Speeches

REMARKS AT THE FOURTH REUNION OF THE TURFLOOP SCM MEMBERS OF THE LATE EIGHTIES AND EARLY NINETIES

ERNEST KHOSA. 14TH MARCH 2020 at STONEHAGE HOTEL, PARYS

The Programme Directors, Pastor Godwill Baloyi and Sister Sarah Moloto, the founder of our esteemed group, Brother Emmanuel Mponwa, Brother Stanley Marara who has in the past coordinated the group with athletic skills, the very able chair of our group Pastor Godwill Baloyi, Justice Mbhele, Professor Sehoole, Dean of the Education Faculty at the University of Pretoria and the brethren! Good Morning! I also want to acknowledge the presence of my Pastor Noel Sithole and his better half. You have been with me, you have demonstrated the spirit of KC, a spirit of compassion of fellowship and support during my seven lean years. We fasted, did midnight prayers the KC way and finally overcame. Once again it is heart-warming to see you here.

It is a pleasure to be part of this esteemed and unique group of Turfloop graduates and former members of the SCO (Student Christian Organisation). I am particularly motivated that the group is growing in both quantitative terms and in relevance to the challenges of our times. The mere fact that we are here in the North West today, having come from more than half our provinces is not insignificant. The quality of the attendees here representing the judiciary, the academia, various esteemed professions and the priesthood calls for good and constructive questions about our identity and what holds us together. Phrased differently the questions I would like to raise today are:

1. What holds us together?

2. The second question is: of what relevance are we?

3. The third is: Have we reproduced ourselves and if not how do we reproduce ourselves?

Regarding what holds us together, our place in history has been emphasized in various ways at our esteemed gatherings. I just wish to re-quote Brother Edwin Tshabalala as I did last year; that we are a generation which was at the confluence of the demise of Apartheid South Africa and advent of a democratic state. This variable is not a casual characterisation of who we are. It is at the centre of our shared experience. Not many generations shared the distinct experience of the pain that the generation of the late eighties to the early nineties did.

Recently I was invited to be one of the speakers at Turfloop during their 60 year celebration, and I said the following: We were at Turfloop when the university was around 30 years; we were therefore arithmetically in the middle of Turfloop’s history… and maybe physiologically in the belly of the existence of the University.

We carried over the culture of our predecessors, refined it and transmitted it to our successors. Historians on Turfloop will agree that the most dramatic moment of the university was the arrival and the camping of the army for three years, in the campus, in the 1980’s. We were at the centre of that moment. In a slightly different way our period at Turfloop also locates us within the clock of change on a national scale in South Africa. Ironically, the real conflict between the apartheid state and organised black people started around the same time that Turfloop was established. Forced removals, the banning of political organisations, Verwoerd’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth, and strategies for a violent fight back against the Apartheid state all were their genesis to that period around the establishment of Turfloop. Some important documents that guided the banned ruling party, such as the “road to freedom” were conceived around that time.

Our lives during the confluence of the last days of apartheid and the new democratic state can be described as one in the belly of modern history. We are a generation that knows both worlds. What we witnessed at Turfloop and we participated in, was the drama of two worlds at play. Therein lies our advantage: We have the past as a lived experience, and the present as an unfolding anxiety. We know what the aspirations were then. This informs our concerns about the current national state of affairs.

We know that religious freedom is not a casual achievement, there was a time when at Turfloop worshiping was a privilege. A service could be disallowed or restricted at any time by the authorities. In fact there was a time when it took serious negotiating to be graced by the presence of an external preacher on campus. One such case is when we had to mount a fight with the authorities to allow Dr Elijah Maswanganyi to preach on campus.

Programme Director, I remain convinced that the historicity of our generation was one of pain, of fellowship, of genuine friendship and of shared Christian values. This partly defines who we are. The culture of fellowship is evident in our reunion here today: What else explains the enthusiasm to gather, some 600 kilometers from our homes and workstations in a situation where there is not evident and imminent economic benefits? The next question is, of what relevance are we? This questions breeds another one: Relevant to whom? An immediate response would be: To society in its entirety. I would like us to take a step back and be scriptural.

Matthew 22:39 bears relevance. “You shall love your neighbour as you love yourself “(NKV). This verse suggests that how you treat your neighbour should be informed by the standards you have, for yourself. The chronology is clearly taking care of our personal interests as a given. Have we been relevant to ourselves? I would like to submit that we have fallen far too short of Matthew 22. This is understandable because one of the outstanding virtues of this group is selflessness and compassion. When Brother Aaron Mokabane called me one morning, in my darkest of days, and in not so many words reminded me that he cared and he was praying with me. I knew that was the spirit of our group KC…, compassion at its most sparkling. Sometimes it is impossible to dispense sufficient compassion and selflessness when you have not taken care of yourself, and you consequently suffer from lack. Lack as individuals and lack as a group can inhibit your capability to enhance your values.

With the power this group has, there is a need to develop ways to take care of its individual members, with the stronger lifting the weaker up. I suggest we consider changing this group into an advocacy agency, with compassion first to its members and secondly a voice to the nation. This should include lobbying for good causes which are an integral part of our objectives. I attach a pager on my definition of lobbying and the appropriate principles. May I emphasize that we should not be found wanting by the prescripts of Luke 16:8, which reads “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light”. Brother Albert’s proposal that we start an NPO, could not have come at a right time. Let us discuss this proposal and action it.

The second question is: of what relevance are we to society? In this area we generally are at the top. Half of us are pastors. There are also very motivating initiatives from our ranks to uplift communities. But there are also initiatives of a national scale such as the Cuito Canavale Project and the publishing of books. This is commendable. A sub-question which we should pose is: whether we are operating in the mainstream of things or on the outskirts. We could do better. It is encouraging to see one of our own, Bejani Chauke, a member of KC, in the mainstream and as an advisor to the president.

It may be necessary to ask ourselves whether we are successful in reproducing ourselves. In this regard a post from Brother Mzamani Baloyi early this year is instructive. He shared a story of young preachers at the SCO who abscond from sinful activity with their peers only when it is time to take the pulpit. So, remaining pure is not a way of life, it only becomes necessary in anticipation of a moment on the pulpit. Talk of royal sins and premeditated purity. Consequently, all the principles of courtship that Brother Stanley Marara so eloquently writes about in his book are just but dramatic fiction.

This deficit in what holds us together is now evident in the political arena. Values and principles are just but part time fiction. Political leaders who depend on principles and values and have no skills of theivering face extinction.

As reported in the media and other public platforms, it would appear that in order to win an election you need to buy a branch, you need to transport your delegates, you need to accommodate them in a proper hotel and feed them appropriately. You must therefore up your game and always be ahead of your opponent. The attendance of a branch meeting by professionals is strangely frowned upon by ANC members these days. They wouldn’t understand what you want from the ANC if you are self-sufficient.

How quickly we forget! The founders of the ANC were distinguished academics, royalty and religious leaders amongst others. At this critical stage of the history of country, professionals gathered here this morning should still play an important role in directing the affairs of this country. This would improve on the quality of your members of parliament, your leaders of state owned institutions and of the civil service. The current service delivery conundrum owes itself to the decline in the principles and values that hold this group together.

Have we reproduced ourselves? The answer is No. I wish we had more time to discuss this, but maybe I should conclude by making a few suggestions. Again this is a very powerful group. The president of this country is a product of KC. It may well be time to stop operating at half capacity, we should be operating at full capacity, and we can achieve it if we do the following:

1. Let us take care of one another in manners that are legal and procedural.

2. Let us refine and implement the proposal of an NPO as suggested by Brother Albert early in the year.

3. Let us constitute ourselves into an outfit with a voice of whatever nature we deem fit. We could use the outfit as a springboard to support young SCO and student leaders.

4. Let us support projects initiated by our own, on condition that these are projects with a bearing on enriching history and seek to support national and international solidarity. Again the Cuito Carnavale Project is a good example.

5. Let’s come out of the closet and organise a gala dinner, with the President as a guest speaker, at which point we will announce our existence to the public and declare our values.

I thank you.

These remarks were meant for a distinct and closed group, hence the unexplained acronyms.