wfn.org | Mandela/Ndungane meeting clears the air

[Theo Coggin +2711-648-5461 / 487-0026]

Thursday 5 March 1998
Fax: +2711-487-1994
e-mail: coggin@sn.apc.org

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane
emerged from his meeting with South Africa's President Nelson Mandela
today (5 March) encouraged that the air had been cleared, following
reports that the President had criticised him in front of two of his
bishops and several other clergy.

Archbishop Ndungane, who was accompanied by a delegation of fourteen,
including one of the bishops concerned, Bishop Duncan Buchanan of
Johannesburg, said that fair and frank views had been exchanged during
the meeting.

The President had indicated his unhappiness at remarks by the Archbishop
in a newspaper interview published in early February.

Speaking at a press conference, Archbishop Ndungane said he did not want
to deal with the detail of the differences that existed between himself
and the President.

“But we have cleared the perception that there was tension between
Church and state,” he said.

He said one of the issues that had been misunderstood was the context in
which he had made a remark that “Madiba [the popular name for the
President] magic won’t solve South Africa’s problems.” He had made this
comment in the belief that all South Africans needed to pull together
and that they should recognise that with freedom goes responsibility.

“We cannot expect that the President is the only person who will be able
to make a difference. All of us have to do so together,” he said.

Reacting to a question that a presidential spokesman had told the media
after the meeting that he was misinformed, Archbishop Ndungane said he
would not be drawn into responding to comments made by such spokesmen.

Archbishop Ndungane said the government had the unenviable task in terms
of meeting the demands and expectations of people who sought social
upliftment.

Responding to another question as to whether the Church was the watchdog
of the government, he said that all people were stewards of God’s
creation.

“The moral function of the state is coordinate its resources in such a
way so that all people had basic necessities, such as sufficient food,
housing and shelter,” he said. The state’s performance would be measured
against such benchmarks.

Archbishop Ndungane said he had been assured by President Mandela that
his criticism of him at the earlier meeting had not been a personal
attack, and that he had simply been seeking to explain what upset him,
as he had done at today’s meeting.

The Archbishop said he came out of the meeting satisfied that a spirit
of reconciliation had been achieved.

Earlier, the Archbishop said the Church would maintain its stand of
critical solidarity in its relationship with the government. He
reiterated that, when the Church felt it was necessary, it would
criticise government.