By Maduduza Zwane
Embezzlers of Charity Funds are Murderers – Archbishop Slettary
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in partnership with the Good Shepherd Parish hosted a memorial lecture in memory of the late Bishop Mandlenkosi Zwane on Saturday 11th May 2019 at the Parish’s High School.
The late Bishop Mandlenkosi Zwane was awarded by the South African Government led by Thabo Mbeki then with the order of the companion of O.R Tambo in Bronze for his caring ministry to both South African and Mozambican refugees; his strategy to pull communities out of poverty; his support for the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and the strength to rid churches in Swaziland of their imperial trappings and colonial tendencies.
The memorial lecture was attended by the Most Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Pretoria William Slattery who was also the guest speaker at the event. Also present were the chairman of the Council of Swaziland churches Reverend Nxumalo, the Bishop of the Diocese of Manzini Jose Luis Ponce de Leon, priests, sodalities and the Parish Pastoral Council Members for Good Shepherd Parish.
The theme of the event was “Care for our common home”.
The Archbishop stated that Pope in his Laudato Si in 2015 stated that God gave us the world. He entrusted it to us which means when we give it back to Him it should be on the same status as when we received it. We must therefore work with the Pope to safeguard the world.
He lamented that the disasters we have and experiencing such as the drought that engulfed Swaziland in the recent past, the cyclones in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi come because of our sinful acts.
The Pope encourages Christians of all denominations to improve the lives of people as was in the case at Good Shepherd with a beautiful school. The school must continue to be like this.
He emphasised that God gave us the world but we are unable to manage it responsibly. He cited Psalms 148 which states that the world is a gift from God. We must therefore respect it. We must take cognisant that we are created to co-exist with others. We can’t leave alone. We get water from God. We must therefore preserve it. The same applies to electricity.
The Archbishop decried that it is the quality of life we are living that is destroying our God given place.
The young and old people live and sleep in the streets. We don’t listen to the poor. We leave in a class-conscious society where there are the very rich and the very poor.
The world has about 65 million homeless people. Violence is the order of the day at our homes and everywhere. The Pope has complained about pollution, climate change, lack of legal protections, food wastages, social breakdown and human trafficking. All these are not in the making of God but by our sinful acts.
The Archbishop blamed society for being responsible for early deaths in life. This is mainly caused by deplorable conditions workers are subjected to. People are living in stressful conditions because there is no work, people are being used for personal gains, the earth is squeezed, and people are dying.
Slattery advised that when we plan we must plan for the whole community.
In conclusion the Archbishop told the multitude of people in the tent that the Pope has pronounced the following:
• Education is critical
• Avoid the use of plastic and paper
• Reduce water consumption
• Separate refuse
• Cook what is necessary
• Stop cruelty to animals
• Use public transport
• Share transport
• Plant trees and
• Turn off lights
He stated that politics is a sacred responsibility for the common good. Senior officials and politicians who divert charity funds to build hospitals to their own personal and selfish ends, if the sick die, they are murderers.
The occasion was graced by Dramajorettes from Good Shepherd High School with a band from Salesian High School.
There was entertainment in the form of Sibhaca in which Father Mabuza took part, Lutsango, Music and Saraffina dancers.
At the end of the event, the parish served the audience with a fat beast as lunch.
