KZN Church leaders on the political elite and the poor

...As we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth, let us not overlook the extraordinary features of this 'kingly' birth - an unmarried virgin mother, who is forced to travel because those in power wanted to know how many people were under their control; the announcement to lowly shepherds in the fields and a trio of wise men from afar, of the birth they are privileged to witness, in animals' stable because Mary and Joseph could not find a decent shelter.

It is from outside the proud corridors of power that John [the Baptist] prepares for the Advent of Jesus with a clear Jubilee message - a message echoed throughout the gospel.  The valleys are filled, the mountains are flattened out, and that which is crooked is made straight.  This is not environmental restructuring, but a social restructuring, restoration and levelling, to bring God's plan into action.  It makes clear that the powerful and rich of society derive benefit from the systems of power, but also that these are maintained at the expense of the poor: "thy kingdom come, thy will be done". 

The profit motif of these systems is at odds with the community of restoration and common life that the early followers of Jesus established in their endeavours to "make the paths straight".  We read of this community in the Acts of the Apostles:

Acts Ch 2, v42 - 47:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

...Surveying our own Advent landscape in KwaZulu-Natal in 2009 for prophetic signs, we are compelled to call for repentance, for the paths to be made straight.  The contours and content of the sins of our times are mapped out in the struggles of ordinary people against the forces of oppression or even death:

l in the struggles of the small-scale traders of the Durban Market in the Warwick Triangle.  These traders are trying to defend and maintain an economy that sustains families and makes fresh produce accessible to many poor people, against a proposed mega-shopping mall.  City authorities seem by their actions to show contempt for the lives of the traders and their families, as they act in the interests of the economically powerful.  This is yet another ‘development' that will be paid for by the poor - by the destruction of their means of livelihood and the trampling of their rights and dignity. 

l in the struggle of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the shack-dwellers' movement.  This popular movement is defending its right to organise and speak for itself, outside of the apparatus and coercive culture of political parties and the state.  It has called for land and housing to be made available within the city. By doing so it has exposed corruption and mismanagement in the allocation of houses.  Since September 2009, when the Kennedy Road settlement was attacked by armed and organised vigilantes, the political elites have brought a horrifying wave of violence upon the movement, including forced evictions, targeted destruction of homes, and death threats against its leaders.

In all of these instances, an unholy but, by now characteristic, alliance of profit seeking economic elites and elements in the governing party are implicated in a broader project of elite enrichment and accumulation. And as we look ahead to the coming year, perhaps the 2010 FIFA World Cup will turn out to be the most emblematic instance of this project.

Already, the unfolding logic of this mega-event reveals an elite- and corporate-dominated agenda with disastrous consequences for the poor and the marginalised. In a country with worsening inequality and desperate backlogs of the basic necessities of human life, resources are being diverted to overblown stadia and the like; where the sexual abuse and exploitation of women and young people is rampant, the authorities propose relaxing the regulation of prostitution in the interests of the male foreign visitor/investor; where our cities already constitute hostile terrains in the desperate struggle for survival of the poor, we pursue a diabolical vision of the 'world class' city that must sweep them aside so they are removed, invisible and silent; where street trading provides an economic toe-hold for poor people, we undermine and remove them 'regulating' and policing the sector to the benefit of the big corporates.

We should not be fooled by the description of this event as 'development', which will also benefit the poor. For us it is quite simply another project that will reproduce current economic patterns which deepen poverty and inequality.

Democracy should mean that everyone counts, that the participation of ordinary people is paramount. What we are seeing is the criminalising and undermining of actions aimed at affirming democracy.

But the above instances of social sin of our time, lead us to question the type of democracy that we are developing if it regards the poor as little more than a vote bank, to be invested in only when there is an opportunity for a high return in the power stakes.

For us then, the struggles of grassroots poor people, organised into properly democratic movements, and speaking for themselves, are our prophetic voice telling us all the truth of the situation we are all in. They mark out the substance of our contemporary sin from which we must repent, and they are our sacramental opportunity of grace and transformation towards the kingdom of god. As Christians we participate as co-workers in the kingdom of God by taking sides and taking action in support of those struggles. And in that work of establishing the kingdom of God, lies our hope: "thy kingdom come, thy will be done".

*This statement is released in the name of the KwaZulu Natal Church Leaders Group, with the specific endorsement of the following church leaders and ecumenical agencies:

Bishop Rubin Phillip, Diocese of Natal, Anglican Church of Southern Africa; Chair of KwaZulu-Natal Church Leaders Group

Cardinal Wilfred Napier, Catholic Archdiocese of Durban

Bishop P. P. Buthelezi, South-Eastern Diocese, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa

Graham Philpott, Church Land Programme

Bishop Mike Vorster, Methodist Church of Southern Africa

Ms Nomabelu Mvambo-Dandala, Executive Director :  Diakonia  Council of Churches

Revd Phumzile Zondi-Mabizela, CEO: KZN Christian Council

Ms Daniela Gennrich, Director: PACSA (Pietermaritzburg Agency For Christian Social Awareness)

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Is this Christianity? It was vigilantes organised by Abahlali baseMjondolo, a veritable latter-day sectarian "imbokhodo", that murdered Mthokozisi Ndlovu and Ndumiso Mnguni on the night of 26 September 2009. These clerics are attempting to say that "coercive culture" . .more belongs only to others but not to themselves or to their protégés. Is this Christianity? Without evidence or argument, the power of judgement is arrogated to themselves, blame is conjured up, and is laid elsewhere. Is this Christianity? The clerics are attempting to foreclose on a criminal investigation and due-process trial by asserting from their pulpits a false version of events that cruelly omits any mention at all of the murdered victims, let alone their names. Is this Christianity? . .less by Domza on December 22 2009, 10:28 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Domza It seems every news report of these incidents disagrees with your version. The opinions of respectable church people disagree with your version. Amnesty International disagrees with your version. We both know what certain sectors of the Zulu population . .more think of Xhosas and where they should live. They have been fighting wars with each other for centuries. The difference is that now we are supposedly a nation of laws and it the responsibility of the police to uphold these laws without fear or favour. On the balance of probabilities and having experienced the 'fairness' of the police in Durban (being asked for a bribe to not be arrested for 'assaulting' someone whilst I retrieved my wallet from someone who had tried to steal it - I refused and was harrassed and threatened for about 20min before they realised I would not budge), it seems far more likely that there is favour being shown and dereliction of duty by the police. . .less by Mooper on December 22 2009, 10:47 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Proudly Poor Those complaining about poverty - take note it is good to be poor. by Geanann on December 22 2009, 11:11 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Mooper "What seems likely", to you, is only what others would have to call prejudice. There is a murder investigation going on. Five AbM members are charged with murder, and seven with attempted murder, and there are other charges. Amnesty International . .more at least had the good grace to mention the names of the two murdered men, but the KwaZulu Natal Church Leaders Group has erased the two victims from their account altogether. I don't think that is very Christian of them. Bishop Rubin Phillip's previous response to the murder investigation was to denounce and to shun the legal process, and to announce, jointly with the accused organisation AbM, their own wallaby court, ostensibly made up of "high-powered legal professionals and notable citizens with impeccable track records, as well as distinguished international experts", to second-guess and to intimidate the lawful investigation and the due process of the established courts of law. (See the Mercury, 30 November 2009) This is not o.k. It is an insult. Let them respect the court and not be setting up a rival proceedings funded by who-knows-who. Let them respect the dead with memory and with a dignified investigation and trial of the alleged perpetrators. Let them use the remedies that the law provides, if they wish. . .less by Domza on December 22 2009, 12:04 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Domza's Law It is good to see the churches take issue with the Stalinists. by Not Domza on December 22 2009, 14:01 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Whited sepulchre On 29 September 2009, three days after the Kennedy Road murders, Bishop Rubin Phillips wrote: "It seems that some among the militia that launched the attack on the elected leadership of the settlement may also be among the dead." This . .more weasel-worded sentence proves that Bishop Rubin knew very early on that AbM militants had murdered other people, which other people he tendentiously referred to as "militia". There is no militia in Kennedy Road except the AbM's militia, or "Safety Committee", which carried out the murders. Bishop Phillips's words are calculated to imply that AbM members were also killed, so that he can blame the victims, but in fact there were no deaths on the night other than those of Mthokozisi Ndlovu and Ndumiso Mnguni, who were not AbM members. Bishop Phillips's weasel words are designed to pin the stigma of "aggressor" on the unfortunate dead and injured victims of AbM's armed gang. Phillips's intervention was followed by that of Steven Friedman, Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, who organised a conference in November 2009 to further whitewash the murders by raising a false covering accusation that "democracy is under threat" from the African National Congress in particular. This is a scandal. . .less by Domza on December 23 2009, 06:22 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Abahlali and the ANC's night of the Long Knives Dom ZA how do you know that the Abahlali leadership and Committee murdered these men. I interact with this community on a professional basis and the geenral feeling is that this was organised as a takeover by the ANC leadership, certainly in Durban . .more (Stalin Sutcliffe scorned is a man to be feared), likely in KZN and probably nationally. It's a minature of how Stalin and Hitler conductyed their purges with local lessons learnt from the apartheid government - detention without trial etc. . .less by Amos on December 23 2009, 07:28 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Amos I got it from the statement of Bishop Rubin Phillip posted on the Abahlali baseMjondolo web site on 29 September 2009 and titled "Democracy Under Attack - A Statement by Bishop Rubin Phillip". It shows that Bishop Phillip was already at that stage aware . .more that AbM had murdered people, and that he grudgingly bore witness to this much in a written statement. I also got it from the Amnesty International statement titled DOCUMENT - SOUTH AFRICA: FAILURE TO CONDUCT IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION INTO KENNEDY ROAD VIOLENCE IS LEADING TO FURTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, posted on the Amnesty web site on 16 December 2009. It records the names of the two murdered men. It makes much of the fact that the arrested people are all Xhosas, but declines to describe the "affiliation" of the murder victims, who were, of course, Zulus. It does not claim that the victims were AbM members. Actually, Amos, it is common cause by now that there were two murders on the night of 26/27 September at Kennedy Road, and that those murders were committed by armed AbM members acting together as such. The rest is all dust in the eyes, including all your rot about Stalin and Hitler. . .less by Domza on December 23 2009, 08:01 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Domza What seems like a good point to you may sound like retarded blabbering to others. (See how that adds so little to the discussion?) You remind me of an apartheid supporter in years gone by talking about: the 'terrorists' and the people who were . .more trying to protect their civil rights being traitors. Of course they were Zulus - who else would be attacking Xhosas in the new SA? What about the reports about what the police are choosing not to investigate? No investigation = no arrests. . .less by Mooper on December 23 2009, 13:29 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Domza Domza blathers on and on to try to disguise his party's rigging of the criminal justics system. Fraud and sham to hide its crimes, like the Stalin's show trials which the Domzas defend to this day. by Concerned on December 23 2009, 13:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Be serious, Mooper No offence meant, but this is a murder case. E.g., there is no evidence that Ndlovu and Mnguni, murdered by AbM supporters on the night of 29-27 September 2009, had attacked anybody. You plucked that idea out of thin air. In the Cape . .more Times of 14 October 2009, Professor Martin Legassick wrote that there were deaths on both sides. This is untrue. Neither of the men were AbM supporters. Nor is there any evidence that they were ANC supporters. The two were drinking after 22h00. The armed AbM safety committee confronted them and told them to stop for the AbM-imposed curfew. The drinkers refused, pointing out that the AbM was itself enjoying a late-night drinking party. The vigilantes killed the two. . .less by Domza on December 24 2009, 07:09 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Chappaquiddick The reason this is big is not because the murder itself, though dreadful, is very exceptional. The reason it has become an international furore is because the AbM has been destroyed as a consequence of it. The AbM is a big investment for many . .more people. They are now trying to resuscitate the AbM. This is the AbM's Chappaquiddick. Within 48 hours the AbM had mobilised no less than 103 professors worldwide to sign their untested lying whitewash version of events, attempting to shove blame on to the ANC, which had nothing to do with the crime. The scandal here is not just the sordid crime that the AbM vigilantes committed. The behaviour of all these academics, priests and NGOs from that time and up to now is also a scandal. . .less by Domza on December 24 2009, 07:20 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Typo Sorry, that should be: 'Ndlovu and Mnguni, murdered by AbM supporters on the night of 26-27 September'. by Domza on December 24 2009, 07:27 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Dom So, in the above posts, Domza basically admits that he has no first-hand knowledge about Kennedy Road and the attacks. He is relying purely on his 'intelligent' critique of the statements in support of AbM. Based on this, how can he even purport . .more to claim that: "The two were drinking after 22h00. The armed AbM safety committee confronted them and told them to stop for the AbM-imposed curfew. The drinkers refused, pointing out that the AbM was itself enjoying a late-night drinking party. The vigilantes killed the two." The above quote makes no sense and comes from nowhere. It also shows that Domza is misreading the statements in support of AbM. The first point that is necessary to take into account is that its been proven that there was a mob that attacked an AbM youth camp that evening. Even the ANC and police admit that. . .less by From Below on December 26 2009, 17:04 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Dom - continued Second, AbM never says who killed who. That would be interfering in the trial. Instead, they are saying that the violent people should be held to account but more importantly that there needs to be an IMPARTIAL investigation into the attacks to find out . .more what actually happened. ABM is attacking the ANC because the ANC has clearly been involved in preventing the truth from coming out. The current 'murder' investigation is being coordinated at the highest levels of the ANC provincial government. They have presented no evidence linking the accused with the murders (as is clear to people who were present in court that day). They have tried to postpone the case at every turn to keep the accused in prison even longer. They have even claimed to have 'liberated' Kennedy Road from AbM! So, why is it wrong to call for an impartial independent investigation? Clearly because Domza of the SACP is supporting the ANC which would be implicated in the attacks if the independent investigation went forward. If Domza was not trying to defend the ANC. If he really wanted to know the truth. Then he would call for an independent investigation as well. But obviously, he has no interest in the truth. . .less by From Below on December 26 2009, 17:09 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

FB FB, this is to reply to your 4 posts including the 2 on the thread ?Amnesty International condemns Human Rights abuse of Abahlali members?. Let me repeat, I do recommend that people examine the argument that you support, thoroughly, and do avail . .more themselves of the Abhlali baseMjodolo website, as I have done. I would further recommend that people find other sources, as I have done, and will continue to do. These other resources include material in the public realm as well as personal contacts with people who may be as close to the community as you are, or perhaps closer. I think you should expect this process to continue, because you are calling for society to believe you. Society should respond actively. Having duly-appointed police and courts does not absolve anyone from the duty of making an informed judgement, whether they have 'first-hand' knowledge, or not. This will become easier as days go by and as the country returns to normal after the holidays. In the mean time, you could assist us by directing us to the police version of events that you referred to, that you say states 'that an AbM youth camp was attacked that night by a mob'. My research skills are good, but not perfect. I had not heard of any youth camp. Of course one would like to see all of the police reports. . .less by Domza on December 28 2009, 07:32 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

More about why this case is important What are loosely known as 'the social movements', or otherwise 'civil society' (let me refer to them jointly as SM/CS) are widely discussed in academic documents and reported in newspapers. At its height, a year or two 'pre-Polokwane' (i.e. before the . .more process that resulted in the ousting of Thabo Mbeki and his faction), this 'third way' concept was promoted by SM/CS itself and by other pundits as some kind of alternative to the ANC. The revival and re-democratisation of the ANC not only made the absurdity of such pretensions very apparent, but also coincided with an absolute decline in the SM/CS and its eclipsing by activities from Khutsong to Balfour which had nothing to do with the loose body of individuals claiming to represent 'social movements' and 'civil society' as elements opposed to the ANC. Abahlali baseMjodolo held itself out as an exception to that downward trend. Hence it drew enormous attention from the SM/CS academic/clerical/donor/NGO faction that was interested in an alternative to the ANC. Some of these intellectuals are involved in a project for a 'left' alternative to the ANC its allies. This formation was to be launched in March 2010. Now that AbM has destroyed itself those dreams are in tatters. . .less by Domza on December 28 2009, 07:59 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

A little more The AbM and its supporters puffed themselves up with delusions of grandeur. They had high hopes of challenging the ANC nationally. See the statements of Saint Sbu Zikode for florid examples of this kind of hubris. Therefore it is as well to . .more remind readers that the Kennedy Road settlement where Zikode had his headquarters is only a small collection of shacks. SA is divided into electoral wards. Each ward elects a councillor, and there are as many additional 'PR' (proportional representation) councillors, in terms of an aggregation of votes from all the wards in a municipality. Kennedy Road's population may be 1 per cent of the ward within which it is situated. The ward councillor in that ward is an ANC councillor whose position has in no way been affected by the activities of the AbM. Nor has AbM been able to get a PR councillor elected. How this tiny local situation gets talked up into 'political capital' of sufficient apparent magnitude to threaten the national liberation movement is a marvel of spin and a very interesting study. This is the story behind the story of Kennedy Road. There is already a body of literature from within the academy unpacking the delusional feedback that developed under the influence of donor funding and careerism, with particular reference to Kennedy Road. . .less by Domza on December 28 2009, 08:21 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Domza Domza and his supporters puffed themselves up with delusions of grandeur. They had high hopes of challenging the forum intellectually. See the statements of Domza for florid examples of this kind of hubris. Therefore it is as well to . .more . .more remind readers that Domza's mind is only a small collection of random thoughts, punctuated and strung together grammatically...... How this tiny local brain talked itself up into 'political capital' of sufficient apparent magnitude to be the bastion of the national liberation movement is a marvel of spin and a very interesting study. This is the story behind the story of Domza's postings. There is already a body of literature from within the academy unpacking the delusional feedback that developed under the influence of Chinese funding and careerism, with particular reference to Domza and the ANC crony system. You show your true colours through your useless rhetoric in your last posting. . .less by Mooper on December 28 2009, 15:48 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Domza liberation movement First the thuggery. Then the Domza propaganda. Then the fix of the leagal system by Watch out on December 29 2009, 01:20 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Normal Crime... Just normal crime. Yawn.... The Kennedy Rd murders are just like farm murders. Just normal crime. Nothing significant. Now it is just like the Anglicans and the SACP to make big deal out of nothing significant. by JVR on January 01 2010, 22:41 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

For information of JVR Members of the Diakonia Council of Churches are: * Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) * Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) * Ethiopian Episcopal Church * Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) * Evangelical . .more Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (Natal-Transvaal) * Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) * Orthodox Church * Reformed Church in Africa (Observer Status) * Religious Society of Friends * Roman Catholic Church * Salvation Army * United Apostolic Church (UAC) * United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) * United Methodist Church * Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa * Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa . .less by Info on January 05 2010, 16:41 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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