A call to heal the past

by Editor · February 25, 2001

Catholics, more than any other sector of South African society, are able to attach a personal value to the mechanism of confession, penitence and forgiveness.

The Catholic grasp of this natural sequence was movingly expressed by Pope John Paul�s Jubilee Year confession for wrongs committed in the name of the Church. Likewise, many Catholic dioceses around South Africa at mass rallies asked the nation�s forgiveness for not doing more to oppose apartheid.

The Home For All campaign, which is aimed at white South Africans, issues a similar mea culpa, to the evident objection of some.

The campaign�s Declaration of Commitment acknowledges that “apartheid inflicted massive social economic, cultural and psychological damage on black South Africans.” This observation is indisputable.

White South Africans, the declaration says, bear a responsibility for apartheid. Many supported the system�past election results testify to this�or acquiesced in it passively. Every white South African benefited from apartheid, the document correctly points out.

Whether one likes to admit it or not, white South Africans did profit from privileged access to superior amenities and resources, better-quality schooling, health care, municipal services, let alone job reservation and participation in the electoral processes. For that, the declaration says, “we acknowledge our debt to fellow black South Africans.”

Mary Burton, co-chairwoman of the campaign�s steering committee, has said that the question is not whether there is a debt, “but what can be done about it.” Since apartheid�s demise, many white South Africans have feared a punitive reparation tax. The Home For All campaign suggests an alternative: the establishment of a Development of Reconciliation Fund, which will contribute to existing developing trusts.

The inequalities wrought by apartheid remain a fact, regardless of the disempowerment felt by many white people today. The Declaration of Commitment points out that the failure of white South Africans “to accept responsibility has inhibited reconciliation and transformation.”

Many white South Africans have an understandable desire to forget apartheid, let bygones be bygones, and get on with their lives. This is the soft option. The signing away of (illegitimate) power cannot be regarded as a unilateral declaration of forgiveness asked and received.

In his Lenten message, Pope John Paul reminds us: “For nations in search of reconciliation and for those hoping for peaceful coexistence among individuals and peoples, there is no other way than forgiveness received and offered.”

What the pope is asking of white South Africans is an act of humble penitence. Likewise, black South Africans are called to forgive, as many have already done.

The Home for All campaign transcends a mere admission of guilt. It offers a way forward in the Christian quest to meet Christ�s commandment: “to love one another as I have loved you.”