The Archbishop of Cape Town has issued a call for South Africans to mark the 25th anniversary of the release from prison of Nelson Mandela. In a statement released from a meeting of the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa in Durban on 5 Feb 2015, the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba said he was “calling on church leaders and their faithful to honour and mark the 25th anniversary of the release of Madiba, our icon and the father of our democracy, at 4.14 pm on February 11. I request interfaith groups around the country to spend 67 minutes converging on either their local High Court or a major prison, conducting a short march and holding prayers.” Archbishop Makgoba said he hoped South Africans would celebrate the anniversary by “committing themselves to a new struggle, a struggle for social cohesion and the end of inequality.” South Africa’s townships have witnessed a sharp rise of xenophobia, with foreigners accused of taking jobs and resources from the native population. ““Whether it’s a few of you, or hundreds of you, be as creative as you like in what you do – just mark the day and the moment, and commit to the new struggle.”
