Category Archives: Diakonia Council of Churches

A Call to the eThekwini Municipality: Do not buy Casspirs

PRESS STATEMENT: A Call to the eThekwini Municipality: Do not buy Casspirs

We are outraged at the plan for the City of Durban to purchase militarised vehicles to deal with protests by the people of the Durban. This marks an alarming and unacceptable escalation of the local state’s increasingly repressive and intolerant response.

The protest actions themselves highlight the deep crises and challenges that we need to be facing together as a community with compassion and inclusion. What is needed is respect for the concerns, freedoms and dignity of the people. What is needed is the effective and immediate deployment of skills focused on listening, on peaceful negotiations and inclusive dialogue. What is needed is to seriously address the root causes of inequality, exclusion, patronage, elite indifference and arrogance that lie behind people’s protest actions.  Continue reading →

Statement on Threats Made to S’bu Zikode

Statement on Threats Made to S'bu Zikode

When we heard that eThekweni Mayor, James Nxumalo, agreed to meet with a delegation from the shackdwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), we were hopeful that a new page was being turned. Perhaps now there can be meaningful engagement between the organised poor and the City of Durban.

But if there is to be real progress, then the actions of Nigel Gumede (Chairperson of the Housing and Infrastructure Portfolio Committee) in that meeting must be condemned. Gumede made angry and violent threats against S'bu Zikode, AbM Chairperson. We must insist that for genuine partnership to be built, it must be on the basis of respect for all people. The fragile prospects of new beginnings in Durban cannot be undermined by Gumede's ongoing hostility and disrespect. This sort of behaviour cannot be allowed to impede the full flowering of our democracy.

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Diakonia Council of Churches Award Citation for Bishop Rubin Phillip

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DIAKONIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
BISHOP RUBIN PHILLIP – DIAKONIA AWARD 2010 CITATION

I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10) has been the inspiration in Bishop Rubin Phillip’s life. His commitment to ecumenical faith-based work for justice is part of his very identity.

Bishop Rubin has represented not only the Anglican Church but in a real way the downtrodden and marginalised. Bishop Rubin has been promoting a culture of human rights as far back as any of us remember. He appears in many of the earliest photographs, attending meetings and standing at non-violent protests against apartheid – as he was a vocal and fearless anti-apartheid activist.

We can only tell a few stories, give a few glimpses of the many ways in which Bishop Rubin has put his faith into action. From an early age, Bishop Rubin was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement. He was the Deputy President of the South African Student’s Organisation (SASO) in 1969 when Steve Biko was President. Diakonia’s first efforts to focus public attention on the plight of detainees followed the detention of the Revd Sol Jacobs, a Methodist minister on the staff of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). A prayer meeting was organised in Medwood Gardens in June 1981, and there was Rubin Phillip, standing in solidarity with detainees, holding a poster naming the groups being prayed for – including the police.

When involved with the Durban and District Council of Churches, Bishop Rubin chaired the Durban work of the Dependents’ Conference, an SACC programme. There he provided material, financial, psychological and spiritual support to political prisoners, such as those imprisoned on Robben Island, as well as their families. His open protest did not go unnoticed by the regime. In the 1970s, Rubin Phillip was put under house arrest for three years.

In the 1980s, Rubin Phillip had to deal with forced removals. A specific example of this was the Clairwood struggle because the people did not want to leave the area to make way for industries A highlight of 1988 was the declaration by the Durban City Council that the people of Clairwood would not have to move. Diakonia helped the residents organise an interfaith service of thanksgiving, in which representatives of the Muslim, Hindu and Christian faiths took part. Amongst the faith leaders taking part in this joyous occasion was Canon Rubin Phillip, who had grown up in Clairwood.

Bishop Rubin did not retire from working for justice with the demise of apartheid. In the midst of the jubilation and joy of celebrating the fall of apartheid, he prophetically saw human rights violations, corruption, and self-enrichment of the few elites looming on the horizon, and threatening to throw the nation back to the dark days.

In the post apartheid era, when he saw that justice was under threat, Bishop Rubin openly took a stand in solidarity with the victims, and has not hesitated to apportion blame where it belonged. Believing that racism is still a reality in our society, Bishop Rubin played a key role in welcoming and working with the World Council of Churches’ delegation to the World Conference against Racism (WCAR) in August 2001. Racism and discrimination have always been at the centre of his consciousness. At the special service organised by Diakonia just before the opening of the WCAR, Bishop Rubin said: “Christians must acknowledge and confess that racism and intolerance still exist in the church.”

In 2007, he and other church leaders issued a statement testifying to the brutality and political intolerance that the Sydenham police had unleashed against the shack dwellers’ movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo. Believing in the genuineness of their struggle, Bishop Rubin has openly and unashamedly stood by Abahlali through their trials and tribulations, offering his full support. He supported their legal battle to have the KZN Slums Act declared unconstitutional.

Since September 2009, Bishop Rubin has released numerous press statements condemning the violent persecution of Abahlali in the Kennedy Road informal settlement, blaming political interference. He has repeatedly called for an independent commission of enquiry into the Kennedy Road violence of September
2009 ‘to establish the truth’.

Believing that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, Bishop Rubin’s commitment to justice and human rights saw him leading solidarity and advocacy work in support of human rights and justice in South Africa’s neighbour. With the escalation of the socio-political dynamics in Zimbabwe, Bishop Rubin together with Paddy Kearney, successfully obtained a court interdict preventing arms shipments destined for the brutal regime in Harare – with its history of blatant violations of human rights – from being transported through South Africa.

In 2008, when a wave of xenophobic violence unleashed in South Africa, Bishop Rubin campaigned for the protection of foreign nationals. Due to his strong efforts and advocacy, the foreign nationals received shelter and support from churches and civil society organisations.

His commitment to human rights and his influence did not go unnoticed by the international community. In 2009 Bishop Rubin was honoured with the International Bremen Peace Award in the Category Public Engagement towards justice and peace.

We could speak of what Bishop Rubin personally suffered as a result of his firm opposition to oppression, of being under house arrest, of having people you know well and respect deeply, die cruelly and unjustly as they did under apartheid. His voice has been persistently clear about concern for those who needed justice, bringing them to the attention of member churches, challenging and mobilising them to plan an appropriate response. Talking of those who suffer, he said: “We owe it to them to amplify their call for justice.” And so his prophetic voice continues to ring out.

There is so much more that could be said, but these few stories of Bishop Rubin’s strong commitment to justice and human rights are why today Diakonia chooses to present him with the Diakonia Award.

Bishop Rubin you have served the discourse of human rights with distinction.

Diakonia salutes you, Bishop Rubin. We salute you for your outstanding contribution and your challenge to us and to the churches far and wide, to be in solidarity with those who are marginalised and who are suffering; for your support of those who are victims of injustice.

For us at Diakonia, it is to thank you for your devoted service to human rights, to justice and to democracy through many long years – from the days of the struggle against apartheid to the struggle against poverty, corruption and injustice.

And for this we honour and salute you!

Bishop Rubin Phillip awarded Diakonia Award

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http://anisa.org.za/news/20100823/bishop_rubin_phillip_awarded_diakonia_award

Click here to read the award citation.

Bishop Rubin Phillip awarded Diakonia Award

Right Reverend Rubin Phillip, Anglican Bishop of Natal, has been conferred with the Diakonia Award for devoted service to human rights, justice and democracy.

Bishop Phillip was honoured at the annual Diakonia Lecture and presentation of the Diakonia Award ceremony at the Durban City Hall on 12 August.

In justifying Bishop Phillip’s choice for the Award, the Diakonia Council – the supreme decision making body of the organisation – noted his involvement with the anti apartheid movement as far back as the 1960s, through his advocacy and involvement in the Zimbabwe crisis to his solidarity with the shack dwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo.

The Council acknowledged Bishop Phillip as a veteran anti-apartheid activist who was put under house arrest for three years by the apartheid regime due to his open protest in the 1970s.

“In the post apartheid era”, the Council said, “when he saw that justice was under threat, Bishop Rubin openly took a stand in solidarity with the victims, and has not hesitated to apportion blame where it belonged.”

They added that Bishop Phillip’s commitment to justice and human rights was not confined to South Africa’s borders. Rather, his firm conviction that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, saw him leading solidarity and advocacy work in support of human rights and justice in Zimbabwe.

“With the escalation of the socio-political dynamics in Zimbabwe, Bishop Phillip together with Paddy Kearney, successfully obtained a court interdict preventing arms shipments destined for the brutal regime in Harare – with its history of blatant violations of human rights – from being transported through South Africa”, the Council said.

Recently, the Council noted, Bishop Phillip has had to deal with the Abahlali crisis. “Believing in the genuineness of their struggle, Bishop Phillip has openly and unashamedly stood by Abahlali through their trials and tribulations, offering his full support. He has released numerous press statements condemning the violent persecution of Abahlali in the Kennedy Road informal settlement blaming political interference and has repeatedly called for an independent commission of enquiry into the Kennedy Road violence of September 2009 ‘to establish the truth'”, the Council said.

In conclusion, the Council said, the Award is to thank him for his devoted service to human rights, to justice and to democracy through many long years – from the days of the struggle against apartheid to the struggle against poverty, corruption and injustice.

In his acceptance speech, Bishop Phillip said he dedicates the Award to shack dwellers, especially those from Kennedy Road and all those who have stood in solidarity with them.

He urged politicians to fulfil their electoral promises or else the church will continue to pressure them to deliver. “The Municipality must provide water, electricity and adequate housing to shack dwellers. We will continue to knock at the doors of politicians until the situation is resolved. If we could host the World Cup, why can we not provide water and electricity to a handful of shackdwellers?” he asked.

Delivering the Annual Lecture at the same gathering, Dr Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of the FIFA 2010 Local Organising Committee, who was sharing the stage with his wife, Revd Roxanne, speaking on How does the church contribute to sustaining the spirit of nationhood, after the World Cup? said he had no regrets that South Africa hosted the World Cup.

Since 1994, Dr Jordaan said, South Africa was a deeply divided nation. It is only the soccer tournament that catapulted the nation to do what it had failed to do since the demise of apartheid.

Dr Jordaan said, “The soccer tournament was a second liberation for South Africa. If we attained freedom in 1994, with the 2010 World Cup we achieved our humanity”.

Revd Jordaan said after the unity enjoyed during the World Cup, the nation is at a point where it cannot turn back to its old ways of division. It is therefore the role of the Church to make sure that the unity is maintained.

One way of doing that, she said, is for the church to stand in solidarity with the poor. “What is needed is a preferential treatment of the poor with the view of making poverty history”.

Revd Jordaan added that the country has enough resources to change the lives of those who starve. “The Church must engage government and demand that they deliver on their promises to end poverty. There cannot be genuine unity when our children walk tens of kilometres to school and when millions live in shacks”, she said.

‘We are not a threat to national peace and security’ – Abahlali

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http://anisa.org.za/news/20100506/we_are_not_threat_national_peace_and_security_%E2%80%93_abahlali

‘We are not a threat to national peace and security’ – Abahlali

Abahlali baseMjondolo are not a threat to national peace and security but are a social movement seeking the basics for survival.

This emerged at ‘A Conversation with Abahlali’ organised jointly by Diakonia Council of Churches and the Democracy Development Programme on 29 April. The purpose of the conversation was to listen to Abahlali and accord the public a chance to ask questions regarding this movement.

Thembani Ngongoma, Abahlali secretary for the Siyanda branch said they are not a group of terrorists but a social movement seeking social justice. He said, “We are not a threat, we have never been and will never be. All we want is for our government to function the way we want it, as enshrined in the Freedom Charter that the people shall govern.”

He said Abahlali have never acted against the law and rejected that they are a [party] political movement. Ngongoma added that Abahlali come into conflict with government because they question its policies and the disregard of the constitution.

Ngongoma lamented the fact that the police and other state security agents are being used for political purposes, the very same scenario that prevailed during apartheid. “Before 1994 the police were used for political ends. Let us not fool ourselves that the system has changed. The police have become the buffer zone between those promised and those who promised them, yet they were not involved when the promises were made.”

He ended by reiterating Abahlali’s fundamental principles and mantra, “Talk to us and not about us” and “Nothing for us without us.” He said, “The fact that we live in shacks does not mean that anybody has to talk for us. Nobody should decide for us”.

Addressing the same gathering Mnikelo Ndabankulu, Abahlali’s Public Liaison Officer said they are simply demanding what government has promised. The government promised, he said, the basics for survival as enshrined in the Freedom Charter, the constitution and in the manifesto of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

He said they speak the truth spoken by the current leaders during the struggle for liberation. “We preach the gospel that is unpopular, the gospel of truth – the gospel of the poor. What is even worrying is that the very same people who are supposed to be the custodians of the constitution are the very first ones to act against it.”

Zodwa Nsibande, Abahlali Secretary speaking on what exactly happened on the night of 26 September shared that the disturbances had all the blessings of the police. She added that the two people who were killed were not members of Abahlali. The accused were arrested as they were trying to escape from the violence. “Instead of arresting the perpetrators of the violence”, she said, “the police arrested the victims.”

Meanwhile, the Kennedy 5 who have been languishing in jail since their arrest in September have again been denied bail and remanded in custody. During the hearing before a new magistrate, the state informed the court that investigations were now complete and the state was ready for the disclosure which will be held on 14 May at the District Court. The state which has all along been claiming that it has strong evidence against the accused is expected to bring forward its evidence to support its claims of a strong case.

(Press Release by the Diakonia Council of Churches and used by permission.Visit them at www.diakonia.org.za.)