29/06/2026
SACC CHURCH LEADERS ADDRESS AHEAD OF 30 JUNE 2026 PROTESTS
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Fellow South Africans,
Members of our congregations,
Citizens of our country,
And all who live within our borders,
We, the leaders of the member churches of the South African Council of Churches, gather today not merely as representatives of our denominations and communions, but as servants of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shepherds of our people, and witnesses to both the pain and the promise of our nation. We are called to balance our pastoral and welfare interventions with our prophetic work for justice.
We speak today because South Africa stands at a critical moment.
Our purpose is to speak with love, care, justice, compassion and truth. This is rooted in our commitment not to diminish the genuine concerns being expressed by communities across our country. We speak because the Church is called to stand where Christ has always stood: alongside truth, justice, human dignity and peace. At moments of deep national anxiety, the Church cannot remain silent.
Tomorrow, some South Africans intend to march in protest against the presence of undocumented foreign nationals.
We hear the cries of unemployed young people searching for opportunity. We hear the frustrations of families living with failing public services, crime, corruption and the rising cost of living. We hear communities that feel overwhelmed by overcrowded schools and clinics, deteriorating infrastructure, hijacked buildings, the scourge of drugs, human trafficking, organised crime and the exploitation of the most vulnerable. We hear citizens who believe that government has not acted decisively enough on matters of migration, border management and the rule of law.
These concerns are real. They deserve to be heard. They deserve to be addressed.
The Church will never dismiss the lived experiences of our people. To ignore their pain would be pastorally irresponsible.
We recognise the constitutional right of every South African to make their voice heard through peaceful and lawful demonstrations. Yet we must also say that no frustration, however deep, can justify actions that inflict suffering upon another human being.
The deeper crisis facing our nation is not simply the presence of undocumented migrants. It is the deep and growing woundedness of our society — a woundedness born of poverty, unemployment, inequality, corruption, weak governance, the neglect of managing our migration policy with discipline and consistency and the erosion of public trust. These realities have left many South Africans feeling frustrated, abandoned, unheard and uncertain about the future.
This moment therefore calls not only for law enforcement, but for moral leadership. It calls for a renewed national commitment to justice, the fight against poverty and exclusion, responsive leadership and the restoration of hope.
In building this new future, violence, intimidation and the dehumanisation of others can never become the language through which our nation speaks to itself or presents itself to the world.
Though we recognise the constitutional right to protest, tomorrow cannot become a day of fear.
It cannot become a day of destruction.
It cannot become a day of intimidation.
It cannot become a day in which neighbour turns against neighbour.
Our Constitution protects the right to protest, but it rejects hatred. It protects dissent, but it neither promotes nor protects violence.
Our Constitution enjoins us beyond legality into a moral vision, it invites us into a world of inclusion, compassion, solidarity and working together in our diversity.
As the Church of Jesus Christ, we are guided by the truth that every person is created in the image of God and possesses inherent dignity. The Scriptures remind us: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34). Again, we are commanded: “Love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).
These commandments do not diminish the responsibility of the State to enforce the law, nor do they diminish the responsibility of every person living in South Africa to respect the laws of our country. Rather, they remind us that justice and compassion, accountability and mercy, belong together.
