Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town has appointed a three-person panel to review the handling by the Anglican Church in South Africa of reports received by the church of abuse carried out by the former British lawyer, John Smyth.
Dr Mamphela Ramphele, the South African civil society leader, Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC, a barrister who practises in South Africa and Britain, and Judge Ian Farlam, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, will conduct the review and make recommendations to the Archbishop.
The review will cover the past actions of the church in South Africa, including its handling of a report of Smyth’s abuse in the UK in 1981-82 and in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, received from the Diocese of Ely in 2013.
No cases of abuse by Smyth in South Africa have been reported to the church to the knowledge of current leadership. The church’s Safe and Inclusive Church Commission, established separately from the church’s hierarchy to deal with complaints of abuse, has re-circulated its contact details and will deal with complaints which may be received in future.
The Archbishop’s announcement reads:
“I am pleased to report that following a meeting with the church’s legal advisers and our Safe and Inclusive Church Commission at Bishopscourt in Cape Town today, three prominent South Africans experienced in human rights issues have agreed to review my and the church’s past actions in relation to the John Smyth abuse scandal.
“The review panel comprises the civil society leader, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC, Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town, and Judge Ian Farlam, Provincial Chancellor of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, who chaired the Commission of Inquiry into the killing of miners at Marikana in 2012.
“They will carry out a retrospective analysis of our handling of reports received by the church, including a letter from the Diocese of Ely in 2013, reporting a historical case of abuse in Britain in 1981-82, a suspected case in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, and alerting us that Smyth was living in Cape Town. They will make recommendations to me as to further action.
“In the past week, it has become clear that Smyth was a member of three Anglican congregations in South Africa, two in Durban in the early 2000s and one in Cape Town, first for a period until December 2013, and later for some months before his death in 2018. To date, we have not found any cases of abuse reported to the Anglican Church in South Africa. However, our Safe and Inclusive Church Commission has re-circulated its contact details, and should any complaints be received in future, they will be handled by the Commission.
“For someone in the church, which is meant to be a safe and nurturing space, to prey on God’s children when they are at their most vulnerable is evil beyond description. We must eradicate it, root and branch. My hope is that this panel will make recommendations which help us to achieve that. I am profoundly grateful to the members of the panel for agreeing to serve.”
