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Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba.
PHOTO: ER Lombard, Gallo Images
- Anglican archbishop Thabo Makgoba said government leaders must fix real problems instead of scrambling over party infighting.
- He said the root of the country’s problems lay in the scandalous gap between the rich and poor.
- Makgoba said South Africans should be grateful for leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu for steering us into a better future.
Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has warned that if government fails to fix the “real problems” in the country, they will be made to pay for it at the polls.
He said South Africans have heard too in the way of regarding sacrificial service from leaders and too much of using political influence to secure personal and family advancement.
“South Africans need to see their government focused on fixing the real problems of the country – joblessness and load shedding among them – and not on internal party disputes,” Makgoba said at in his midnight mass sermon at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town.
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He said the root cause of the country’s problems lay in the “scandalous” gap between rich and poor.
“We won political liberation nearly 30 years ago, but we have not achieved economic liberation – that is the biggest issue facing us,” Makgoba said.
Makgoba added:
And if the politicians do not address it, they will be made to pay for it at the polls.
Makgoba, who was in Lviv, Ukraine last week, used most of his sermon to address the Russian invasion of that country.
He said African governments could make their voices heard in international affairs by standing up to be counted in this war.
The South African government has refused to condemn Russia or participate in multilateral condemnations of the invasion.
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At the United Nations, South Africa continued to promote its “neutral” stance, by abstaining from voting on key resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression and demanding the country’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine.
“If we want our own rights to be ensured, we have to defend the rights of others. If we want to resist authoritarianism, we have to resist its practice everywhere,” he said.
“We cannot preach the ideals and values of constitutionalism and then do business with those who flagrantly disregard human rights.
“We cannot speak of a common humanity and be comfortable with systems of government which ensure that some elites are more equal than others.
“We cannot rely on institutions to protect our rights and the fabric of order if we do not stand up against those who promote disorder and the breaking of international norms and rules.”
He added that South Africans should be grateful for leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu for steering the country into a better future.
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