Contents: Why Stand for Truth? • Challenge to the U.S. Church • What You Can Do To Stand For Truth • UNTIL SOUTH AFRICA IS FREE • The brochure says the people of South Africa are under siege; since the imposition of national State of Emergency in 1986, the government's repression of internal opposition to apartheid has steadily become more brutal and bloody; in 1988 alone 32 organizations were banned, 55 popular leaders placed under severe restriction and an estimated 1,500 people were being held without charge - some for more than 1,000 days. The brochure says the churches in South Africa are at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid and the racist South African government;...
Contents: Why Stand for Truth? • Challenge to the U.S. Church • What You Can Do To Stand For Truth • UNTIL SOUTH AFRICA IS FREE • The brochure says the people of South Africa are under siege; since the imposition of national State of Emergency in 1986, the government's repression of internal opposition to apartheid has steadily become more brutal and bloody; in 1988 alone 32 organizations were banned, 55 popular leaders placed under severe restriction and an estimated 1,500 people were being held without charge - some for more than 1,000 days. The brochure says the churches in South Africa are at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid and the racist South African government; as peaceful paths to change were being closed off one-by-one, they launched a national "Standing for the Truth" campaign in May 1988 to "put pressure on the South African regime to abandon apartheid and participate in a negotiated settlement"; as their first act, they called for a boycott of the October race-based municipal elections; not long after, the offices of the South African Council of Churches were bombed and those of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference gutted by arson. The brochure says the forces against the church are not confining themselves to attacks on buildings; the South African government has threatened to "clip the wings" of outspoken church leaders; South African police have invaded churches, teargassing and beating church members; ministers have been arrested and leading church figures, like Catholic Sister Bernard Ncube and Lutheran Dean Simon Farisani, have been detained repeatedly and tortured. The brochure says in the face of the level of evil in South Africa, the church leaders have no option but to raise their voices in protest and offer their bodies in sacrifice; as Reverend Frank Chikane, General-Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, has stated "I don't believe we can avoid the cross as a church now .... For us to go over into victory we will have to go through the cross." The brochure says South Africa's church leaders are not acting under illusions; they recognize the enormous forces of evil they are challenging and are aware of the vicious and brutal ways in which these forces will attempt to silence them; this is the path they have chosen. The brochure says but they cannot go it alone; they are calling on us to walk with them and stand for truth. In response to that call, U.S. church representatives gathered in October 1988, formed the South Africa Crisis Coordinating Committee (SACCC) and launched a national campaign to "Stand For Truth: Until South Africa is Free"; we are calling on our brothers and sisters in the United States to join us in this long-term campaign in spiritual union and solidarity with the church and other democratic forces in South Africa. The brochure says for SACCC information contact NCC (National Council of Churches) Africa Office or WCC (World Council of Churches) United States Office. The brochure says adopt campaigns in your community to help put pressure on the South African government to abandon apartheid; support comprehensive economic sanctions and "people's sanctions," like corporate campaigns and bank boycotts, directed at institutions doing business with South Africa.
