Response to S’bu Zikode’s article by Jacques Depelechin

Dear S’bu Zikode and Dear members of Abalhali baseMjondolo,

I have just read your description of what has happened, and I find it hard to believe. There is no point being long because you have written so eloquently that it would be impossible to do better.

This one thing though. How is this possible in the land of those who gave everything so that such things would not happen again, ever? Am I naive? Where have all those great voices which stood up for the poor, for the non whites? Where are they? Is it possible that there is so much work that they cannot be heard where you were?

Is South Africa listed as a Christian country?

I am asking for a very simple reason. I have never met anyone who says that Francis of Assisi was a bad person. In fact, whenever the name comes up, people’s eyes brighten up, whether they are believers or not. Francis of Assisi became the patron saint of the poor because he loved the poor beyond anyone, including himself.

Are there Franciscans in South Africa? I am wondering because if there are any, one would think that they would support you, in memory of the great man from Assisi.

But above all, S’bu Zikode, thank you for speaking up. As Martin Luther King once pointed out, to be honest and remain silent as a contradiction. He said he was not worried about silences, but he was worried about honest people who remained silent.

Do take care, jd