Jaspreet Kindra
African National Congress secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe is to step into the row between the party’s head of religious affairs, Cedric Mayson, and Anglican Church leaders over Mayson’s accusation that they are politicising the HIV/Aids issue.
In a letter this week to the Anglican bishops, Mayson says he “regrets” that Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane referred his request for a personal discussion to the Anglican synod and the media. “The matter has thus been taken out of my hands. The secretary general of the ANC will be in touch with you in due course.”
Last week Mayson attacked certain South African church leaders for using the HIV/Aids epidemic to make “political attacks” on President Thabo Mbeki, describing them as “a disgusting ploy”.
Ndungane last week revealed that he had received a letter from Mayson claiming that there was widespread concern in political and church circles about how the archbishop saw his role and how others should relate to him. Mayson’s attack arrived after Ndungane called for the release of the Medical Research Council (MRC) report on mortality trends in the country.
Expressing “surprise” at Mayson’s letter, the Anglican bishops said the Anglican Church had experienced difficulty in communicating not only with the ANC, but, with many levels of the government.
Mayson said this week that Motlanthe would meet with Ndungane and the bishops. “I deeply regret that the tragedy of HIV/Aids is used to stir up political controversy. My letter from the ANC commission for religious affairs to the archbishop was personal.”
He said his initial letter to all religious leaders was written as a member of the South African National Aids Council to inform them of the “facts behind the release of the current reports on Aids statistics, and alert them to misleading comments. It has been warmly received,” he said.
“In both cases the archbishop has ignored the substantive issues, failed to reply, and referred the letters to the house of bishops and the media, so it is out of my hands. I believe that most people in the church, the government and the media desire the common good of our people, not destructive political confrontation, especially over people with Aids. Only the truth can assist that majority voice to prevail.”
Another church leader, Dr John Mostert, of the Apostolic Faith Mission, has also hit out at Mayson’s attack on church leaders. Responding to Mayson, he says: “I differ with my president on some of his views on HIV/Aids. I resent (and reject) the inference that this is a political motivation.
“His statements on Aids have seriously embarrassed me with my international Aids colleagues … My opposition has nothing to do with politics … I respect my president, and often find myself defending him in discussions, but his views on Aids are causing more harm than good.”
Mostert suggests Mayson chooses between working for the ANC and representing the faith-based community in the Aids Council. He told the Mail & Guardian Mayson had played a key role in obtaining funding for the National Religious Association for Social Development’s Aids education programme for religious ministers: “Now he is using us as a whipping boy.”