Special Hearings — Faith Community Hearings — 1997-11-17

MR Z ZITANDELE: I was just reporting to his Grace that you are Mrs Razavi,   the wife of Mr Raxavi who was killed mercilessly here in East London in a massacre   that is still unsolved. We wish to convey to you our deepest sympathy.
Mr Chairman, first of all, I would like to refer to the submission that we   have made in September this year, however, we have got a presentation that we   are making which is subsequent to that one, which might be slightly different   to what we have submitted. 
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of South Africa, on behalf of   all the Bahais we represent, is grateful for this opportunity to share with   the Truth and Reconciliation Commission an understanding of the position and   activities of the Bahai community in South Africa during the apartheid years.   To understand the nature of the response of the Bahais to apartheid, it is necessary   to understand the character of the Bahai community, the overall aims and objectives   of the Bahai faith, its modus operandi and the global context in which it operates. 
The Bahai faith, which is the most recent of the independent world religions,   originated in Iran in 1844. Today the Bahai faith enjoys a world-wide following   in excess of 6 million people, representing more than 2100 indigenous tribes,   races and ethical groups, residing in more than 120 000 localities, in more   than 200 countries and independent territories around the world. In South Africa,   Bahai resides in some 900 communities, although records indicates that the first   Bahais to reside in South Africa arrived in 1911. There was little significant   growth until the 1950's. During the mid-1950's, a number of Bahai families came   to this country from the United States, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and England,   to settle and to introduce the Bahai faith to South Africa. The hallmark of   the Bahai community is its diversity, a characteristic which is highly prized   and actively pursued. The essential teachings of the Bahai faith focus on unity   of God, of religion and of humanity. The pivot around which all other Bahai   teachings revolve is that of the oneness of the human race. We believe that   this is an essential reality of creation. Its acceptance and application by   the generality of the peoples of the world is not only attainable in this age,   but is the sole basis for sustainable peace and security of humanity. The very   kingdom of God on earth as promised by all the divine revelations of the past. 
Bahais firmly believe that this kingdom will take the form of a global society   in which all races, creeds and classes of the world are united as a single family.   The building of this global society is not a mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism,   or an expression of a vague hope. It moves beyond awakening of the spirit of   brotherhood and goodwill among men and the fostering of harmonious co-operation   among individual peoples and cultures. This pursuit calls for an organic change   in the structures of our present day society. A change such as the world has   not yet experienced and it is towards this goal that the Bahai faith has been   working globally since its inception over 153 years ago, and in South Africa   since the 1950's. 
Our actions were and remain based on an unshakeable acceptance of the spiritual   nature of the individual and thereby the community and that religion is the   greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and for the   peaceful contentment of all that dwell therein. True to this teaching, our approach   has been and remains to build communities which strive to put into daily practice   fundamental spiritual aspirations such as love, honesty, moderation, humility,   hospitality, justice, morality, trustworthiness and above all, unity, thereby   influencing change from the ground up. Without the infusion of these values   into society, no community however economically prosperous or intellectually   empowered or technologically advanced can endure. Abhorring all forms of prejudice   and rejecting any system of segregation, the Bahai faith was introduced on a   one to one basis and the community quietly grew during the apartheid years,   without publicity. Despite the nature of the politics of that time, we represented   our teachings on unity and the oneness of humankind to prominent individuals   in politics, commerce and academia, and leaders of thought, including State   Presidents. 
Approaches to individuals and prominent persons were pursued in order to offer   to South Africa a pathway to peace and justice for all its citizens. During   the apartheid yeas, both individual Bahais and our administrative institutions   were continually watched by the Security Police. The surveillance and investigation   by the police was due to the racially integrated nature of the Bahai community   and its activities. However, it would appear that our numbers were too small   and our activities too peaceful to be perceived as a real threat to the government   of the day. Our activities did not include opposition to the previous government   for involvement in partisan politics and opposition to government are explicitly   prohibited by the sacred text of our faith as revealed by Bahalwa, the Prophet   founder of our faith, even should that government be suspicious and ill-disposed   to the aims and activities of the Bahais as was the case in this country. During   the time when the previous government prohibited integration with out communities,   rather than divide into separate administrative structures for each population   group, we opted to limit membership of the Bahai administration to black adherents   who were and remain in the majority of our membership and thereby place the   entire Bahai community under the stewardship of its black membership. Happily,   such policies were eased and we were able once again to have a racially integrated   administrative bodies, which were and are democratically elected by and from   the entire body of adult adherents of the Bahai faith.
In the nearly five decades since the Bahai faith was established in South Africa,   through strict adherence to the principles of our prophet founder, we have forged   ahead and made a modest beginning towards realising our vision of unity for   South Africa by creating a model which can be studied and scrutinised and from   which, we believe, valuable lessons can be learnt. The systematic development   of our human resources was and is a result of great emphasis and spiritual,   moral and ethical aspects of individual and community life. These include the   sanctity of the family unit, importance of rendering service to the community   in pursuit of a craft, or a profession which contributes towards prosperity   and lends momentum to the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth, and   the obligation to educate one's children. The fundamental belief is the equality   of mean and women, stemming from our teachings on the oneness of humankind,   has meant that women in Bahai community have always taken an active role in   all aspects of the work of the faith, including national leadership positions.   The pursuit of our objectives of unity and equality have not been without its   costs. The white Bahais were often ostracised by the their white neighbours   for their association with non-whites. The black Bahais were subjected to scorn   by their black counter compatriots for their lack of political action, and their   complete integration with their white Bahai brethren. The most tragic loss to   our community was the brutal execution of four of our adherents at our places   of worship, three in Mdantsane and one in Umtata.
As we move towards the new millennium, our objective remains unchanged and   our vision remains undimmed. However, our sense of urgency to realise this vision   is more acute. Whatever unfolds in the years ahead in South Africa, and the   world, the Bahais will continue to endeavour to establish global and national   unity throughout the infusion of spiritual value at all levels of society by   developing unified communities throughout the land. We offer the model for establishing   peace in our country.
Again, we thank you for giving us this opportunity, the National Spiritual   Assembly of the Bahais of South Africa.