Western Cape religious leaders have called on faith communities to be independent of politics.
|||Cape Town - Religious leaders in the Western Cape have called on faith communities to be independent of politics and to guard against being co-opted by political parties, following a meeting this week between religious communities and President Jacob Zuma.
The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum also called for an investigation on Thursday into how R2.1 million of public money was authorised to convene the “nation-building” meeting at the Good Hope Centre on Tuesday.
In a statement signed by Imam Rashied Omar, the forum’s chair; the Reverend John Oliver, vice-chairman; and secretary Mickey Glass, the organisation said it had not been invited to attend the meeting nor had it been aware that the event was to take place.
Faith communities should strive to be an independent voice, “free of government or party political interference”.
“This is one of the most important lessons that we as religious leaders have learnt from the apartheid crime against humanity, when some churches became the racist National Party at prayer.
“In the light of this tragic lesson, the forum has committed itself to resist the temptation of merely being apologists for the political authorities or of being co-opted by political parties to advance their own agenda,” the statement said.
The event, at which Zuma was the keynote speaker, was called “Nation Building through Social Dialogue with the Religious Sector” and was attended by about 1 500 people. Its cost of R2.1m was borne by the national legislature. Only a handful of MPs attended, and all but one – who was from the ACDP – were from the ANC.
At the meeting ANC chief whip Mathole Mothekga congratulated Zuma for “working hard to unite the religious people of South Africa”. The gathering was the result of Zuma’s “good work”, he said.
The forum noted “with consternation that the conference purports to ‘strengthen the ANC’s association with the inferfaith movement’ and that the meeting had hailed President Zuma for ‘having worked hard to unite the religious people of South Africa’.
“We do not need government to unite the religious communities of South Africa. The vital process of inter-religious dialogue and solidarity should – and is – being nurtured and promoted by the interfaith movement ourselves.”
With the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative, the forum had been contributing to reconciliation by striving to overcome the “stubborn racial, religious and class divides in Cape Town for more than a decade.
“Furthermore, as religious leaders we have a prophetic role of being one of civil society’s strongest partners in holding government accountable for its political and moral mandate. This is the only insurance for a robust democracy.”
Because of this the forum had joined a wide range of intellectuals and activists to express concern about corruption.
“We call on religious leaders and communities to be vigilant about attempts by government and political parties to co-opt them and to continue their prophetic role of being an independent moral conscience of society alongside other civil society partners.”
Motshekga was not available for comment. However, his spokesman, Moloto Mothapo, said claims that the event was an ANC rally were incorrect. It had been organised by a multi-party committee and the ANC had endorsed it.
The objective of the event had been to bring religious leaders together.
Cape Times