Archbishop of Cape Town speaks about visit to Tatane family and Easter hope

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Posted On : April 21, 2011 12:02 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO
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Related Categories: South Africa

Archbishop of Cape Town speaks about visit to Tatane family and Easter hope

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba,
reflects on his visit to the Tatane family in
Ficksburg and sends a message of Easter Hope to
all South Africans amidst this despairing situation.

Tuesday in Holy Week this year was a very long
day. As I sat in the Bloemfontein airport lounge,
preparing to board the 6:05pm plane to Cape Town
I realised that my emotions were very raw as I
reflected on the day. I had left Cape Town at
6:00am to fly to Bloemfontein and then to be
driven to Meqheleng, outside Ficksburg.

It had been a very long Journey - long in

kilometres but also long in terms of feeling the
longing for justice to be done and for the
poorest of the poor to receive even the most
basic services as guaranteed them in our
Constitution. The occasion was a very sad one.
Most South Africans would have read about it -
the tragic death of Andries Tatane, aged 33, of
Ficksburg and the injuries to his fellow community members.

Andries and his community members were demanding
justice to be done. They wanted to be treated
with dignity, to have safe drinking water and
proper sanitation - not the bucket system
toilets. They went to present their petition to
their elected representative, their Mayor, but
were met with water cannons, ironically being
attacked with the very thing they don?t? have the
pleasure of in their daily lives. And if that
were not enough, then came a disproportionate
police force which claimed Andries? young life.

A dedicated teacher and community worker, he paid
with his life to get the attention of his elected
leaders. Minister Shiceka should visit and see
the appalling conditions under which God?s people
live. Minister Tokyo Sexwale should visit too and
provide houses. Minister Nathi Mthethwa and
President Zuma should publicly apologise for this
embarrassing act of aggression by police. And the
commander who issued the instruction to shoot
must be arrested too. I hope this is not to be
accepted as a tacit demonstration of the police policy ?shoot to kill.?

As we approach Easter, a season of life and hope,
I want to send my condolences again to the Tatane
family, as I did verbally on Tuesday. I pray that
they may have the strength and courage and faith
to get through this terrible time in their lives.
In addition to the tragedy of Andries? death,
which was ?shared? with South Africans and the
world through the media, I also pray that the
family will have adequate compensation to build a
new home and an opportunity to rebuild their
lives, and that Andries?s death will ensure that
all the Meqheleng residents will also have better
houses and adequate services.

I pray for hope and fearlessness in demanding
that we be served by our elected leaders. I pray
we too may come to know our responsibilities to
one another. Perhaps this may be a positive
outcome of the very public nature of this violent
tragedy ? that we may turn our outrage into
actions ? actions which will lead to better lives
for all our sisters and brothers who still suffer
from the indignities which failed delivery of
basic services imposes on their lives.

We can all begin by taking our upcoming local
elections seriously. In our voting may we
prayerfully consider - who will get the job done?
And once the elections have taken place and our
elected leaders are in place, let us demand
leadership with results ? especially for the
poorest of the poor. They have listened to
promises for too long. And those of us who are
privileged to have basic services and more, we
cannot be silent any longer. We are one family ?
God?s family ? and we have responsibilities to one another.

NOTE: Archbishop went to Ficksburg in his

capacity as Patron of the EMN and chair of the
Eminent Persons? Group of the EMN. The Anglican
Bishop of the Free State is the local Bishop and
All Saints Anglican Church is located in the town of Ficksburg.

For more information, contact Siya Gidi (EMN) at
0729350892 or Wendy Tokata (Office of the
Archbishop) at 021 763 1320. This statement is
being released jointly by the EMN Office in Cape
Town and the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.