Three South African Scenes

Part 1: Penguins

We’re in Somerset West, a suburb east of Cape Town. This is in the Anglican Diocese of False Bay, now 15 years old, having been split off from the Table Bay Diocese in Cape Town. We’re also in the Cape of Good Hope Synod of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa — we’ve been volunteering with both on our visits.

 Once you get used to standing upside down on this side of the world, and driving on the left with a steering wheel on the right side of the car(!), you can settle in. One feature of this part of Africa is penguins, so we visited the Stony Point Nature Preserve, east of False Bay. Right next to a neighborhood is a rocky shore full of upright birds. The African Penguins here rest from feeding at sea and brood eggs in nests (either dug under a bush or in a fiberglass igloo, provided by the humans). Alas, the penguins are now endangered — their population is down by more than 50% over the last 30 years. Overfishing their food sources and a population explosion of seals (that eat the penguins’ fish and sometimes young penguins) have resulted in fewer birds. If an oil spill soils their feathers, they can’t stay warm in the water, so they climb onto shore and starve. Besides the nature preserve, few others are taking any action to protect the penguins. But when more than a million people locally live in corrugated steel shacks, and unemployment is at 29% (!), how do you restrict fishing or spend resources reducing the seal population? That’s the challenge of South Africa.

Part 2: A Thirst for God

We stopped by the Diocesan office (only a few minutes’ walk away), in hope of securing a meet-and-greet appointment with Bishop Margaret Vertue for our friends, Jacqueline & Don, who are visiting from the States (as they call it here). While waiting, Bishop Margaret walks in the front door with the perfect “What are you doing here in Africa?” look. Reverend Pieter arrives and we chat for a bit. Bishop Margaret relates that attendance in Anglican churches is up all over the Diocese, and that this increase also is occurring at the churches in the toughest neighborhoods, where crime and gangs are rampant. At one parish, rival gangs use the church building for cover in their gun battles — the bullet holes in the church walls attest to the shooting. The toilets were recently moved from outside to inside the church so that worshipers wouldn’t risk getting attacked or shot if they went to the bathroom. Yet, still they come to church, over and over. People here have a thirst for God, despite the bullets. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John (Chapter 4) that everyone who drinks the water her gives them will never be thirsty again. The parish worshipers know that living water is stronger than bullets. Their attendance is a testament to the power of faith in the most inhospitable of places. That’s the resolve of South Africa.

Part 3: Safari or Not?

Part of the African experience is to go on Safari, and the closest place to Cape Town is a game reserve. Rescued animals, rhinoceros, who need protection from poachers, and other animals who wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild are in the 10,000 hectare (24,711 acres) fenced reserve. You get up at dawn and ride in a truck fitted with benches to observe and photograph the animals. Elephant, ostrich, Cape buffalo, giraffe, white rhinoceros, zebra (fun fact: a group of zebra is called a Dazzle), and various antelope wander and graze inside the preserve. Lions rescued from an illegal trophy hunting operation are in a special enclosure. They were previously fed steroids so they would bulk up fast and could be shot sooner. As a result, they have flabby skin on their otherwise normal bodies. This game preserve is really a cross between a zoo and a safari in one of the national parks. The organization’s purpose is to “protect and preserve Africa’s increasingly threatened wildlife and is fully committed to social upliftment, job creation, skills development and various sustainable empowerment programmes.” Enlightened groups can create sustainable balance between nature conservation and the empowerment of the local community. We’ve seen several examples of businesses dedicating themselves to conservation, sustainability, and worker involvement as they serve their customers. That’s the hope of South Africa.