DURBAN (SOUTH AFRICA)
The Mercury
April 4, 2018
By Sibongile Mashaba
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa will formulate a “clearer” policy as a major step towards dealing with cases of abuse.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba told the congregation in his Easter message in Cape Town at the weekend that he could not judge the government and fail to look into allegations of sexual misconduct in the church.
He said he was consulting widely.
“This week I had a very productive meeting with the church’s legal advisers. Arising from that, our Canon Law Council will meet representatives of the safe church network this month to formulate clearer policy, so that we have in place a system that is both effective and is seen to be effective for both survivors and alleged perpetrators,” Makgoba said.
“One matter I raised was to offer formal church support for efforts to change the law to ensure old cases can be dealt with in secular courts.”
In January, two women staged a protest at the Pretoria City Mission Methodist Church over sexual abuse claims, disrupting a church service.
Over the past few weeks, several people have spoken out, alleging that they had been abused.
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