Stop Blaming Apartheid Regime for South Africa’s Failures: Catholic Bishops

The racial segregation ended in 1994 when South African political prisoners were released and the country ushered in a constitutional democracy that was based on non-racialism.

In their communiqué, the Catholic Church leaders decry the growing poverty of the majority of South Africans while politicians and those “politically connected” continue to amass wealth for themselves.

“We note with a sense of disappointment how the nobly conceived policy of Black Economic Empowerment appears to be benefitting a few politically connected people and does not translate into the economic betterment of the majority of black people,” SACBC members say.

They add, “We continue to call for ethical and courageous leaders who put the good of the people before their interest.”

The members of the three-nation Conference find it regrettable that corruption has been normalized in South Africa, and that those caught in the vice are hardly punished.

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“We continue to decry the deep corruption scourge in South Africa, which seems to have become an accepted practice in both the public and the private sectors, as well as the poor track record in holding those responsible to account,” they say.

Decrying the country’s failing system, the SACBC members say, “We note with dismay the poverty of responsible and ethical leadership on the part of many of our political leaders who put their interests and those of their political parties first instead of the common good of the people they are elected to serve.”

South Africa’s poor leadership, they say, is currently evident in the continued instability in a number of the country’s metropolitan municipalities where they say political parties seem to be more interested in “playing power games than focusing on service delivery.”

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.