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In a message on 15 October, Rev. Dr David Tswaedi, executive director of the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa, lamented that the voices of survivors and victims of gender-based violence have been muted, due to stigma and the perceived power of the perpetrators.

Church leaders in Sudan are welcoming a peace agreement signed between the transitional government and rebel groups on 3 October, after a year of talks in Juba City, the South Sudanese capital.

In a statement released 2 October, the Dutch Reformed Church expressed deep concern about the high incidence of systemic corruption in South Africa.

South African church leaders heard that corruption in their country kills when they organized for a campaign against the latest version of pillaging during the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On 15 September, the South African Council of Churches will stand in silent prayer in all nine provinces to declare that “Corruption is Not Our Heritage.”

The 10th Annual Desmond Tutu Peace Lecture, titled “Climate Justice Globally: Now and for the Future,” will take place on 7 October online. Featured speakers will include 23-year-old Vanessa Nakate, a climate activist from Uganda who has been leading a drive for justice related to race, media representation and climate justice; and internationally-known Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Rev. Dr Lydia Mwaniki, director for Women, Gender and Youth at the All Africa Conference of Churches, has received the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

On 25 August, a delegation led by the South African Council of Churches met with officials from the African National Congress to call for societal action against COVID-19 corruption.

Dr Kobus Gerber, the first general secretary of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, passed away in the early hours of 6 August, following heart surgery.

The worldwide ecumenical family came together to celebrate the life of African bridge-builder, transformer, and social justice champion, Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel at an online service led by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will remember the life and work of Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel with an online memorial service on 4 June at 4pm CET.

The South African Council of Churches released guidelines for member churches as they prepare for the COVID readiness of their congregations.

An online memorial service for Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel drew family members, friends, colleagues and students who mourned the passing of the World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Africa. Plaatjies van Huffel, known as a transformative church leader in sub-Saharan Africa, passed away on 19 May.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, a South African pastor and academic who was currently serving as the WCC president from Africa since 2013. She passed away on 19 May.

Using lessons learned from building health-competent faith communities and responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, African church leaders are doing their best to help their communities cope with the novel coronavirus.

Africa is of huge concern around the novel coronavirus pandemic for the World Health Organization (WHO), but the continent’s churches have been preparing for the silent and lethal virus for some time.

The South African Council of Churches is calling on the De Klerk Foundation to retract and apologize in the wake of a 14 February statement issued by the foundation amplifying the position that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, but a Soviet propaganda ploy.

Gender-based violence and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa have left communities wondering where to turn. In a visit of solidarity, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrim Team visited the nation from 7-12 December.

On 9 December, a delegation led by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and cabinet ministers in Johannesburg, South Africa.