Most doctors in South Africa are unwilling to perform abortions. Under the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996, abortions are legal up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. In pregnancies as a result of rape, incest or in cases of financial hardship, abortions are legal up to 20 weeks. Kgaladi Mphahlele, who is the Read more
A South African billionaire mining magnate has pledged over 8.5 million rand (US$22.6 million) to schools and churches in Johannesburg’s Soweto Township. Patrice Motsepe gave an inspiring speech about the role the church plays in sculpting young minds before day his foundation made the donation. Read more
Assisted dying is not legal in South Africa. The Supreme Court of Appeals has overturned a 2015 ruling that allowed Robin Stransham-Ford to “die with dignity” by way of euthanasia. The 2015 rule was granted by the South African High Court. Stransham-Ford died a few hours before the High Court ruling was delivered. The Supreme Read more
A Jesuit shot in the face was trying to block police from entering the church where student protesters had taken refuge. Father Graham Pugin had his hands up when he was shot at close range with rubber bullets. Though there has not been an official report on his condition, a video shows Fr. Pugin, his Read more
Martyred teacher Blessed Benedict Daswa has become the first South African to be beatified. He was proclaimed blessed in an apostolic letter read on behalf of Pope Francis by Italian Cardinal Angelo Amato during a Mass in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province on Sunday. The ceremony in Tshitanini village was attended by some 30,000 people. Read more
Catholics in South Africa are being called to unite against the national broadcaster’s decision to drop live coverage of Pope Francis’s Christmas Mass. An editorial in South Africa’s Catholic weekly, the Southern Cross, states the SABC has reneged on a 2010 promise to broadcast the Pope’s Christmas Mass live every year. This can be seen Read more
The life and now the death of Nelson Mandela have touched the hearts of people around the world. This extraordinary man, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1962, who served 27 years in jail for his beliefs, walked free, without bitterness, to lead the rebuilding of South Africa as a multi-ethnic nation founded on human rights Read more
It’s taken a long time for us to let you go, Madiba. For several years, even as your health faltered irreparably and rumours of your increasing fragility could no longer be denied, the world refused to release its hold. We said prayers, sent love and held vigils until we had brought our Madiba — a Read more
South Africa’s Catholic bishops have condemned killings of striking miners at a platinum mine in Marikana. They called for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to the violence. Thirty-four people died and 78 were injured when police opened fire on striking miners gathered on a rocky outcrop at the mine, 60 miles northwest Read more
Fr Michael Lapsley, a South African Anglican priest and social justice activist, born in New Zealand, will be in Wellington this coming weekend for a conference to be held at Victoria University. Lapsley was active in support of the liberation struggle in South Africa and was critically injured in an assassination attempt by parcel bomb in Read more