In a pastoral letter addressed to the people of God in South Africa, the Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa (SACBC) call on citizens to “reawaken and reclaim the dream,” amid the “spiritual and moral crisis” in the country almost 30 years post-democracy.

“We humbly call on political leaders, public officials, civil servants, members of the judiciary, senior executives in the corporate sector, businesspeople, and all members of the public to recognise in the current situation an opportunity to reawaken and reclaim the dream of every South African. We must all engage in the efforts to repair our country,” say the Catholic Bishops in a pastoral letter signed by the SACBC president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha diocese.

In the August 29 pastoral letter following the SACBC second annual plenary held in Mariannhill Diocese during the second week of August, the Bishops call on all citizens “to work for a better future for” South Africa.

“There is no future in paralysing disillusionment and despair. This only leads to more hopelessness, discouraging our youth, in particular, from taking their rightful place in the democratic institutions that are the fabric of our hard-won democracy,” they add.

The SACBC bemoans “cadre deployment and nepotism” as it robs old and young, “those who are ably qualified, from making their rightful contribution to society.”

“As church leaders, we wish to hold ourselves accountable and call for accountability and transparency in exercising power and using resources. We recognise that the crisis we face as a country is not only political. It is also a spiritual and moral crisis,” says the SACBC pastoral letter.

The Bishops go on to say that they add their “voice to those who justly denounce the greed of the few who enrich themselves at the expense of the many. Any form of corruption, nepotism, vandalism or dereliction of duty weakens the fabric of society and works against the common good.”