Melanie's reflection on religion in South Africa

The Role of the Churches During Apartheid

Melanie (front right) next to Archbishop Desmond Tutu at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town

One thing you’ll definitely notice if you spend any time in South Africa is that religion plays a large roles in people’s lives here. For example, people pray in schools, most conversations with strangers will end with “God bless you” and Sundays are quiet, religious days where most people flock to church for the morning and afternoon. At my specific internship at Elonwabeni, we begin each day with a morning prayer session and are occasionally accompanied by a local priest.

Another thing you’ll notice when studying the history of South Africa is the constant mentioning of the role of the churches during Apartheid. After hearing little bits and pieces of the story I decided I wanted to explore that history in depth. Our internship coordinator, Reverend Vernon Rose, was very much involved in the anti-apartheid struggle, often through the church, so I decided to ask him sit down with me to help me get the full story.  Here is what I learned in that interview.

When referring to the Apartheid years, the churches need to be broken up because they all had varying attitudes of the Apartheid regime. First, we have the Afrikaaners-based Dutch reform churches (ex. Herstigte Gereformeerde Kerk) that outright supported Apartheid. They were very conservative and their theology formed the basis for the apartheid construction, often biblically justifying the foundations of the apartheid structure. When The World Council of Churches, declared (The Cottoesloe Consultation) that it is unacceptable for worship places to be racially separated and therefore refused to accept the apartheid regime the Dutch reform churches withdrew from the World Council of Churches (1960). This is very similar to the way in which in the Unites States the Southern Baptists broke off from the Northern Baptists (Triannual Convention, 1834) because they disagreed on racial issues.

Secondly, there was the Evangelical Fundamentalist groups, who never outright supported nor opposed apartheid. This was based on the understanding that they should respect authority and the political system in power, however their silence ultimately implied support.

Lastly, there were the “mainstream” churches. This included the Anglican, Methodist (who Vernon is a part of), Catholic, etc. churches. In 1968 the South African Council of churches was established for these churches and ultimately they constantly called for support to oppose apartheid.

In 1968 an open letter to all churches was sent out to “adopt civil disobedience” in resisting apartheid. Examples meant defying the group areas act, the pass laws (which required blacks and coloreds to carry racial identification cards with them), and other acts enforced by the apartheid political system. The impact was that for the first time the churches, leaders and members, desired to take action and started raising their voices. In the 70s, following the Sharpsville Massacre of 1969, the churches were impacted by more various important events. For example, the beginning of trade unions and the Durban worker strikes which showed the people of South Africa the power of the workforce. In the early 70s the black power movement began to strongly assert itself and people began to see the impact of black theology as a very empowering tool for black Christians. Other events that significantly affected the church and forced them to decide how to respond was the Soweto uprising and massacre on June 16, 1976 and the assassination of anti-apartheid activist, Steve Biko in September, 1977.

The statement that defined the churches beliefs in the 70s was “Status Confessionis” which in Latin translates to ‘affront to ones faith’. The logic of this was that the Apartheid regime contradicts everything Christian’s value and therefore merely accepting it is un-Christian. Once this was declared many Christians felt a call to commit themselves to the struggle. At this time, liberation movements were banned and so the churches played a large role in keeping it alive. Church ministers or outspoken members were often arrested and detained.

In 1982 a similar revelation was made about Apartheid calling it “a heresy” meaning false teaching. As heresy is completely unacceptable in Christianity therefore reiterated to everyone that Apartheid needed to end. Faith organizations became even more determined and this coincided with many grassroots organizations forming to resist apartheid. This involved the encouragement of ordinary people to mobilize around mundane issues and this became a nation movement. Examples are the formation of the United Democratic Front in 1982, TEAM (theological ecumenical action movement), and Christian Institute.

In 1988 the South African Council of Churches and others adopted a “standing for the truth” campaign strategy driven by commitments saying “we will not stop our protests until the regime collapses” and demonstrations very frequent, almost daily up until February 1990.

On February 2^nd, 1990 there was a protest on the parade which turned into a victory celebration when it was announced that finally, after years and years of the oppressive, racist system of Apartheid was beginning to dismantle. Nelson Mandela and the other political prisoners would be released from prison and political parties would be unbanned. The priest from Elonwabeni describes this as the moment when the church community felt so relieved and excited, but he also adds so tired, “we were so incredibly tired of fighting and for everything we lost doing so.”

Which brings me to the next point I talked about with the priest and with Vernon. They agree that in the post-apartheid years the church has been unusually silent. Apartheid may be abolished but the scars from those years remain and the issues still incredibly prevalent. Racism, crime, gangs, poverty, HIV/AIDS, environmental issues, etc. Vernon also spoke of the churches neglecting their LGBTQI brothers and sisters. There is one particular denomination, the Metropolitan Community Church, which is an open and affirming church where many members are those who felt alienated and discriminated against in other churches. Vernon calls all these current issues a “status confessionis” yet there is not so much attention to it now. Nobody can say why the churches have become quiet but I think it’s a quite unfortunate yet understandable effect of many long years of struggle.

However, this is not to say religion isn’t playing a large role in the lives of South African people. What seems to remain strong is people’s faith. It always strikes me when I meet someone whose been dealt a terrible set of cards in life and not only still finds the strength to continue on but also faithfully trusts God and is thankful for what they do have. Being here I am constantly reminded of the great resilience of the human race, which I am coming to believe is one of God’s greatest gifts.

       

Vernon

Melanie, Vernon, Emily

        Special thanks to Vernon 

for taking the time to talk to me J