Religious communities and South African politics: the case of South African Council of Churches from 1994 - 2016
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Date
2019-01
Authors
Thinane, Jonas Sello
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Despite much research conducted on the case of the South African Council of Churches
(SACC) since its inception in the 1960s, with particular focus on its role in South Africa ahead
of its first democratic elections in 1994 and subsequently, the overall image painted by
theological and secular academic scholars of the SACC is negative. As a result, much doubt
has been cast on the role of the SACC in South Africa, in particular the role of the SACC in
South African politics since the advent of democracy in 1994. In this study, an attempt has
been made to investigate and demonstrate that contrary to popular opinion concerning its role
in South Africa, the SACC has remained an instrument and servant of South African churches
and has demonstrated true commitment to serving and uniting the people of South Africa,
particularly in politics and matters of national concern. By adopting a resolution in 1994 on
critical solidarity with the democratically elected government of the Republic of South Africa,
it is true that the SACC has changed its approach or scope of dealing with South African
politics, but it has not abandoned its commitment to serving the people of South Africa nor is
it silent in matters of public concern. Thus the South African Council of Churches (SACC) is
still relevant in South Africa. This study employs a multiplicity of methods which includes
critical discourse analysis, heuristic method, hermeneutical tradition, hermeneutic
phenomenology, literature and historical approach. This is a qualitative research since it will
be used to gain more understanding of the work of South African Council of Churches (SACC)
and provide perception against the SACC’ s problem of silence in South African politics since
1994.
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Keywords
Apartheid, Democracy, South African Council of Churches (SACC), Critical solidarity, Ecumenical movements, Faith communities, State capture, Dissertation (M.Th. (Religion Studies))--University of the Free State, 2019