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

EMMANUEL MOTOLLA: Chairperson, Archbishop Tutu, members of the Truth and Reconciliation   Commission, brothers and sisters we greet you in the name of peace. The name   of our Lord Jesus Christ. We firstly apologise for any inconvenience caused   to this very commission for our failure to have entered into this submission   yesterday because of some certain technical problems, particularly the flights   that really delayed our appearing before this honourable commission. We thank   the commission for inviting our church to publicly share our experience and   suffering during the dark years of apartheid. 
Our contribution in the spiritual war against hatred amongst fellow South Africans   and our ambition for the future of our country
Chairperson, the Zion Christian Church was born after the Anglo-Boer War just   before Union in 1910. The founder of the church, Bishop Agnus Barnarbas Lekganyane   had by then become acutely aware of the attempt by missionaries to erode African   value systems and cultural beliefs. He realised that unless Christianity was   interpreted in a context suitable to the African lifestyle, cultural and political   development, Africans would, in due course find themselves as a nation alienated   from its roots, rich history and religious foundation. Without the infrastructure   available to so-called "main stream" churches at the time, Bishop   Agnus worked tirelessly for the spiritual upliftment of his people and by 1948,when   he passed away, let me pause to say May his soul rest in peace, the Zion Christian   Church was approximately 120 000 people strong. 
In spite of the propaganda war which was waged against him and his followers,   fellow Africans in the mainstream churches in those days derided him and expressed   sentiments like ...[inaudible]. Agnus was less concerned about comments from   his critics. In 1924 when one of his followers asked him what colour he thought   God was Agnus retorted and said, and I quote, "We are made in the image   of God and if this is true, then I assure you friends that when we enter the   kingdom of heaven, you will find a God of your colour". When his critics   read this they immediately spread a rumour to the ethic that Lekganyane claimed   that he is God. The reason for this was simply that people at that stage clearly   believed that God was white and nothing else. Mention must be made of the fact   that Lekganyane missionary work started in the rural areas of the present day   Northern Province. He showed great respect for African chieftancy. And because   of this, many chiefs allowed him to preach the gospel of Christ in their areas.   So great was his respect for African chieftancy that when he established the   church, one of the very first buildings he built was a guest house for chiefs,   who called from time to time to join him in prayer, for rain and good harvest. 
When the ANC adopted its first constitution in 1919, and established the upper   house of chiefs, Agnus was among the first people to applaud, because in his   view and I quote "When our educated young leaders recognised our historical   background the African was on a path to somewhere".
In 1927, when the status of African chieftancy was downgraded by the Native   Administration Act, Agnus refused to recognise that African chieftancy was subject   to the whims and life of the white government. To him, the African chieftancy   was an institution not to be tampered with, least of all by a foreign people   who understand very little or nothing about African culture. From the beginning,   our church viewed habits such as drinking liquor, smoking tobacco or dagga and   violence as against the gospel of Christ. As such, tobacco, dagga, now lately   including narcotic drugs, liquor and all forms of violence were and are still   prohibited in the Zion Christian Church. Agnus proclaimed peace to all people   on earth. So dedicated to peace was he that he even taught his followers to   precede their greetings by proclaiming peace to each other. From 1910 to date,   when we greet each other, we first proclaim "Peace" and then proceed   with our greetings. Similarly, our sermons are punctuated by proclaiming peace   on earth, a doctrine for which we are now so popular.
By 1948, the church had spread to virtually all corners of South Africa and   it was growing even faster in the urban areas. At the same time, apartheid was   tightening its grip around the neck of the Africans. At that time, Bishop Edward   Lekganyane was the spiritual head of the church. Young people asked him if they   were free to join African political movements, agitating for the betterment   of their lot. Edward advised them that as long as their extra-church activities   were not in conflict with the practices of the church, they were free to participate.   Most members of the church then felt free to participate in the broader community   resistance programmes against apartheid. In 1959, Bishop Edward built a primary   school in Morea. The school was opened to members of the community, of the area   at large. Already at the time, Lekganyane was urging for the economic independence   of African people. He requested the church council to establish a mill which   at the time employed 150 people. Subsistence farmers from nearby villages sold   their harvest at the mill, which continued to grow to this day. The present   staff complement at the mill is 180 people who would otherwise have been unemployed.
In 1969 the church realised the acute lack of transport in Pietersburg and   its outlying rural areas, for African people. A bus company was established   to serve the area. Until 1985 the company received no subsidy from the government   and was running at a loss, hopelessly. The church, however, felt that the needs   of the community were above profit and continued to run the company out of its   coffers. Education is seen as a high priority in our church. Immediately after   the University of the North was established, the church resolved to establish   the Khotso Bursary Fund, which assisted children from all backgrounds in their   quest to achieve higher education. Due to its own growth and demand for higher   education by its youth, the church established a new Bursary Fund in 1985, known   as the Bishop Edward Lekganyane Bursary Fund. The present annual budget thereof   is R2 million. The fund is unique in that it considers the disadvantaged background   from whence we come. For instance we recognise that due to our past history,   most black children find adjustment in the traditional white tertiary institutions   sometimes uncomfortable. When such a child fails to achieve desired results,   the church does not withdraw the bursary but rather encourages the child to   achieve better results with the funds support. 
An adult literacy programme in 1988 and basic skills such as bricklaying and   baking were started in 1996 and from our observations are doing well. The annual   budget for both is R1,5 million. In 1974 the church established Marabathuta   High School with boarding facilities. The church then invited the government   to run the school for the benefit of all children from surrounding areas. The   church presently subsidises the school to the tune of R150 000.00 annually and   the amount is expected to grow in the coming years. Recently, we built a clinic   in ...[inaudible] which caters for 400 out patients, representative of the entire   community, not only Zionist. The facility cost the church R2,5 million. The   clinic is intended to serve all the people in ...[inaudible], Mamabulo and Molepo   areas. According to the Department of Health Dynamics, the clinic is already   operational. A post office which serves the general public was also built by   the church at a cost of approximately R250 000.00. Telkom was invited to upgrade   the telephone exchange capacity of the post office and the result thereof is   that all the nearby rural areas have access to telephones, either in their homes   or public.
We place on record that we were and are opposed to disinvestment as a means   to an end. During the time when companies were disinvesting, the church encouraged   its members to enter the business arena to create jobs. We established a forum   to assist each group of business people to create jobs. The reason for doing   so was that these people were the first to feel the brunt of investor's withdrawal   of capital from the Republic of South Africa.
Chairperson, the aforementioned are some of the projects the Zion Christian   Church established. Insofar as our vision for the future of our country is concerned,   we urge our business community and the government to assist in the rapid creation   of jobs. The high crime rate which is presently ravaging our country is partly   due to the lack of employment. Our church, like other institutions, encourages   our youth to value education as a key to a brighter tomorrow. We are, however,   disappointed to notice regrettably that some of our young graduates are walking   the streets with degrees, without any prospect of employment in sight. Chairperson,   this problem needs to be addressed as a matter of national priority. If we continue   to produce graduates who find difficulty in entering the job market, it will   soon become difficult to urge children to go to school. 
Crime is yet another problem which requires our attention. So serious is this   that we feel that the police, the army, and the community at large much join   forces to reclaim our freedom from criminals. Unless the three aforesaid forces   join hands in fighting crime, Mr Chairperson, I am afraid our future is bleak.   We also call upon the justice and correctional service departments to play their   role in the war against crime. There is no point in arresting criminals only   to let them loose due to lack of proper attention paid to cases by the Justice   Department. We also unashamedly call on the government to reinstate the death   sentence. On the other hand we discourage our democracy from legalising immorality   such as prostitution and gangsterism. 
In summation, South Africans - black, white, yellow or any colour - need one   another to fight against all evils and most significantly to bring about the   betterment of all people across the board. As long as love, peace, acceptance,   forgiveness and true reconciliation remain pillars of strength for all Christians,   then with God's help everything will be possible. 
In conclusion, Chairperson, and honourable members of the commission, I am   tempted to quote wise words from the holy book which read as follows
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. It   is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running   down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of heaven were falling   on mount Zion, for there the Lord restores his blessing, giving life forever   more". This is from Psalm 133.
May God Bless our country, may God Bless our leaders and its people. Thank   you.