South Africa’s faith leaders have spoken out against the DA’s “tantrums and misguided ultimatums” to President Cyril Ramaphosa, also describing the party’s withdrawal from the upcoming National Dialogue as “irrational, myopic, unpatriotic, and a sign of immaturity”.
The South African Union Council of Independent Churches (SAUCIC) said the move threatens the nation’s fragile efforts toward consensus, healing, and shared prosperity.
SAUCIC president Cardinal Archbishop Dr Modiri Patrick Shole pleaded on Wednesday, saying: “We urge all churches and fraternal people of faith to reclaim their prophetic voice, stand in the gap, and pray for the reconciliation as well as unity that has eluded us thus far.”
Shole expressed his dismay at the DA’s decision, warning that such actions undermine the drive for a united South Africa. He said this “depicts a party that is in crisis as well as rudderless”.
“It seeks to put itself above the country’s national interests while inadvertently jeopardising the stability of the economy necessary for faster economic growth, job creation, and attracting investors,” he said.
With the nation still grappling with deep divisions and urgent socioeconomic challenges, Shole stressed that the National Dialogue is non-negotiable for the country’s renewal.
New united society must be birthed
“The forward march towards creating a non-racial, non-sexist, united, democratic, peaceful, and prosperous society envisioned by the Freedom Charter cannot be held to ransom by the usual theatrics associated with the DA and those opposed to equality, social justice, redress of past imbalances, and radical socio-economic transformation,” he emphasised.
Shole called on South Africans to move beyond their comfort zones and prejudices.
“It is about all of us leaving our cocoons, our laagers, and overcoming prejudices to engage in meaningful dialogue to resolve current challenges facing South Africa.
“No self-respecting as well as right-thinking individual or grouping would refuse to be part of the journey to reaffirm our common identity and shared values as well as adopt a new National Development Plan that will unlock economic opportunities for shared growth and prosperity for all.”
The faith leader warned that “those who cannot imagine it and contribute solutions because they are enticed and preoccupied with pursuing a narrow white supremacist regime change agenda will remain irrelevant beyond the dialogue and even in the future”.
With a country facing rising youth unemployment, poverty, inequality, and persistent crime, Shole insisted: “A new united society with a new mindset must be birthed and emerge; that is, if South Africa is to overcome the myriad of challenges it is currently facing, including, among others, the impact of geopolitics on the economy, the crisis of rising youth unemployment, illegal foreign nationals, deepening inequality as well as poverty affecting the most vulnerable, unacceptable crime levels, and gender-based violence affecting communities.”
