Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Violent protests by South Africans demanding better living conditions are a warning to the authorities, church leaders said. Police fired rubber bullets on March 30 at protesters in Zandspruit, a shanty settlement on the outskirts of Johannesburg. On March 31 the South African Council of Churches said, “The violent developments associated with poor delivery of social services” are a “rude reawakening call to the authorities” as well as “an indication of just how destructive things can turn out to be if local government councilors and political parties continue to ignore the needs of the people.” As in many squatter camps around Johannesburg, Zandspruit residents live in squalid conditions, sharing toilets and communal water taps, with little or no electricity. Neighboring suburbs have some of Africa’s most expensive real estate. “Our early warning to South Africa’s leadership is that all efforts” must be made “to save this democracy lest we walk the path of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya...where social instability reigns,” church leaders said.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024