Rivers around the country seem to have become death traps following a spate of drownings during baptism rituals, a practice authorities are now starting to address.
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) leadership claims it has no authority to intervene and prescribe how the practice should be conducted, a matter disputed by a church leader of one of the mainline churches, describing the SACC position as “a cop out”.
“As a matter of fact, the SACC cannot abdicate its responsibilities of ensuring the safety of congregants, whatever their church affiliation might be.
“We have congregants, including children, who die in these rituals performed in streams and rivers. As leaders in our respective congregations, we must come forward and force the SACC to convene a conference of all its member-churches to discuss this matter, which some of us think is urgent,” said the church leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
According to survey conducted by Sunday World for the period dating between 2017 and New Year’s Eve 2022, at least 38 congregants and pastors drowned during river baptisms.
These baptisms and deaths have shocked many across the country, especially after 14 church members of Masowe Church drowned at the Jukskei river in Alexandra last month.
The survey revealed that most of these drownings happened in Gauteng, Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and the Free State.
SACC general secretary Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana said: “It must be noted the SACC has member churches of many diverse traditions, who in accordance with their traditions and beliefs, elect to conduct their baptisms in various bodies of water such as rivers, baptism pools, swimming pools or in the church with a small amount of water poured on the forehead.
“It is therefore a matter of the individual member church’s faith tradition that would dictate which method of baptism they prefer. Simply put, baptism is a doctrinal matter and as the SACC we do not pronounce on that to any church”.
He also said the death of anyone under avoidable circumstances was unfortunate and regrettable. “We can say that while we are concerned about these drownings, no SACC member churches have reported such mishaps.
“Out of concern we would encourage churches to consider alternative and safer baptismal sites and to also focus on the training of lifeguards for each congregation. Those churches that baptise in rivers need to take special precautions not to do so when waters are violent.
“We rely on their discretion to exercise care to protect the lives of their congregants and to ensure no one is placed in harm’s way,” said Mpumlwana.
Chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities Prof David Mosoma said: “The commission, whose mandate is to protect and promote the rights of cultural, religious, and linguistic communities, wishes to state that the religious communities have the right to exercise their faith and practice their rituals such as water baptism.
“However, the commission cautions that the practice of these rights should be accompanied by greater levels of responsibility on the part of the leaders and the members.
“The exercise of these rights and the practice of a person’s faith should always ensure the protection and preservation of one’s life and dignity.
“I appeal to all the leaders and members of the cultural, religious and linguistic communities to ensure that their rituals are done in a safe environment where the sanctity of life is always paramount.”
A well-known priest, who asked not to be named said given what is known about the end-result of these practices, it was morally wrong to baptise people in rivers as experience has shown us that it will inevitably happen that there will be casualties whenever such rituals take place.
“It is wrong to baptise people in rivers and it is also the misunderstanding of the theology of baptism. Baptism can happen in the church setting using a baptismal font to perform the baptismal ritual.”
Pastor Giet Khoza, the general secretary of the International Federation of Christian Churches, said: “There is no rule that people should be baptised in rivers. There should be wisdom applied when dealing with such. Some churches are faced with challenges due to inequalities. People can use public pools for baptism.
“As church leaders we must move with times to safeguard the wellbeing of our people. We are calling upon all the churches to be mindful of people’s lives.”
For more political news and views, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
