Christian stands in South Africa

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 12

Christian stands in South Africa

Written specially for “The Press” by DAVID M. TAYLOR, a former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. -

The conflict between Church and St«te in South Africa has intensified in the last twelve months. More Christians than ever in South Africa are asking what their line of action must now be. With the notable exception of the Dutch Reformed Churches, all the main-line Churches have challenged apartheid for the past twenty-five years. Step by step, the Government has not only enforced its will on the huge black majority, but also weeded out the '‘troublemakers" among the whites. Spokesmen for the South African Government continually express wonder at the ignorance of the whole world, which makes the human race "unfairly” critical of their country. Yet all this time Chris.ian leaders within South Africa have been pointing out the • >ked injustice and violence that oppress the millions of blacks. The Government has had to press on with the task of silencing one leader after another Of course, this annlies to persons of other faiths or of none but this present ar’icle deals specifically with church members. October 19. 1977. stands out as a day on which the Government went a staee further Previously many Christians had been driven out of the country, others had been detained without

trial, others had been banned (with all the dread consequences of that punishment). A large number of articles had been banned from publication, so that many blank pages of periodicals” had been posted all over the world to subscribers in places like Christchurch. On hat date, the South African Police and Justice Minister. Mr James Kruger, served banning orders on eighteen organisations and a number of individuals, an action which attracted world-wide attention. From that moment, it became illegal to quote anything that had been written or spoken by any one of the banned groups or individuals. As one international group of Christians has said: ‘‘lncreasingly, the opponents of apartheid inside the country will have to choose between keeping silent and engaging in illegal activity.” The intention of the Government is clearly to stifle all opposition. When information is conveyed from the family of a detainee to a bishop or other church person. it takes courage for that leader to speak up against the cruel torture or other injustice committed against the detainee. Manv who have done just this have themselves ben detained or banned. Amnesty International takes up the cause of persons detained for their be-

liefs, provided they have neither used nor advocated violence. At the end of 1977, the international headquarters supplied to branches, including the Christchurch group, a list of eighteen “religious personnel” detained or restricted in South Africa. The Christchurch group, along with its many activities in aid of prisoners in all parts of the world, wrote to heads of churches in South Africa, and to the Minister of Justice, expressing deep concern about these eighteen. I personally’ wrote to a man who was taking up office in February as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. He is Bishop Desmond Tutu who until this year was Anglican Bishop of Lesotho. Now he bears the very heavy responsibility of being chief executive officer of the council and a frequent spokesman on behalf of the churches banded together in it. Bishop Tutu replied, expressing deep appreciation for the efforts of the Christchurch group of Amnesty International, and thanking all here w r ho give “prayerful support." He then gave information concerning most of the 18 persons named. One who had been banned for five years on October 19, 1977. was the Rev. Brian Brown, administrator of the Christian Institute, which on the same day was proclaimed a prohibited organisation. Mr Brown was free to move into exile abroad on March 29. The most famous of the churchmen on the list is the

Rev. Dr Beyers Naude, concerning whom “The Press” published an article on April 19. He remains banned as do Theo Kotze, Peter Randall and Cedric Mayson, all of whom worked for the Christian Institute. Another who remains banned is the Rev. David Russell, Anglican minister in Cape Town, who had previously been prosecuted twice for protesting against the forced eviction of black squatters from Cape Peninsula. It is not possible for my correspondent to pass on any word to us from any one of these. He does say, however, “they are in reasonably good spirits, given their situations.” Bishop Tutu reports that four on our list are no longer in detention. These include Father S. Mkhatshwa, a Roman Catholic p'iest who is Secretary General of the South African Catholic Bishops’ conference. Those w'ho remain in detention include the Rev. M. Mayatula, a Lutheran minister, and first President of the Black People’s Convention, another banned organisation; and Mr M. T. Manthata. research worker for the South African Council of Churches, who bad previously been detained without trial twice, tor a total of fifteen months On top of that, his third detention has now lasted seven months. Amnesty International aiso reports on Phakamile Mabija, a 27-year-old church worker, who died in detention in the security police hands. He was Diocesan

Youth Worker for the Anglican Church. His was just one of the 138 deaths in detention mentioned by Mr Kruger, in his report to Parliament in April, covering the previous twelve months. Women in the churches have been fully committed to the cause of justice for the poor. For instance last August, Dr Margaret Nash was arrested for lying down in front of a front-end loader demolishing the homes of squatters. At the same time, three Roman Catholic nuns were arrested in Cape Town for taking part in a protest march against the demolition. Fortunately, there nas been so far, no shortage of brave men and women who have been ready to speak out in place of a person who has been arrested or banned. For instance, one who wrote his own letter to the Government protesting against the demolition of homes and the transfer of a crowd of blacks to a faraway "reserve” was my friend Bill Burnett, now Archbishop of Cape Town. Fortunately he has not yet been detained or banned. This year, the Roman Catholic Church felt obliged to defy the State in respect of what children should be admitted to church schools. How much longer must this tension go on? The injustices of daily life in South Africa are at present so horrifying that dedicated Christians are more and more standing alongside the victims against the oppressors. And synods and church councils are backing them up.