Interfaith dialogue put on hold amid disagreements 

04 February 2016

 

The two-day Interfaith Workshop held at the Soweto Theatre in Jabulani this week has been postponed indefinitely after delegates disagreed on the investigations being conducted into churches by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights.

 

Amid heated debate over the matter on the second and final day of the workshop, Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Parks intervened and suggested that the session be postponed to a date still to be determined, remarking that sometimes a process could undermine the outcome.

The Mayor said it was, however, encouraging that a dialogue had begun on some of the most contentious issues facing the faith-based sector.

“To a large extent, we are achieving what we want. Already there is dialogue. Let’s start a conversation because there is tension. No one disputes the contention that there are happenings within the religious sector that require investigation or scrutiny. Where there is a wrong, let’s uproot it,” he said.

The Mayor also pleaded with the delegates to exercise tolerance “so we can take this process forward”

He appealed to them to allow the commission to continue its work, saying if there were misunderstandings, the government and faith-based leaders should work together to resolve them.

“Let’s work on a mechanism to work through the issues," Mayor Tau said.

The commission, a Chapter 9 institution, has over the past few months been investigating the alleged commercialisation of churches and the abuse of people’s beliefs. The main source of discontent appeared to be the scrutinisation of churches’ financial records by the commission. Edward Mafadza, the commission’s CEO, explained the institution’s mandate and the terms of reference of its current investigations.

But Prophet Radebe accused the commission of conducting a witch-hunt and vowed he would not open his church’s financial statements to anyone, “not even the commission”.

“Our church’s finances are a private matter. Where was the commission when we started the church?” asked Radebe.

He said he was only accountable to his church “and not to the whole of South Africa”.

Other delegates felt Radebe was out of order and argued that churches were public institutions that received money from poor people. Consequently they should have no problems in opening up their books for scrutiny. Mafadza appealed to religious leaders to protect the integrity of their religions