'Honesty is the Best Policy, for the Truth will Set us Free' - Archbishop Delivers Grootboom Lecture

‘The truth will set us free’ said the Most Revd Dr Thabo Magkoba on Monday evening, in calling for open communications and genuine consultations between government and local communities, especially when dealing with problems of service delivery.

Delivering the 4th address in the Annual Irene Grootboom Lecture Series, organised by the Social Justice Coalition, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town said honest and transparent communication was the key to building trust, and without it ‘the smallest molehill can become an erupting volcano’.

‘True leadership lies in shouldering the responsibility to delivery the promises of our Constitution, especially in guaranteeing its provisions for those who are least able to access them’ said Dr Makgoba, who went on to argue that not only leaders, but all citizens must consciously make choices that promote fulfilment of the Constitution’s provisions. ‘Under democracy we are all on the same side’ he argued, and warned against depicting differences in simplistic ‘them and us, goodies and baddies’ terms, as had tended to be the case in the past. Situations today were generally far more complex, with many factors and different interests at play.

Faith communities, NGOs and the media had a responsibility to help educate all players to such complexity – including, where necessary, ‘unmasking’ those who were wanting to exploit communities out of narrow self-interest, or for criminal gain. ‘Where malign influences are at work behind the scenes, please keep uncovering and reporting them!’ the Archbishop urged the media, underlining his opposition to the Protection of Information Bill. He insisted that press legislation must have a presupposition towards transparency, and contain a public interest clause.

The Archbishop acknowledged the gap between the Constitution’s provisions and the public sector’s ability to deliver them swiftly, but said this was no excuse for national, provincial and local government to act with less urgency. Referring to the housing backlog and the recent violence in Hangberg and Khayelitsha, he described the City and Province as being ‘between a rock and a hard place’ in having inadequate resources to overcome all the problems easily and quickly. But he nonetheless urged them to act with compassion and engage in genuine dialogue, and called for the release in some form of the City’s report on toilets in Makhaza. He reiterated his earlier offer to act as a mediator on this issue.

Dr Makgoba also spoke about recent demolitions of places of worship, and called on both city and communities to uphold the letter and spirit of the moratorium on both demolitions and new building. But he criticised the city for its heavy handling of this, and for the levels of violence seen in Hangberg. Better communication would not solve problems by itself, but it was the best possible way to ‘negotiate our way between ideal and actuality, between aspiration and implementation’.

(Press Release by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and used with permission.)