wfn.org | Cape Town Anglican call for creation of a bank for the poor

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

Media release by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the
Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane, Cape Town, Sunday 23 November 1997

Issued by Quo Vadis Communications
on behalf of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Media contact: Theo Coggin 082-900-0168

For immediate release
___________________________________________________

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Njongonkulu
Ndungane, has been asked to establish a commission to investigate the
creation of a bank for the poor, which would have a special emphasis on
the provision and creation of housing.

The request was unanimously made by the Synod of the Diocese of Cape
Town today, following Archbishop Ndungane's call for the shortage of
housing to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The Synod also noted that serious difficulties were experienced by poor
people in obtaining housing and that banks appeared unable to address
the issue satisfactorily.

Moving the resolution, the Revd Courtney Sampson of St John's Parish,
Bellville, said that the days were long gone when anyone believed that
people were poor because they were lazy. Among the things that kept
people poor were high interest rates, he said.

Seconding the motion, the Revd Matt Esau of Christ the Mediator Parish
in Mitchell's Plain said that even the programmes for housing set up by
government had so far fallen short. He noted that there were banks in
other countries which had been established to address similar issues,
and South Africa could learn from them.

Ends statement