Epo1r oti - KORA

Epo1r oti

5ourH ,4FRICAby representatives of

The AngRcQn Church of Cc&noxio.Lg1se. Qn9)(Cne du. Co.ncicIQ.

"We feel our Church and its members must

speak out by word and deed as strongly As

possible, at every level of our life and

through every individual act to continue

to oppose the racist regimes in Zimbabwe,

Namibia and South Africa ."

REPRODUCED BY:

EPISCOPAL CHURChMEN FOR WUTM NC-PICA'Toward, G. free Soot/le r-n Z/r1C3INK west #1 STreet

NeM Mark 1"4j 10011

19'15

GENERAL SYNODANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA

June 12, 1975.

REPORT ON SOUTH AFRICA

Introduction

In response to the action of General Synod in 1971 and morerecent action and events, five representatives of the Order ofBishops, the Program Committee and its World Mission Sub-Committee, the Unit on Public Social Responsibility, the Primate'sWorld Relief and Development Committee and the Director of Nationaland World Program visited Southern Africa during most of the monthof May, 1975 . The visits focussed chiefly on the Church of theProvince of South Africa comprised of South Africa, Mozambique,Namibia (Southwest Africa), Lesotho, Swaziland, but also includedZimbabwe (Rhodesia) and Botswana In the Province of CentralAfrica . The purposes were:

1. To establish direct and personal contact withfellow Christians living within the fast-changing,politically and deeply explosive racial contextof contemporary Southern Africa so as to betterunderstand the situation and the role of theChurch both within and without;

2. To evaluate the work of various organizations andprograms which have been supported by the CanadianChurch over the past decade through the WorldProgram and the Primate's Fund.

3. To ascertain the effects of Canadian trade andinvestments in Southern Africa both with regardto Canadian governmental policies and to multi-national corporations with Canadian participation.

Fuller and more detailed reports of the experiences of the sixrepresentativs who travelled separately to widely differentareas must occur in other settings . This report will simplysummarize the consensus of views and propose actions approp -riate for consideration by General Synod . In the fullestsense of the word this report is deliberate?y political - itaims to suggest major policy directions for our Church partic-ularly as it speaks to the world, Other policy mattersrelating to our Church's progra;ns and projects will be consid-ered by the Program Committee, its World Mission Sub-Committee,

the Unit on Public Social Responsibility and the Primate'sWorld Relief and Development Committees.

Each member of the group travelled extensively throughout thevarious regions visiting urban and rural areas in 15 dioceses.We met a wide variety of church and community leaders and hadopportunity to discuss conditions with humble rural blacks,urban blacks, Indians, Coloureds, Afrikaners, English SouthAfricans ; industrial and mine workers and top managementleaders ; students and their leaders ; politicians and politicalprisoners and detainees ; academicians from a variety of discip-lines including theology ; journalists and artists and those whohave been in the forefront of efforts for positive change inSouth Africa.

We prayed together with black and white and celebrated theEucharist our fellowship in Christ, despite the very humansituation of tragedy in which we met . We have discussed atlength our past Canadian Church actions, programs and projectsrelated to Southern Africa and received comments and criticismfrom a wide variety of perspectives . We were very warmlyreceived by most and particularly assisted by the Church of theProvince of South Africa's leaders . On behalf particularly ofthe non-white majority members of our Church and of SouthernAfrica, we bring the Church in Canada greetings of love andsolidarity in the Body of Christ . In this report as we attemptto speak the truth in love, South Africa is cited as the chiefexample of conditions which can similarly be found in Namibiaand Zimbabwe.

The Situation in Southern Africa

Deeply shocked and moved spiritually by our experience, we areof one mind and must decry the white racism of Southern Africain the strongest possible terms . Apartheid, its most viciousand insidious expression, is a cancer on the face of humanity,God's ultimate form of creation . The human degradation, themassive and systematic oppression and exploitation of millionsof people simply because their skin is not white, under theguise of a technology and theocracy called Christian isblasphemous . As one member put it, "The racial situationoverwhelmed me . The experience of a totally racist societyhas an impact that can hardly be imagined ." To do anythingless than condemn the status quo of racist oppression in SouthAfrica, Namibia and Zimbabwe is totally inadequate to thedemands of the Gospel for justice and brotherhood under God.To do less is to become a party to the oppression . SouthAfrica lies at the heart of the situation and will serve asthe focus of our report and recommendations .

South African society is dominated by a small, whitepolitical minority within the white minority populationand is a society based on fear and alienation . Racedominates every facet of life in so total way that eve aftera short time, a visitor begins to become, almost unconsciously,colour programmed . All of life its been so carefully regulatedto the exclusive advantages of

whites and,the exclusion anddehumanization of non-whites that their problems become realitiestoo terrifying to face.

For these reasons, the recent detente propaganda of the Vorsterregime regarding South Africa's foreign, .policy stance in SouthernAfrica has no in{-Prnal counterpart and is an example of SouthAfrican double-think and double-talk . It is already clear thatit is no more than a gesture to buy time while continuing toconsolidate and strengthen South Africa's police and militarypositions . South Africa's defence budget has been furtherincreased by almost 50% in the last year . The very few super-ficial and token removals of petty apartheid in South Africa andNamibia are no' symbol of changes to come under the Nationalistregime.

Much more symbolic are the Vorster regime's efforts to imposea "final delineation" of the unworkable so-called "homelandareas" or "bantustzns" . These least fertile and resource-barren disjointed areas comprise 13% of South Africa's incrediblybeautiful, fertile and resource-rich land mass They are supposedto support the 70% of the population (18,745,000 in 1974) which isAfrican and black, while the richest 87% of the land is restrictedalmost exclusively for the use of the 17% of the population(4,160,000) which is white, Up to June, 1974 more than a quarterof a million black Africans are estimated to have been forciblyand arbitrarily removed to a "homeland", often from lands towhich they held legal, economic title .' Over 100,000 Coloured,Indian and Chinese people have been similarly forcibly removedto segregated urban areas without adequate compensation.

These and other segregation . laws such .as the Pass Laws, from . thebackbone of the apartheid system result in the cheap, migrantblack labour patterns of modern slavery upon which South Africahas built her industrial developments From them result, also,the incredible human suffering and degradation of all non-whitesin South Africa and Namibia, the Illegally held U . N . trustee-ship, and in' Zimbabwe, which is simply less explicit in itsracist policiPs.

Some statistics from South Africa give a glimpse of the realitiesfor non-whites in South Africa :

White

African

% of voters electing legislativerepresentatives to National Assembly

90-104%

none

Average Monthly EarningsWhite

African

per Employee

Manufacturing (1973) $512$531

$631

$93$38

$17

(labour

'Mining

(1974)Agriculture (1974) Marketing Board

employed)

68%

9%

$677

includes paymentin kind)

1%

51 .8%

$40

Education

Secondary School Enrolmentas % of population (1972)

% over 15 years with no schooling(1970)

Annual per capita expense Education(1974)

("White" areas only)

. Teacher pupil ratio

n/ a

University Enrolment (1973)

90,201

58 .1

7,348

Health

Number of Doctors (1972)

1 for every 400 1 for every 44,400

Number of Nurses (1970)

1 for every 256 1 for every 1,581

New T .B . cases notified (1974)

769

49,813

Pensions (Monthly Maximum)

$138

$25

The Police State which is South Africa is revealed in the follow-ing figures (Year to June 1974) :

- Jailed 624,410 persons

- A record 98,851 prison population-

Pass Laws Arrests - 399,332 of the 'to tal arrests or 2 .25%of African population, an ' increase of12,000 from previous years . Nearly4,000 breast-fed babies were jailed.

- In September 1974, 41 persons were detained and held withoutcharges, some for as long as six months in solitary confine-ment under the Terrorism Act for participating in a publiccelebration of the impending independence of Mozambique.Several have been tortured.

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- 29 persons are still being detained without charges and 13of these are currently in pre-trial motions attempting toascertain charges.

- At the end of 1973, 312 African persons were serving sentencesunder "security" laws.

- .As of April 1974, some 459 persons were "listed" as havingbeen members of unlawful organizations, (mainly student,church or workers' groups) of whom 132 were also restrictedby "banning" orders during the year.

- The total number of banned persons from 1954 to date is1,240 ; currently 206 persons are restricted by a 6 p .m . to6 a .m . house curfew and may not speak or write publicly normeet more than one person at a time.

(Sources - Institute of Race Relations, 1974)Rand Daily Mail - May 14, 1975.

- The latest example of the Police State's action is to declarethe Christian Institute an Affected Organization . Under thislatest law repressing opposition, the government authority toconfiscate any funds from foreign sources and punish by heavyfines and imprisonment any person related to such an organization.Both the Primate's Fund and the United Church of Canada havesupported the brave and outstanding efforts of the ChristianInstitute to oppose the apartheid regime, through its variouseducational programs and the life and witness of its 1,500members led by the Rev . Dr . Beyers Naude, a Dutch ReformedAfrikaaner whose integrity and moral courage in opposition toapartheid are deeply respected both within South Africa andthroughout the world.

South Africa has lost touch with the accepted norms of humanrights and fundamental freedom of speech . It is a country wherewartime and crisis regulations have become part of the everydayway of life . This indictment is made by Professor van der Vyver,of the Afrikans Potchefstrom University in his just publishedbook "The Protection of Human Rights in South Africa" . TheEnglish language press and liberal business and churchmen areequally critical of the regime, which is so obviously economicallyinefficient and psychologically unhealthy for South Africans.

Unfortunately, and frighteningly, we found few, very few amongstthe whites actively working for change, opposing the system,,speaking the, truth against the thesis of separate development.Even concerned white churchmen and women seem immunized to thesituation or morally terrified or paralysed by the prospect ofactively seeking change for fear of white backlash . The whole ofwhite society seems inexorably, in all its affluence and highstandard of living, bent on self-destruction . Even young whiteadults seem convinced that the only "realistic" attitude is to

continue t'ae status . quo, go.,slow app. rcach and. many are preparedto violently resist any attempt to_aIter the very, very slow .rhythm of change for non-whites which, essentially, is leavingthe majority out of any significant personal or economic deVelopment.

The marginal increases' in wages . and job opportunities .for blackworkers in recent years, largely .as a result of external pressures,have left unchanged .the .continued deprivation of personal andpolitical liberties for the vast majority of the population.

While wage increases for s the .few industrially employed blacks haveimproved only minimally .in comparison to .the cost of living andprevious levels, the gap between " white_and .black wages has notclosed at alias the 1974 .Institute of Race Relations Survey(p . 237) reveals:

Claimed Monthly.Household Indbme Increase

Increaseper month

1962 1973

White $361 $727 101 $365African $ 35 $ 77 120 $ 42

Furthermore, recent studies .show_that minimum household subsistencelevel for urban centres at $150 .per month .is .almost .twice averageincome . Blacks struggle to survive on 10 times less income thanwhites.

It is true that one has to see .Southern Africa .to believe it . .TheSouth African Government has spent millions in_creating .a sunny,progressive false . image . abroad ._ Even in ."model" .urban areas,Africans live in massive planned slums with families of six to tencrowded into two room duplex or .quadruplex .cement-block .huts 10 ft.x 25 ft ., no electricity, no toilets, usually one water tap for 10or more houses . No telephones, poorly developed dirt streets, 10or 15 miles outside_ "the city", usually accessible_only by_ anexpensive and time-consuming bus_trip . There are no significantsigns of change . . On May 21, 1975, Dr . .Hilgard Muller, Minister ofForeign Affairs indicated clearly that a Rhodesian solution ofpower-sharing with the black_majority would_never occur in SouthAfrica . "We refuse point blank to share our .sovereignty, our self-rule with any other population .group . We strive .to allow .the non-white nations and . groups to, as far as possible, control their ownaffairs ."

Vorster had given the lie to the last .remark of Muller one .day earlierin a major policy speech .in Namibia, ending a six_month morartorium oncriticism from the United Nations and the Organization of AfricanUnity . He refused to give up effective military and economic controlof Namibia, while in the same .breath disclaiming ..any South Africaninterest the the vast mineral and other wealth of the .country, Hemade it clear that Pretoria would not allow the non-white majority

7

to control their own affairs . Only the Nationalist _regime candetermine who are the appropriate_representatives of the_peopleof Namibia and determine their legitimate .interests . Equally,Vorster denied .theeU . N . Council .for Namibia .the right .to assumeresponsibility despite International . _Court _and _U . N . findingsand repeated international .condemnations . . _Detente in .short, inNamibia and elsewhere, _simply means stop . change .. if you can . Ifnot, delay it as “ Iong as_possible_and_in_the end, if necessary,violently resist or r eoress it.

Tye. Role of the Church

We found our Church and others_deeply enmeshed .in the racistcomplexi ;ies o! .Southern_Africa . . An overriding vote _of _ whitepaternalism strongly reminiscent of .traditional_Canadian attitudesto our native .peoples_debilitates many,in_the_Christian community.Others, more .sensitive .and .calculating,_are unprepared to_move orstand out for fear .ef alienating ,their fellow .whites . _A .few contem-poraries quietly follow the example of the Huddlestons, the de3lenks, the ffrench-Beytaghs and theeReeves_in .theit finest moments.Only in Namiloia .through the leadership of Bishop . in Exile ColinWLIeer and of Bishop .Richard _Wood,_Assistant, did we find themoral will and courage . to .stand .up_and_be counted_ and_to clearlyidentify themselves with the black majority of Namibia.

There is not the slightest_doubt_as to_where_the_sentiment : ofthe vast majoritl—of the “ population_and of_Anglicans„ who arenon-white, lie

they want change . Their levels of frustrationand impatience are very high . At times the question arises - " God,on whose side are you?"

Nevertheless, what .is most beautifully andeso_deeply .impressiveabout the oppressed_peoples . of_South_Africa is _their _ strong, _ .steadyfaith and openness _in_lovc . . They .have _sufferad_incredibly _and thescars on their lives are_deep . Inetheeclear_gaze_of their eyesand their steady, direct _voices, .we_encountered no .. racism in ofnon-white brothers _and sisters . But _having . suffered unjustviolence for so long, they doenot shrink . .from just responses whichare also violent and_which seek to bring an end to more than a centuryof injustice.

Non-whites re awe,re that both_from within andwithout South Africapressures fcr,ehange are building strongly and justice must . soonprevail.

We return convineed that the programs_which .we_have supported throughthe World Council of Churches ._including the Program_ to .Combat Racism,the South African .Council_of Churches, the ..Church . of the _Province ofSouth Africa, the Christian Institute and others are criticallyimportant in visibly supporting those who seek .to_break .down thebarriers of racial _prejudice . _We .believe ..that our contacts . betweenthe life and .work of ourtChurch .and_ the_Church in Southern . Africashould be deepened and broadened in the near future . The July 1976

i

8

Partners in Mission Consultation in the Province of South Africawill provide a unique opportunity in this regard.

No Churchman advised to take the pressure for change off SouthAfrica . Some advised different tactics, some whites felt judgedby our mere presence, but none denied our right and responsibilityto act by our own rights . This was affirmed by Archbishop BillBurnett himself, who simply added, we may not always agree nor beable to respond or advise you openly and truthfully under theconditions.

We feel our Church and its members must speak out by word anddeed as strongly as possible, at every level of our life andthrough every individual act to continue to oppose the racistregimes in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.

The following preamble and resolutions are intended to providebases from which to carry out our diverse witness . We commendthem to you in the hope that through this report and by the actionSynod takes on them, we may declare anew our commitment to make nopeace with oppression and our commitment to the brotherhood of manunder the Fatherhood of God made known to us in Jesus who died thatall men might live in love.

June 12, 1975

The Rt . Rev . Harold Nutter (Diocese of Fredericton)The Ven . Ken Clarke (Chairperson, Program Committee)Canon Lorenzo Harrison (World Mission Sub-Committee)Mrs . Sheila Connell (Primate's World Relief and

Development Committees)The Rev . Laurence Scyner (Unit on Public Social

Responsibility)The Rev . Thomas Anthony (Director, National and

World Program)

The recent declaration of the Christian Institute as an "AffectedOrganization" in South Africa and the expulsion order to AnglicanBishop Richard Wood in Namibia are further proofs of the Vorsterregime's repression since the time of the drafting of thisreport .

RESOLUTIONS REGARDING SOUTHERN AFRICAPASSED AT THE 1975 GENERAL SYNOD IN QUEBEC CITY (June 18-20 1975)

Racism

Resolved :

That this General Synod condemns apartheid and the political,economic and social systems currently maintained inZimbabwe (Rhodesia) , Namibia (South West Africa) emd SouthAfrica as being white, racist and therefore, contrary toGod's will and the Christian Faith . We therefore call uponall Anglicans and other Christians in this country andthroughout the world to renew every effort to increase thepressure on the governments in South Africa and . Zimbabweto change radically their policies so as to eliminate racism.We call on all Christians everywhere to support by prayerand actions, the faithful witness of those within SouthernAfrica who seek to eliminate racism.

Trade and Investment in Southern Africa

Resolved :

That this General Synod re-affirms the 1971 resolutions ofGeneral Synod urging the Government of Canada to makecredible its professed policies . . . (abhorrence of apartheid);to refrain from encouraging business, trade and investmentin South Africa ; to foster the goal of social justice forblack peoples as the major theme for negotiations with theRepublic of South Africa ; to end preferential tariffs withthe Republic of South Africa ; and calling for individualeconomic boycott of all South African products.

Consultation- Cabinet

Resolved : That this General Synod requests the Primate and theNational Executive Council to seek an ecumenical consultationwith the Cabinet to request that Canada:

(a) Withdraw immediately its preferential sugar agreementswith South Africa and cease to purchase its sugar;

(b) Withdraw immediately government trade commissionersin South Africa;

(c) Prohibit by law any direct loan to the government of theRepublic of South Africa or to any corporations whollyor partially owned or controlled by the Government ofSouth Africa by any Canadian institution, public orprivate, or any tax deduction in Canada by anycorporation doing business or holding investments inSouth Africa, Namibia or Zimbabwe .

. .2

G .S . 75 resolutionsre Southern Africa

- 2 -

(d) Immediately recognize the legal jurisdiction ofthe United Nations Council for Namibia and prohibitany Canadian corporation from continuing operationsthere without recognizing the authority and jurisdictionof the United Nations Council;

(e) To levy a special tax equal to the amount of net profitsaccruing from any Canadian investment in Namibia andZimbabwe to any Canadian company of its affiliatessuch tax revenue to be held in escrow for the developmentof the non-white majority upon attaining their independence;

(f) Obtain the Canadian government's clear commitment tooppose any NATO agreements or treaties with South Africaor military agreements by the United States with SouthAfrica.

Programs - South Africa

Resolved : That this General Synod request through the National ExecutiveCouncil that the Program Committee, the Unit on PublicSocial Responsibility and the Primate's World Relief andDevelopment Fund within current budgets deepen and broaden ourcommitment to programs which support the development of thenon-white peoples of Southern Africa and which oppose apartheid.

Use of Investments

Resolved : That this General Synod request of its committees and ofdiocesan and parish committees, in consultation with the Uniton Public Social Responsibility to determine if any of theirinvestments are banks or corporations that trade with or haveinvestments in South Africa, and request the committees tomake available their proxies to the Unit on Public SocialResponsibility and to receive recommendation from it aboutfurther possible actions.

Message - Church

Southern Africa

Resolved : That this General Synod through the Primate, express to theChurch of South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe its deep senseof love and concern for the peoples of Southern Africa andassurance of our continuing prayerful support and encouragementfor all Christians to be faithful in their witness there.

*****************-

All the above motions were carried by large majorities in both the Order

of Bishops and by the Order of Delegates (Clergy and Laity) .

ABOUT THIS REPORT -

The temptation for many churchpeople is to avoid coming to grips with so'insoluble' a situation as Southern Africa . The six representatives ofthe Anglican Church of Canada did no such thing . They went right in,eyesopen, minds clear, hearts full . They listened, gathered facts and figures,recorded what they saw and heard, commented not in judgment but with can-dour . This report from the Canadian Church is exemplary for its percep-tions and unvarnished clarity about a condition and a region, of direct andvital concern to the Christian Church.

The Canadians went at a time when the South African and Rhodesian regimeswere attempting frantically to put off the inevitable radical changes nowunderway . The six person delegation saw through Pretoria's and Salisbury'sdevices and .they punctured the false image of 'detente' Vorster and Smithhave conjured up . Fast-moving events since the Canadian visit lay bareeven further this nightmare world : large-scale detentions under the Terror-ism Actin Namibia and South Africa, with opposition political, church andacademic leaders disappearing into the maw of the security police apparatus;Ian Smith's stalling on talks with majority officials ; the white minorityrulers' promotion of black tribal puppets, propping up painted corpses totry to con the world into believing them to be real.

The resolutions on Southern Africa by the Canadian Church serve as modelsfor all of us . We in the United States owe our continental comrades asalute - and a pledge to resolve as they have done and to put into effectthose resolutions at once.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* * * * * * * * *

EPISCOPAL COVRCGEN for SOUTH AFRICA14 West 11th Street

New York, N . Y. 10011

Address Correction Requested

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—For A Free Southern Africa