Statement on Zimbabwe by the Archdeaconry of Blue Downs

Apr 30, 2008

At a meeting of the Chapter and Council of the Archdeaconry of Blue Downs held at All Saints, Belhar on Wednesday 23rd April 2008 we feel compelled to express our concerns on the present situation in Zimbabwe.

It is common knowledge that the crisis in Zimbabwe has reached critical proportions since the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in March 2008. Sufficient evidence exists to show that the opposition MDC had won the Parliamentary elections. As such the people of Zimbabwe have spoken and we believe that their wishes should be honored. The inability to produce and announce the results of the elections is a denial of basic democratic rights of the people of Zimbabwe. This has given rise to a wave of repression, oppression and victimization.

We believe that the people in Zimbabwe are in the hands of the Army Generals and War Veterans. They are being exposed to the cruelty of economic crises.

We support fully the demand that justice should prevail in Zimbabwe; we support the voice of our Archbishop and Archbishop Emeritus in this crisis. We call upon Archbishop Makgoba and the leadership of our church, our Bishops and the President of our beloved country to hear the cries of the desperate, hopeless and disempowered Zimbabweans and to take serious their call for support and help in this time of crisis. We respectfully call upon you to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the desperate abuse of power by Mr. Robert Mugabe.

We pray that the sacrifice of the people of Zimbabwe will not be in vain and that the Christian hope will inspire them to continue to seek a new political dispensation that will be for all people.

We believe that the voice and action of the church in Southern Africa and in particular our Bishops can inspire hope in the Zimbabwean people and strengthen them to rise even above a painful and complex situation. We call especially on the Anglican church of Zimbabwe to rise above the divisions and to be a beacon of hope to the people of Zimbabwe.

We call upon our Archbishop and Bishops to declare Pentecost Sunday a day of prayer for the people of Zimbabwe and allow parishes to express support through their Liturgy and worship.

We congratulate the stance of the Anglican Bishop of Natal, the Rt. Revd. Rubin Phillip and the trade unions for their brave stance in halting the Chinese arms ship destined for Zimbabwe. We appeal to our leaders to appeal to the Chinese Government, to not send any arms until the crisis is solved.

We believe under the present circumstances our Bishops and the church should call for an immediate removal of the President of Zimbabwe, and encourage the church to do something prophetic to remove the injustice that is an embarrassment for Africa.

We believe that God wants the people of Zimbabwe free, and we are very mindful of our own tradition when God wanted the people free from Egypt. He sent Moses and Aaron, asking them to dialogue with the Pharaoh: ”Go to Pharaoh, King of Egypt and tell him to let the Israelites free.” (Ex 6:10).

Our tradition also tells, that God did not send Moses to the Israelites to tell them to remain obedient to their oppressor. History also tells us that the struggle was long, but eventually Pharaoh heeded the call of God. The historical experience tells us that there need to be an initiative for dialogue and a commitment to understand the grievances of the people.

We believe that our Bishops and the church are called to a ministry of prophetic witness to the truth of the Gospel and it seems that here with the Zimbabwe crisis, and the many other issues that confronts us as a nation, God is calling us to reflect seriously on the situation, and to act in a way that gives an expression of our hope as the church of God.