Umtata, 17 October, 2021 / 6:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Eligible voters in South Africa have been urged to vote at the forthcoming municipal elections according to their conscience.
In a pastoral letter shared with ACI Africa Thursday, October 14, members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) make “a strong appeal" to all eligible voters to participate in the poll scheduled to take place on November 1.
“In our call for participation in the election, we urge all to vote according to your conscience and in a manner that influences our country to take the first steps in the moral renewal of its politics,” SACBC members say.
They advocate for prayerful discernment ahead of the polls saying, "We should give serious attention to the importance of prayer, discernment of the Spirit and formation of conscience before casting a vote.”
“We must always consider the moral implications of our vote," the Catholic Bishops say in the statement signed by SACBC President, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, adding that the results of an election are a “mirror of our moral values, that which we consider as valuable as a nation.”