9.1 The insight which the Dutch Reformed Church gained that "the church may not prescribe political models to the government, but it will, by virtue of its prophetic function, continue to test every existing and proposed political model against Biblical principles and norms" [translation] (Kerk en Sarnelewing 1990, par 275) was the result of years of grappling with this issue, and came after the Dutch Reformed Church had travelled a long road with the apartheid albatross around its neck.
9.2 It was precisely the zeal with which the Dutch Reformed Church wanted the Scriptures to pronounce on all the relationships and circumstances of life that led it to seek Scriptural endorsement for one specific political model as being the one true, divinely ordained model for this country. At a stage there was broad consensus in Dutch Reformed Church circles that separate development - with neighbourly love and justly applied - was a Biblical imperative for the regulation of our society.
9.3 It can be accepted that there were good intentions amongst those who wanted to justify apartheid/separate development Biblically, and those who saw it as a practical solution for a complex situation. On the one hand they wanted to do what they believed the Bible required of them. On the other hand they wanted justice to be done to all the different peoples constituting our South African society.
9.4 Unfortunately, however, the policy of apartheid was allowed to degenerate into an ideology which had to be put into practice at all costs, even against the will of most people in the country. People became pawns in a game of chess, and their innate human dignity was not fully recognised. Even after it became obvious that the ideal of independent states for the different peoples was unattainable, the discrimination and injustice of forced removals were allowed to continue.
9.5 For many years the Dutch Reformed Church continued to view this intricate situation all too theoretically. Too often its approach was: "If a policy of separate development can be implemented with neighbourly love and righteousness, it can be Biblically justified". The church did not take enough trouble to establish whether, in practice, this policy complied at all with the stated norms of love and righteousness.
9.6 While, in a sense, the Dutch Reformed Church took the lead in establishing the apartheid concept, it was the National Party that later adopted it as a political policy.Because the members of one were, in many cases, also members of the other, there was an interaction between church and party/government. This is understandable, but the result was that the church did not always maintain the desirable critical distance in relation to the government.
9.7 The concept of separate states for separate peoples did not appear out of thin air - it exists elsewhere in the world (Europe) and also in our own region, with Lesotho and Swaziland being the most obvious examples - and a social arrangement of this kind is clearly not wrong or bad as such. The problem comes when such an arrangement is forced on people and even advocated by the church as a Biblical imperative.
9.8 Also in relation to the ecclesiastical dispensation, it is not wrong if the Word of God is brought to people in their own language and cultural context, or if the church, precisely by virtue of its "universality", chooses to take on the colour of its surroundings. On the contrary. But the unity of the church cannot be subordinated to its diversity. If, in this regard, the church's diversity is virtually the only part of it which is visible, and visible unity steadily disappears into the background, the world will be less and less inclined to believe the church's message.
9.9 It was on account of its profound and justifiable identification with the destiny of the people whom it served in the first instance - the Afrikaners - that the Dutch Reformed Church often tended to put the interests of its people above those of other people. The church was concerned for the survival of the Afrikaners and did not always pay the same attention to the desperate circumstances endured by other people from day to day.
9.10 The church must acknowledge to its members, old and young, that the guidance given by ecclesiastical assemblies in respect of societal matters over the past decades was sometimes sadly lacking. For that we are deeply and sincerely sorry.
9.11 The Dutch Reformed Church thanks the Lord for those cases in which the guidance of ecclesiastical assemblies was good and right, and He bestowed His blessings on the church's activities in many areas - as is evident from the details elsewhere in this document.
9.12 It must be said that there were also cases in which sound guidance from the church was unfortunately not followed by all members and assemblies.
9.13 The Dutch Reformed Church has always treated the Word of God most seriously, and has consistently striven to proclaim and apply its pristine essence. However, the church did not always hear the Word of the Lord correctly. That must be confessed.
However, the church commits itself afresh to the service of the Lord, so that in the years ahead, with greater zeal and dedication than ever, it can seek God's will for the members of the church, and for the country and all its people, while maintaining a critical approach to its own interpretation of the Word.
9.14 Christ provides us with the outstanding example of a servant who thought not of Himself, but of others. If, in the past, the Dutch Reformed Church was tempted to think of itself as a great and "powerful" church, the situation has clearly now changed to such an extent that the church has to see itself differently. The servant model now fits best - and that, after all, is what Christ expects of His church.
9.15 The Dutch Reformed Church's heart goes out to those in our country who suffered in past decades because of the system which prevailed. The church sometimes raised its voice in protest and sometimes in compassion, but often too softly. For that we apologise.
9.16 Clearly, however, the suffering, hardship and poverty endured by people in South Africa over the past few decades or more cannot be ascribed to apartheid alone. A variety of social and economic realities contributed to their plight. During this time South Africa, in fact, enjoyed relative prosperity in which everyone could share to a greater or lesser degree. The fact that at the end of the apartheid years South Africa was, economically speaking, a ray of hope in Africa - in spite of sanctions and boycotts - cannot be left unsaid in an evaluation of the period that lies behind us.
9.17 The Dutch Reformed Church has to acknowledge that there were numerous occasions when its prophetic voice should have spoken more clearly to the then government, many of whom were members of that church. On occasion the Scriptural guidance which the church gave to the government fell short. It is also true that the church unfortunately sometimes allowed itself to be taken in tow by political leaders.
9.18 In future, the Dutch Reformed Church will ensure that its prophetic voice is as clearly audible as possible to the government. The church will give the government the honour that is due to it and support it spiritually, so that it can govern well and there can be peace and order and less crime in our fatherland.
9.19 The Dutch Reformed Church wishes to continue its work with commitment, and thanks the Lord for the opportunity to do so in this country. The church has a special responsibility towards our people, and towards the peoples amongst whom it has laboured for three and a half centuries, and wishes to continue that work. At the same time the church will strive to bring the gospel to even more people, and looks forward to welcoming them as members of the church of the Lord.
9.20 The Dutch Reformed Church will proceed with its endeavours to bring about greater unity in the church, specifically in the reformed tradition, because we believe that the Lord demands of His church that it become more visibly unified.
9.21 In various ways, for purposes of the church's pastoral ministry to members, the Dutch Reformed Church, with other churches, became involved in the struggle/war of the 1970s and 1980s.In its actions the Dutch Reformed Church showed that it regarded this as a just struggle, particularly because at the time the atheistic ideology of Communism displayed a great thirst for expansion, with South Africa as one of its targets. The church did not regard the war as an attempt to maintain an unjust system in South Africa.
In those years the Chaplains' Services did good pastoral work in difficult circumstances.
9.22 Ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church who were chaplains general of the Defence Force and the Police Force at that time have testified that they were not aware or informed of covert actions against which they should have protested. With hindsight, it is clear that the Dutch Reformed Church should have made more urgen t and penetrating enquiries about the various activities of the Security Forces.
9.23 Similarly, the Dutch Reformed Church should have made more serious enquiries about what was happening and what was permitted in South Africa under the blanket of the various states of emergency.
9.24 It is with shock and revulsion that we now take note of alleged unchristian deeds committed by some members of the Security Forces. Such deeds cannot be condoned, even taking into account the circumstances prevailing at the time. If these allegations prove to be true, profound abhorrence must be expressed.
9.25 Similarly, profound abhorrence must be expressed at the misdeeds of freedom fighters and others that have come to light which, if proven to be true, are ethically and morally unjustifiable.
9.26 The Dutch Reformed Church has completed its journey with apartheid. It has cast off the albatross from around its neck, once and for all. We thank the Lord for a fresh opportunity, together with other Christians in South Africa, to go into the future, to help build up the church of the Lord, to help make this country a good home for all those who call it their fatherland, and to seek the will of the Lord in South Africa.
