[This blog post is one in a series of personal viewpoints of Warehouse Staff members on the Unite Against Corruption March]
Colonialism and Apartheid were two of the most extreme forms of institutionalised corruption that the world has ever seen.
For the benefit of a small minority of people, corruption was entrenched into every department of the government and every sphere of civil society during Apartheid South Africa. There has not been any part of our society, identity, history or political life that has been free from the grip of colonial and Apartheid corruption for over 350 years.
Families, school, the military, the police force, hospitals, public spaces, businesses and places of worship were all corrupted by the laws that governed the country and the ideologies that fed them.
The law of Apartheid was finally dismantled in 1994, heralding the end of the colonial era for South Africa, but the spirit of social and economic Apartheid lives on.
On the 30 September, all South Africans are being called to “Unite Against Corruption” and take to the streets in a peaceful and decisive stand against all forms of corruption that threaten our land. As in the worst days of Apartheid, Christian South Africans and churches across the country have a choice in how to stand together with fellow South Africans of all races and creeds.
As I, a white, Christian member of South African society, consider the critical moment that we now face in our country’s history, and as I consider whether to join the “Unite Against Corruption” march and movement, I confess the following:
– I have material wealth,
– I have social capital,
– I have a wide range of access to job opportunities,
– I have freedom of choice,
– I have access to exclusive education,
– I have access to immediate healthcare,
– I have homes in neighbourhoods that receive proper sanitation, electricity, waste removal services, police and security responses
– I have leisure, rest and time away with my family and friends
– I have freedom of movement without being looked upon with suspicion
I have, while the majority of black South Africans in this country do not, because of the corruption of colonialism and Apartheid in South Africa.
I have enjoyed the freedom of conscience, friendship, acceptance and forgiveness that the dawning of the new South Africa afforded me and my family while failing to ask what words and actions of repentance and apology would contribute to healing the nation.
I have revelled in the national pride that came with being from a country that negotiated a peaceful resolution instead of a bloody revolution, while failing to support the new government in any tangible way.
I have rejoiced with the world for the life of Nelson Mandela while failing to turn from deeply held, racist attitudes towards the current government.
I have been relieved to see the oppressed set free from the binding laws of Apartheid but failed to recognise how those same laws dehumanised me, and hence have failed to be set free of the marred identity that Apartheid formed in me. I have also failed to recognise what I lost in the form of relationships and normal human connection with people of all colours while growing up during Apartheid, and thus have struggled to see this redeemed in my current social reality.
I have asked to be considered an African in my own right while failing to learn an African language, and while harbouring suspicion towards African customs.
I have failed to act in ways that put right and gave back what had been stolen during the years of colonial and Apartheid rule in South Africa.
I have lamented the policies of BBBEE and affirmative action and called them reverse racism, without asking what actions of material restitution were required of me and my family in the enormous task of nation building.
Add your own confession statements here:
(try to be as personal to your own life as possible: e.g if you are a business owner and know that your business was built on the corrupt laws of Apartheid, providing poor wages to people of colour etc then confess this; or if you are a church leader and your church has failed to publicly name Apartheid a sin and turn from its effects during congregational life, then confess this)
I therefore confess that, while I join with my fellow South Africans in speaking out against the corruption that threatens to derail the stability of our country, I do so with a commitment to rooting out the corruption of colonialism and Apartheid that remains in my own life by:
naming the policies of Apartheid as a sin before God and repenting of all past and ongoing choices in my life that perpetuate a state of social and economic Apartheid in South Africa
renouncing the deeply embedded attitudes of a colonial era lifestyle that manifest in living a life of careless ease towards the plight of the oppressed and materially poor while partaking in the systems that maintain oppression and material poverty in order to secure my comfort and lifestyle
naming greed, the love of money and fear of the future as sins before God
seeking opportunities to speak out repentance for the wrongs of the past and present
listening to the hurt and hardship of South Africans that still live with the dehumanising effects of social and economic Apartheid, and racist attitudes and actions
seeking restitution like Zacchaeus did – practical acts of giving back that go beyond charity and move towards economic equality * (examples to be given at the end of this paper)
seeking genuine social connection and friendship across the spectrum of South African society
seeking church and worship life that reflects the diversity of South African society
getting rid of all forms of economic exploitation of others in all business and domestic employment that I am involved in
joining in advocacy and civil action with the materially poor and currently oppressed
searching my heart with God and others regarding racism and fear of others that I harbour
By Caroline Powell