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1.1 Sponsors.
1. Visit to South Africa 1.1 Carlos and Adolfo Ham On Saturday 3rd of April we visited the Baksberg community, East Johannesburg. We started visiting in Dawn Park, the home where Chris Hani, former general secretary of the Communist Party was shot dead in 1993. This event trigged all the democratic changes which took place in the country, leading to the overcome of the Apartheid regime the following year. We also visited his grave at the South Park cemetery and offered flowers together with other members of the African National Congress (ANC). Meeting at the Reiger Park Methodist Church, with the local pastor, Rev. Clarence Wentzel, Rev. Christopher Barends, Lutheran pastor, serving in Emergency Services Chaplaincy and other ANC friends. We also visited an “informal” neighbourhood. In the afternoon, we attended the book launch of “One Renaissance, Many Revolutions”, written by Brian Williams, together with Esther Armenteros, Cuban Ambassador and other Cuban diplomats and friends. On Sunday 4th (Palm Sunday) we spoke at the Alexandra Uniting Presbyterian Church, where our brother Prof. Maake Masango, member of the WCC EXCO, is the pastor. The next morning we attended worship and meetings at the South Africa Council of Churches (SACC) with Rev. Eddie Makue (Justice Ministries) and Rev. Mogomotsi Diutlwileng (Youth Ministries) and Rev. Cedric Mayson, Commission for Religious Affairs Coordinator of the ANC. We had lunch with our Cuban Ambassador, Esther Armenteros and the First Secretary of the Embassy, Vilma Thomas. 1.2 Adolfo Ham Tuesday, April 6/04.- Interview with Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Rev. Ivan Abrahams, member of the Executive Committee of the Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation, an economic arm of the SACC. He began by expressing that Cuba was for him a shining example of solidarity with no connotations of dominance and, because of its role in the Movement of Non Alignment countries. He expressed that the churches in SA should move from a theology of resistance to one of reconstruction - some churches have not made the shift. The challenge is now how to be a church in a country with a Constitutional Government. The churches have to be more vibrant and vigilant in order to shape public policy and engage government in partnership. The face of poverty among the black males and females is often hidden. The role of the churches in SA has often been romanticised. The churches are not homogeneous, it is still a struggle because of the inherent contradictions. The church is a site of struggle because of its theology, its mission focus and its programs. In a country where 80% of the population is black there is a resurgence of white hegemony, the “suburban white middle class”. One of the problems is to see SA becoming a ‘big brother’ for the rest of Africa and the pressures of its capital, for example, it destroyed the poultry industry in Kenya. |
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