South Africa will plunge into a civil war and follow in the footsteps of countries like Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria if it doesn’t use Nelson Mandela’s values when it comes to handling the issue of land expropriation without compensation.
Those were the words of southern African Anglican church Archbishop of Cape Town Dr Thabo Makgoba who was speaking during the launch in East London at the Guild Theatre of his latest book Faith and Courage: Praying with Nelson Mandela on Tuesday evening.
The book is based on prayers Makgoba read to the former president during the last five years of his life.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch at the launch, Makgoba said: “ Some of the young people are saying Mandela sold out but I wonder if they can get to know some of the challenges he went through. If Mandela had not arrived at some of the compromises, look at Syria now, and DRC, we could have gone in that direction.
“We need to make sure SA remains intact and that the poorest of the poor are not forgotten. What can we learn about Mandela’s values, his courage? And can Mandela's faith help us negotiate the challenges that we are facing, in particular on the land issue?
“We can be reckless and destroy the cohesion of society by not applying our minds or we can look at our history and have the courage to tell any leader of a political party, be it Julius Malema or Cyril Ramaphosa, to say can we have a policy that is well thought-out because prayer really is thinking things through – praying through things, to say ‘what are the consequences of what we are doing’.”
Amid the debate on land expropriation, Makgoba said he hoped his book would teach people not to fear and to have courage.
“I feel the book also touches on the Eastern Cape because this is where I was formed,” he said.
Makgoba was speaking after attending the fourth Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust Annual lecture, delivered by Dr Makhosi Khoza at Rhodes University on Monday...