"Cautious Optimism" in South Africa

THE LONG-OVERDUE transition of power in South Africa this winter, from President Jacob Zuma to Cyril Ramaphosa, has sparked a resurgence of hope among younger church activists in the country. Zuma’s nine years in office were catastrophic to South Africa’s politics and social fabric through entrenched corruption and state capture. Zuma and his cronies enriched themselves while the economy stumbled, with unemployment now above 27 percent and schools and health care in an increasing state of crisis.

While Ramaphosa’s election by the National Assembly has inspired hope, an awakening less heralded and potentially more significant long term has been taking place across the church in South Africa. The theology of hope and liberation that helped fuel the anti-apartheid struggle played a formative role in shaping the public theology of many in the U.S. and around the world. Now a new generation of South African Christian activists is on the cutting edge of social transformation.

In the aftermath of Zuma’s resignation, a handful of these leaders addressed the catalytic role the church has played in shifting the political winds in South Africa and their hope for the future.

Edwin Arrison, director of Kairos Southern Africa, pointed to the formation of the South African Christian Leaders Initiative (SACLI) as a turning point, along with the release of a document on “theological and ethical reflections” that was signed by hundreds of church leaders. After a meeting between key African National Congress figures and church leadership about the statement, theologian Denise Ackermann said, “The church must engage but never be embedded” with the state. “Politicians will try to embed the church if they can,” Arrison said, “but there needs to be a reasonable distance, otherwise you end up becoming a part of empire.”

The Christian leadership initiative has provided a platform for a new generation of Christians to work alongside the institutional church. “After playing a significant role in helping South Africa escape from the captivity of the apartheid era,” states the initiative’s web site, “the South African church has found itself in a two-decade wilderness period ... if the nation is to cross into the promised land, the church has an essential role in leading us through the Jordan.”

IN 2015, South African churches launched “The South Africa We Pray 4” campaign, which concluded with the Council of Churches hosting an “unburdening panel” based on bearing “one another’s burdens” in Christ (Galatians 6:2). The churches released a report on state corruption and hosted a series of public hearings for politicians to “unburden” themselves from corruption. According to SACLI leader Miles Giljam, “The unburdening panel was a tipping point that enabled broader society to push more forcefully for Zuma’s removal.”

Church leaders are cautiously optimistic about President Ramaphosa’s leadership. They see him as more open to the moral leadership of the church because he was a close ally of Nelson Mandela and because he served as chair of the Student Christian Movement. Msizi Cele, a businessperson and SACLI member, said, “This is a special moment of renewal for us after 10 years of devastation that has eroded a great deal of good will.”

Arrison and other leaders see the current moment as moving out of seven years of hopelessness and cynicism into a new seven years of hope and greater resolve as the church works to address key challenges (such as malnutrition, education, the social safety net, equitable policing, inequality, and others) facing the country between now and the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s democracy in 2024.

Now is an opportune time to rekindle bonds of kinship and solidarity between U.S. and South African churches. We can once again take courage from the revitalized leadership and prophetic witness of Christians in South Africa.