South African Council of Churches calls for human dignity, justice and solidarity

Sr. Christine Masivo, CPS – Vatican City

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) -an influential ecumenical body of Christian churches, on 17 June 2026, met with the republican President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Unity Building.

Archbishop of Cape Town and SACC President, Sithembele Sipuka, said in a message shared with Vatican News, that the engagement followed the pastoral letter recently issued by the SACC to its member churches and all concerned citizens about the aggression and violence directed at foreign nationals in various parts of the country. The Archbishop expressed gratitude to President Ramaphosa for attending the meeting and listening to the concerns raised by the Church leaders.

All bear God’s image

“We used this opportunity to share our deep concerns about the suffering of fellow human beings, most of them fellow Africans who have been harassed, displaced, threatened, and deprived of their livelihoods,” Archbishop Sipuka said. “The Church cannot remain silent when human dignity is violated,” he said.

The SACC leadership stressed that all persons possess human dignity bestowed upon them by God, and thus violence, intimidation, and the targeting of vulnerable communities can never be justified. It is contrary to the spirit of ‘Ubuntu’ and incompatible with the Christian understanding of the human person, said the Cape Town prelate.

The Church leaders called on the South African Government to act swiftly and decisively against unlawful actions by gangs and organisations that have taken the law into their own hands under the guise of addressing undocumented migration and border management. They stressed that the responsibility for enforcing the law rests with the state and its institutions, not with individuals or groups acting outside the law.

Some migrants being repatriated back to their countries from SA   (AFP or licensors)

Real cause of community agitation

SACC accepted that South Africans’ frustrations stem from persistent unemployment, poverty, poor service delivery, corruption, and declining public trust in institutions. “We spoke honestly about the conditions that have contributed to the anger we see in many communities; people are struggling, they feel neglected and unheard,” Archbishop Sipuka explained.

These realities, the SACC President insisted, do not justify acts of violence; they must be acknowledged, and the root cause of the social unrest must be seriously addressed. Even if every foreign national were to leave South Africa, the country would still face unemployment, poor service delivery, corruption, crime, and economic inequality, he underlined.

Archbishop Sipuka further said that foreign nationals have often become the convenient scapegoats for the challenges that are far deeper and more complex, and that the country’s economic difficulties cannot be solved by targeting migrants and refugees.

State assures SACC

Regarding the anti-migrant group marches planned for 30 June, the deadline they have set for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa, Archbishop Sipuka urged the government to ensure adequate security measures to prevent further attacks and protect vulnerable communities.

Archbishop Sipuka said the SACC received assurances from President Ramaphosa that law enforcement agencies would be deployed and steps would be taken to maintain law and public order.

Advertisement

The Church leaders also welcomed the South African Government’s five-pillar plan as an important framework for responding to South Africa’s migration crisis.

The South African Government’s plan rests on five pillars: cracking down on violations of immigration and labour laws, preventing illegal entry into the country, stamping out corruption in the immigration system, strengthening immigration laws and policies, and working with other countries to address migration challenges across the region and the continent.

The Church leaders, nevertheless, said that policy commitments must lead to visible, measurable actions. The leadership said it would not relent on calling all people to reject Xenophobia, hatred, misinformation, and violence and to ensure that all concerns related to migration are addressed through lawful and constitutional processes rather than through intimidation and vigilantism.