians and religious leaders alike – apply it to our own contexts and responsibilities, it will help us put the spotlight on the particular issues and priorities that we are called to address.
So, for example, Mr President, when it comes to the vital question of service delivery, we must see this as going beyond ensuring basic needs for people’s physical well-being – vital those these are. Service delivery must also engage with the thoughts, the feelings, the fundamental human dignity, of those at whom it is directed – for example, through respectful political engagement and debate with local communities. As Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen demonstrated, upliftment policies are far more likely to be effective and lasting, when those they are intended to assist are given an effective and continuing voice in their shaping and implementation.
Before both God and Constitution, every individual matters and all are equal. We who are privileged, forget this at our peril. More than this, those of us blessed with power or influence, bear a special responsibility to be the servants of those without – caring especially for the poor, the weak, the marginalised, the voiceless, the excluded; and doing so in ways that grant them unconditional dignity and respect.
Let me add a further element to our vocation to love our neighbours as ourselves. This is the care of the neighbourhood we all share: the planet that is our home. Therefore Mr President, it is fitting that your visit here today will be marked by the planting of a tree. And I hope that seeing the Western Cape in all its spring beauty will encourage you to go to Copenhagen in December – for the Climate Change Conference – determined to act as ambitiously and courageously as necessary. My concern is not merely to preserve the splendour around us; but the realisation that to put this at risk, is to risk destroying our entire planet as a place where humanity can safely thrive.
Let me end, Mr President, by returning to the question of what it is to be fully human, and to enjoy abundant life – which is the goal shared by all of us here today. To live abundantly is to find our basic needs met, so we may flourish across the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical capacities of which we are possessed, as both individuals and members of communities. As you, Mr President – elected both as leader and as servant to all entrusted to your care – as you strive to uphold your responsibilities and play your part, in delivering this abundant life to individuals, municipalities, cities, provinces and nation: may you be blessed, and be a blessing to us all.
Amen. Thank you.
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