Justice and Peace Commission

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The purpose of J&P is to promote justice and peace action in the light of Catholic Social Teachings as an integral of the evangelising mission of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa, within the 29 Dioceses

Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference encourages it's congregants to vote and not boycott elections
23/10/2021

Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference encourages it's congregants to vote and not boycott elections

SACBC Justice and Peace condemns the senseless killing of Mthokozisi Ntumba. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conf...
15/03/2021

SACBC Justice and Peace condemns the senseless killing of Mthokozisi Ntumba.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Justice and Peace Commission is deeply shocked by the tragic event and loss of life that took place in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 10 March 2021, during the students demonstration at Wits University.

Until the government finds the political will to enforce profound changes in the ethos of policing in our country, more such deaths are inevitable. Mthokozisi Ntumba joins a long list of people, by far the majority black men, killed or murdered by the SAPS. From Andries Tatane ten years ago in Ficksburg and the 34 dead at Marikana in 2012 to the shooting of Petrus Miggels in Uitsig, Cape Town at the beginning of lockdown last year, the SAPS kills on average two and half times as many people per capita of population as the American Police do, and eight times as many as their Canadian counterparts.

Noting therefore that the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba is a sign of structural problems in our policing system, we therefore call upon the Minister of Police to consider the following measures:

· He should take appropriate measures to de-militarize the police. It is now ten years since the National Development Plan called for this to be addressed and nothing has so far been done.

· He should stop rhetoric that encourages policy brutality. Over the years, there has been continued refrain from him and previous ministers that “the police must shoot to kill,” “use maximum force” and “use deadly force.”

· He should review the poor training received by the public order police officers, especially its over-reliance on the use of force when it is the black protestors, with no room for negotiation and many other non-violent intervention.

· He should ensure that there are consequences, not only for lower ranked police officers, but also command structure in charge of the operation that has resulted in loss of human life.

We wish to remind the Minister of Police that each loss of human life resulting from police brutality shocks our social conscience as a nation because human life is sacred and a gift from God Almighty. Jesus Christ came to give us this life to the full (John 10:10). We would like to reiterate the words of Pope Saint John Paul ll that: “every human being is endowed with a dignity that must never be lessened, impaired or destroyed but must instead be respected and safeguarded, if peace is really to be built up” (Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations Oct. 2, 1979).

The SACBC Justice and Peace extends to all the family and friends of the late Mthokozisi Ntumba its deepest sympathy and may his soul rest in eternal peace.

Issued by Bishop Victor Phalana, Chairperson of SACBC Justice and Peace Commission. Contact number: 0824707151.

Bishop Victor Phalana

15/03/2021

During the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), Pope John XXIII and the bishops from all around the world decided that the Church needed to be more involved in the world. For that, they established a Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace and decided that each bishops’ Conference should establish a Justice and Peace commission and that all Bishops work towards establishing Justice and Peace commissions in their Dioceses. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) was one of the first bishops’ Conferences in the world to establish a Justice and Peace department in 1967.

The department effectively became the SACBC’s anti-apartheid mobilisation and campaigning arm throughout the apartheid era. During the political transition period, the department focused mostly on the negotiation process, elections support, and (subsequently) the TRC process. Over the past decade in the post-apartheid era, the department established dedicated programmes in gender, environmental justice, economic justice, land reform, democracy, reconciliation, training, social renewal, trade justice, and international solidarity and peace-building.

We aim to realise our vision by:

Building communities at the local and diocesan levels comprising women, men and youth who are motivated to promote and work for justice, peace and social transformation at the local, diocesan, national and international levels; and

Harnessing the vast expertise that exists within and without the church in all sectors of society to deepen the understanding and analysis at all levels of the Church of issues that require our response and advocacy for a more just and peaceful society, leading to effective action

We do this in a spirit of community service, ecumenism, and partnership with other role players.

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Pretoria

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+27123236458

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