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

PASTOR BURGER: Thank you.
What is evident and what was evident on that day - because of the spontaneous   character of the reconciliation that took place, was that we didn't only reach   structural unity but much more than that. I can honestly say that something   at the very heart of our church changed. We would not claim that we had reached   absolute spiritual cohesion at that point, such a claim would be arrogant. What   we can state unequivocally is that our unity and bonding are growing steadfastly.   We can state equally unequivocally that we are committed and determined to the   attainment of total unity in all senses of the word.
Commissioners, we can today in all humility state that our original submission   to you is a sign of how the bonds in the AFM family are cementing. It is our   humble suggestion that our submission is a rather unique document. It is to   the best of our knowledge the only church submission to you in which members   of all colours of this rainbow nation accept collective responsibility for the   past.
Not so long ago we would have regarded someone suggesting that such a thing   could happen in our church, a mad hatter. We thank God for letting truth, wisdom   and consensus prevail. Let me be unambiguously honest and say that all our members   did not agree with unity, some do not agree with our appearance here today.   We have had resignations, we have had poisoned mail, we have been labelled   "sell-outs", thus it must be clear to you that we have paid a price   for our convictions.
We proclaim fearlessly that we are doing what we are doing today - we believe,   is in line with the word of God and have no doubt that the future will prove   us correct. We took a look at ourselves and found that in all our ranks we had   members who had committed transgressions. For instance, the State being the   major employer during the apartheid years, many of our members worked for it.   Whichever way we may look at it, we helped to keep the system going and thereby   prolonged the hurt of apartheid. 
In the more gruesome arena people were slain and injured on both sides of the   line, often people died without the approval of the previous government or the   struggle movements. There came days when people on all sides became severely   frustrated and vented their anger unilaterally. There were traitors on all sides,   some did it for money - life was hard, at times hunger pains and cold put out   minds the virtues of morality and ethics. 
Others did it because they thought they were doing the nation and God a service,   fighting what they had been indoctrinated to believe was ungodly. One of the   people here with me today was tortured on a Sunday morning by a fellow AFM member   who then went off to church, it is sickening but true. But one needs to look   at the days we were living in, be it far from me to push blame recklessly onto   another establishment. The fact is, that the ordinary man in the street was   dependent on the media for information. 
The State machinery controlled the print and the electronic media by way of   legislation or direct holding, as was the case of the SABC. When Pastor Chikane   and I were born, much of this already was the case. So on the one side, Whites   were steadily being indoctrinated through liberal doses of contorted and distorted   information, while people of colour were increasingly being incensed.
Should we not have been more critical of what we were told, should we not have   challenged and resisted more? The questions are many and the answer to all of   them is "Yes, we all failed terribly". However, the fact is that   by the time most of us were born, the National Party already was in power. I   was born and reared in an environment in which one did no challenge - I'm stating   this as a fact, I'm not using it in mitigation.
But Commissioners, this brings me to what we consider the cardinal reason for   the AFM delegation being here today. We have admitted the errors of our ways,   we have apologised collectively and individually to each other. We have apologised   to those beyond the reach of the AFM which we might have caused harm to. We   now are faced by the enormous task of getting to grips with questions such as   reconciliation, healing, bridge building, poverty, joblessness, creating a mentality   of challenging government and keeping an eye on those ruling over us, in a bid   to prevent the mistakes and sins of yesteryear being repeated.
Questions, such as investment, education and the most prickly of pears, recompense.   Healing alone is multi-ferrous in nature. There is the question of healing needed   by those who suffered, the demands of healing needed by those who dispense suffering.   The poser of healing of those bereaved by the...[indistinct] system.
The problem of healing those hardened and turned inhumane by frustration and   indoctrination. The liberating healing of those embittered because their land   and belongings have been seized. There is the effort needed in healing those   who cannot come to grips with the past, of those baffled by what is now happening   and of those without any framework of reference of yesterday and less of tomorrow.   And there is healing attainable only through reparation, be it spiritual, physical   or financial.
The finest remedy to bring about all these cures remains the gospel of Jesus   Christ. As a united church, we believe we are well placed and consider it our   duty at the very least, to do all within the reach of our cable tow to bring   about healing. We are today committed to a continuous programme of communications   and interfaction, interfacing with the larger of South African society.
Communications have been severely - and to our detriment, overlooked by our   church and we are today taking expert opinion on this matter. In line with this,   we are actively promoting efforts aimed at helping our members of different   colour groups to get to know each other. As this drive of getting to know brothers   and sisters across colour lines gains momentum, we are seeing increasing signs   of acceptance.
Acceptance in turn is helping us to get to know the history of the AFM better.   It is a necessity that the true history of the AFM be written and taught to   our members. We believe today that the better a people knows it's history, the   more unlikely it is that it will again in future fall into the same pitfalls   of the past.
We are finding that as we give ...[indistinct] to this side of our effort,   our people are developing increasing empathy and sympathy with those who suffered   and with those who caused the suffering. Some suffered because of what they   believed to be the right things to do, others are today suffering because of   guilt of what they had done to those. In this atmosphere of growing understanding,   we are prompting people to venture into areas that had been alien to them before   - call it bridge building if you wish.
And it is at this point where we find the real truth emerging. This well nigh   jealous pursuit of truth we regard as the single most important ingredient of   the elixir of healing, this is hard work but we want to assure you that we are   determined to reach our goal. It is in line with this that we are in the process   of re-evaluating our training programmes and taking a fresh look at our educational   institutions.
We believe we need to give our pastors a clear picture of what we are doing   and why, they are the leaders and can give it through to the congregations and   societies they operate in. Wee are trying our hardest to make the church more   accessible to all. We are propounding our belief that the idea of our buildings   for instance being used only on Sundays for worshipping, should be ended.
A church serves it's community, be it a soup kitchen, a creche or school   and in this way the people will feel more at home and it will help to spread   the gospel to them. In this way also, our pastors will get a better insight   into the grass roots needs of their society and can call on the rest of the   church to help in the areas where help is most needed.
Put together, all these efforts are helping to inculcate a spirit of sharing.   As an example, it has becoming increasingly unacceptable in the AFM to have   a congregation with a hefty bank balance, while only a kilometre away from there   is a church in which the pastor does not know where the next meal will come   from. The AFM's social welfare department is working fullsteam - in addition   to it's other activities, on the question of empowerment and even job creation.
We have self-help schemes but are spending more on schemes that will help people   help themselves. Some of our congregations have started Kibbutz-like operations   where jobless people and down and outs are taught skills they could apply to   earn a living on return to society. We have drug rehabilitation centres, orphanages,   old age homes and other schemes.
Onto another avenue, we believe that much of what had gone askew in the past   was the result of churches not having observed the fine dividing line between   church and State. Many believers were adamant for instance, that the terrain   of politics was not for christians and yet the church - the one institution   which no government can destroy, meekly followed.
To combat this, we are today encouraging our people to take part in their society,   in politics, in what is going on around them. With the aid of expert communications   opinion we now employ, we have come to the belief or be it belatedly, that the   church had in the past been on tow often because it was ill informed. Today   we have heeded communications advice that the more our people are involved in   their own environments, the better they will be informed.
Through spreading that information to their fellow christians, congregations   and congregants, we be able to take better decisions - decisions taking only   after multi-inputs. We have no fear of our people going astray, provided they   remain true to their christian beliefs and in this way they will be able to   develop higher moral and ethical values. A spin-off of this we believe, will   help to combat evils such as the current crime waves spearheaded by violence   and dishonesty.
If our prayers are fulfilled, we believe the more peaceable country that will   result from this will attract investment which in turn will lead to job creation   and a more stable society. We have to admit that we in the past neglected our   duty of ministering to those in high office, this led to them ministering their   ideology to us and we all know the consequences.
We are confident that as more and more of our people take their rightful place   in society - even government, doors will be increasingly open for us to do our   spiritual duty in promoting good and Godly government into inspiring those who   watch over us, to display qualities that will turn this world into a better   place for all.
Whereas before the AFM was blinded to so many aspects we today know we should   have been critical of. As we interface with society, as we teach our people   and above all, as we make social justice and upliftment pillars in our strategy,   the AFM today is becoming a force for healing and nation building.
I thank you Commissioners, for hearing us today and I pray that God will bless   you and your work, may he guide your noble endeavours and in drawing up your   report which we are confident will benefit our entire beloved nation. If it's   possible now Mr Chairperson, I would love to have that video ...[intervention]