“Main challenge facing South Africa now is saving lives”: Church Leaders in South Africa

With at least 43,434 recorded cases of COVID-19, South Africa has the highest number of cases of the coronavirus on the continent. At least 23,088 patients have recovered from the disease; 908 have succumbed to the virus, according to statistics from Worldometers.

In their collective message signed by the Chairman of NCLC, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of the Catholic Diocese of Umtata, the leaders express their appreciation for government’s efforts alongside other stakeholders in the fight against COVID-19 in South Africa.

They go on to express concerns about the impact of COVID-19 saying, “The number of people with no or insufficient food has increased enormously.”

The leaders call for “effective cooperation between government, faith communities and civil society to ensure that food is delivered to hungry people.”

They are also concerned about the “far too many serious incidents of police or defense force violence in the execution of their duty to enforce lock down measures – causing harm, death and criminalizing many South Africans.” 

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“These cases should be investigated – accountability and justice must prevail,” they add. 

“The consequences of the additional tensions and stress in society – resulting in an increase of incidences of violence in families (especially against women and children) needs to be addressed by church and faith leaders, as well as social services and law enforcement agencies,” the representatives of Christian leaders in South Africa say.

“Many fraudulent and self-serving schemes (in all sectors) who exploit the current crisis for self-enrichment – robbing valuable resources that should benefit the most vulnerable in society” also concerns the leaders. 

They advocate for a collaborative approach in fighting against COVID-19 saying, “The challenge for government is not to attempt to control and deliver all services on its own, but rather to act as true servants of the public - as facilitator, coordinator and to support the numerous initiatives and proven networks of capacity within faith communities, NGOs, civil society and business – that have the capacity to implement such programs.”

Besides demanding “immediate action,” the Church leaders say, addressing the effects of COVID-19 “also demands a re-think and design of how different sectors could collaborate more meaningfully to deal with the longer-term impact and consequences in the years to come.”

“Any obstacles hindering collaboration between all sectors (faith communities, government, private sector, civil society) to mobilize resources (including international resources), services and especially volunteers must be addressed urgently,” the leaders say.

They want the scaling up of the “community feeding schemes (soup kitchens; food parcels)” so that there is food security for vulnerable families.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.