Bishop Nzimande urges women to confront injustice, become healers

Methodist Church of Southern Africa presiding bishop Pumla Nzimande has called on Christian women to become “builders, healers and architects of transformation”. Addressing the Mthatha Central 1765 Circuit gala dinner on Friday, Nzimande said August should be more than a month of commemorations and speeches, urging women and men to work together to confront gender-based violence, poverty and social division. “Welcome to August.

It is the month when new growth begins. “My prayer is that the work we do this month will produce buds of courage, resilience, agency and collaboration for the building, healing and transformation of society.” The gala dinner, held under the theme “The Role of Christian Women in Building, Healing and Transforming Society”, was attended by retired deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Eastern Cape acting judge president Zamani Nhlangulela, labour and employment minister Nomakhosazana Meth, traditional leaders, clergy and members of the John Wesley Society. Nzimande reminded guests that while the Methodist Church observed International Women’s Month in March, SA commemorated Women’s Month in August.

“This month touches all of us. It touches men and women because we are required to work together to build a safe and healthy nation,” she said. “Let us not see this month as an event, but as a process of nurturing.

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A process that must produce fruit, not just flowers.” She urged society to reflect on the legacy of the 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on August 9 1956 in protest against the pass laws, saying their courage had laid the foundation for many of the rights enjoyed by women today. “They brought the demands of the nation to those in power through the Women’s Charter. “And then, the historians tell us, they stood in silence for 30 minutes.” She said the march’s leaders, including Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, had demonstrated that women could unite around a common cause.

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