Nelson Mandela’s Address to the People of Cape Town on the Occasion of his Inauguration as State President

Nelson Mandela’s Address to the People of Cape Town on the Occasion of his Inauguration as State President
Grand Parade, Cape Town (May 9, 1994)

LISTEN to the speech

* * *

Mr. Master of Ceremonies,
Your Excellencies,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
My Fellow South Africans:

Today we are entering a new era for our country and its people. Today we celebrate not the victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa.

Our country has arrived at a decision. Among all the parties that contested the elections, the overwhelming majority of South Africans have mandated the African National Congress to lead our country into the future. The South Africa we have struggled for, in which all our people, be they African, Coloured, Indian or White, regard themselves as citizens of one nation is at hand.

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Senzenina? – The Rallying Song of the Fight Against Apartheid

Today, in honour of the departed Nelson Mandela – may God rest him in peace, I will keep this on the front of my blog.

May God bless South Africa!

Senzeni Na? (Zulu/Xhosa)          What Have We Done? (English)

Senzenina                                   What have we done?
Sono sethu ubumnyama              Our sin is our blackness
Sono sethu yinyaniso                   Our sin is the truth
Sibulawayo                                  They are killing us
Mayibuye i Africa.                        Let Africa return.

(Source, On Being)

Desmond Tutu Interviewed by Krista Tippett

Krista Tippett is a well known radio host from American Public Radio. Her website, called Being, presents a wealth of materials around the themes of the interviews that she does for public radio.

What Do South Africa and Israel Have in Common?

Repeatedly during the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly, reference was made to South Africa – to the significant role churches and Christians played in supporting the apartheid regime there and the equally significant role churches and Christians played in finally ending it.

On Wednesday 25 May, the Assembly discussed today’s apartheid regime – a regime that privileges Jewish ethnicity as the Afrikaners privileged whiteness, a regime that treats the native Arabs of Palestine as second-class citizens if they live in Israel proper, as third-class non-citizens if they live in the territories illegally occupied by Israel for over 40 years, and as fourth-class non-persons if they are the millions of Palestinians, or the children or grandchildren of Palestinians, who have been exiled from their land, while Israel steadfastly refuses their right, enshrined in international law and recognised in UN resolutions, to return home.

Charles Villa-Vicencio – More than Politics. A Remarcable Interview

As National Research Director for the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Charles Villa-Vicencio was intimately involved in the historic process that followed the collapse of apartheid and paved the way for a new social order. As a theologian, prior to the commission, he had spoken out against the apartheid regime, writing and editing numerous books that helped lead South African Christians out of complacency about their government’s policies. After the commission concluded, he founded the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, in Cape Town, and now advises peacebuilding efforts around the world. His most recent book is Walk with Us and Listen: Political Reconciliation in Africa (Georgetown University Press, 2009). We spoke at the offices of Georgetown University’s Conflict Resolution Program, where Villa-Vicencio serves as a visiting scholar.

This interview was conducted in conjunction with the SSRC’s project on Religion and International Affairs.—ed.

Reading the Bible in South Africa

Many immature Christians, especially of those coming from more fundamentalism backgrounds, have the impression that as long as they read the Bible, they cannot be wrong. Little do they know that hell is full of people who read their Bibles and prayed every day.

What these people are not aware of is that we all read our Bibles with certain presuppositions. The more unaware we are of the hermeneutical glasses we use in reading our Bibles, the more chances we have to be wrong in our interpretations.

Al treilea congres al Miscarii Lausanne

In perioada 16-25 octombrie a acestui an va avea loc la Capetown, Africa de sud, al treilea congres al Miscarii Lausanne (primele doua au avut loc in 1974, la Lausanne, Elvetia si 1989, la Seul, Coreea de sud). Cei interesati pot gasi AICI detalii despre acest important eveniment pentru lumea evanghelica.

Circa 4.000 de delegati, din peste 200 de tari, vor participa la acest congres. Un mic grup de lideri evanghelici, mai ales tineri, vor reprezenta Romania la acest eveniment.

9000 Days – Invictus – Theme song

The Berlin Wall fell in many places

The political and social shock waves caused by weeks of pro-democracy protests in East Germany and then the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, were felt around the world.

The South African theologian John de Gruchy recalls how, while spending a sabbatical semester at Union Theological Seminary in New York that year, he had been asked to play host for a few days to the director of an East German institute for Marxist-Leninist studies.