A Peaceful Perspective... July 5, 2010

In this edition...

• Opinion: Cup brings out our true colours—It reveals a country divided into heroes and pessimists
• S. African president 'patches' breach with national church grouping
• The Peace Cup - Dusty Football in Attridgeville
• Archbishop Thabo Makgoba writes letter of congratulations and challenge to FIFA
• HIV: focus on children
• South African elected to lead new global Protestant group
• Parents fill gap at rundown school
• Anglican Archbishop tells Middle East to Pursue Dialogue and Learn the Lessons of the TRC

Opinion: Cup brings out our true colours—It reveals a country divided into heroes and pessimists

This World Cup has once again demonstrated that there are two South Africans. The one South Africa is bitter, cynical, dismissive and angry. No matter what goes right in the country, it points out the wrong. No matter how successful the World Cup, it sees only incompetence and demise…. But there is another South Africa. This is, I would like to believe, the majority in the population. These are South Africans who recognise that you cannot undo 350 years of colonialism and apartheid over a weekend. They recognise our problems. But they also acknowledge and celebrate our progress as a nation, whether it is the turnaround at Sars and home affairs, or the immaculate management of the World Cup. This group remains stubbornly hopeful, retaining faith in ordinary South Africans to make this country work, with or without the morally impoverished political classes. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

S. African president 'patches' breach with national church grouping

South African President Jacob Zuma appears to have patched up a quarrel with the South African Council of Churches, a key body in the struggle against apartheid. 
 The council was offended in 2009 when Zuma failed to consult it about the creation of the National Interfaith Leadership Council, and did not include it in the new body. 
 The South African Government's Buanews agency reported on 22 June that "Zuma, who held a brief meeting with the South African Council of Churches … said the Church had historically played a key role in government and he hoped it would continue to do so by providing advice and constructive criticism." more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba writes letter of congratulations and challenge to FIFA

On 22 June, the Most Revd Dr. Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, issued an Open Letter of Congratulations and Challenge to the FIFA World Cup LOC and Dr. Danny Jordaan, Dr. Irvin Khoza and SAFA, and Mr. Kaizer ‘Chincha Gulyuya’ Motaung. The letter was titled “Football- a Gift for Today and Tomorrow.” In the letter the Archbishop wrote of his enjoyment found while watching the matches and the fact that the biggest and greatest sporting event (after the Olympics) is being held in South Africa. Yet, despite all of the excitement, the Archbishop reminded FIFA that even though South Africa is in the midst of a “mountain top” experience as the nation welcomes the world to the country, South Africa needs to start planning for when we return down from the mountain to the “plains” of everyday life. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

South African elected to lead new global Protestant group

A South African cleric who has been elected the first president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches says he wants to strive for unity between the members of the newly-formed organization. 
 "Our voice together is a voice strong," the Rev. Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, said at a media conference that followed his uncontested election on 24 June. 
 With some 230 churches in 108 countries, the new Reformed body was formed as a merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Anglican Archbishop tells Middle East to Pursue Dialogue and Learn the Lessons of the TRC

Parties to the Middle East conflict should learn the lessons of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, instead of 'futile' argument about whether parallels outweigh the differences with apartheid, said Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, yesterday (1 July), at the UN African Meeting on the Question of Palestine in Rabat, Morocco. One of the most important lessons was that true dialogue must provide adequate opportunity for every voice to be respectfully heard. He called for the perspective of Palestinian Christians not to be overlooked. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

The Peace Cup - Dusty Football in Attridgeville

The 2010 FIFA World Cup (TM) isn't the only football tournament going on in South Africa. In Atteridgeville, west to Pretoria, a Peace Cup began on June 5th, involving 26 teams from 16 different nations. The Peace Cup is an initiative by Damietta Peace Initiative, a Franciscan inter-religious peace organization, and Caritas Internationalis, the international federation of Catholic Charities. The final of the Peace Cup will be held in the poorest part of Atteridgeville, on a locally cleared and prepared dirt pitch, on July 3rd, in presence of the Irish Ambassador, the French Embassy’s deputy Head of Mission and the Cultural Councillor of the Argentinean Embassy. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

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HIV: focus on children

“Nowhere to be seen” is how one could describe the attention given to children only a few years ago - two decades into the HIV/Aids epidemic. Tear-stained faces and sick parents illustrated how fundraising efforts seldom benefited children affected by the disease. Many important HIV/Aids gatherings used children "decoratively", having them dance and wave flags at opening and closing ceremonies, but did little to address the enormous HIV/Aids-related challenges to children's health and wellbeing. All this has since changed. Concerted efforts by collaborating groups have pushed forward the “child agenda”. The first plenary address in more than 20 years of the International Aids Conference was delivered in Mexico City in 2008, calling attention to the neglect of children and the importance of supporting families. Today, prevention of infection among newborns is a key goal of the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and 10% of its funds are earmarked for children affected by Aids. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Parents fill gap at rundown school

Parents and teachers at West End Primary School in Port Elizabeth rolled up their sleeves yesterday to start fixing up the dilapidated school. The parents decided to do the work themselves after receiving building supplies from two companies in the area. They appealed to businesses to assist them when they found the R17000 they received from the Education Department to fix the school was not enough. More than 800 pupils did not write their June exams because angry parents and school governing body members locked the gates to force the department to listen to their grievances. more >>
Source: ANiSA News