1 November 2002

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Democratic South Africa inherited from the previous regime debilitating poverty and severe income inequality, deeply embedded in our social structure. Studies indicate that 53 per cent of our people, including as many as 70 per cent of all children live in poverty. On average, they spend less than R150 per person per month. In provinces such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, more than three quarters of the population is impoverished. President Mbeki has aptly characterised our society as one of two nations: one rich and mostly White, and one poor and overwhelmingly Black.

As churches, we see the human face of poverty in our communities and in our pews. We see those who never have enough to feed themselves. We are faced with children who are stunted by the ravages of malnutrition, who suffer death needlessly due to lack of access to medical facilities. We know entire extended families that depend for their survival on grandma's meagre pension and families who have turned against each other as perpetual need gives rise to caring fatigue.

Poverty presents us with an ethical crisis. The Bible recognises poverty as an evil, a consequence of an unjust distribution of resources. The Jubilee theology of Leviticus 25 forbids the monopolisation of wealth and productive resources by a privileged few. It provides a framework for restoring the dignity of all people. It challenges us to move beyond individual acts of charity to find ways to eradicate poverty and root out its causes.

This challenge reverberates throughout the scriptures. It is at the heart of the entire body of Covenant Law and Prophetic witness that condemns the human tendency to exploit the weak. And it is a recurring theme of the Gospels, summed up in Christ's call to "love your neighbour as yourself".

As Christians we are called to confront poverty and injustice. It was this ministry that inspired the SACC triennial National Conference in August 2001 to endorse the call for a Basic Income Grant: a minimum income payable to all South Africans. And it is this commitment that has led us to make the call for a Basic Income Grant (BIG) the focus of our 2002 Christmas Campaign. Christmas is the time when we recall with wonder and humility that God gave us His son as an undeserved gift. God's gift to humanity stands as the greatest example of how we, too, should care for others. The birth of Jesus demonstrates God's desire to stand where the poor stand, where the outcasts live. It is God's way of identifying with the whole range of human misery, of being our companion in our journey to wholeness.

Economic analysis suggests that increasing the asset base of the poor is the only effective way of enabling them to escape the dependency of poverty and to regain control of their lives. The Basic Income Grant would ensure that no one in South Africa is left with nothing. It would shift the burden of caring for the destitute off those who are ill-equipped to bear it -- the working poor and the children, elderly and disabled people who currently qualify for social grants. This initiative would spread it equitably among those who have more substantial resources. Let us accept the moral responsibility to bear one another's burdens.

I invite you to study the Christmas Campaign resources provided. Share them with people in your congregation, workplace and community. Find ways to inform your friends, colleagues and acquaintances about the BIG and its potential effects. Tell others, particularly community leaders and public officials, why you support the BIG and ask them to work for its introduction. Link up with church and community groups that are calling for the BIG.

Government has said that it will be making crucial decisions about the BIG early in 2003. This is the most important time to make your voice heard. With your help, we can hope to realise the promise of Deuteronomy 15:4: There will be no poor among you.

With warm wishes for a blessed holiday season,

Dr. Molefe TSELE
General Secretary