SPEECH BY HELEN ZILLE, MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN
 
FOUNTAIN EDUCATIONAL TRUST 2ND ANNUAL INTERFAITH DINNER
ARABELLA SHERATON HOTEL – 29 SEPTEMBER 2007 - 19H30

Government ministers, Premier of the Western Cape, management of the Fountain Educational Trust, religious leaders, distinguished guests. As-Salāmu `Alaykum wa Raħmatullāhi wa Barakātuh, Shalom, Good Evening. I am honoured to join you for this interfaith IFTAR dinner.

This is a most opportune time for the religious leaders of Cape Town to come together. We are in the middle of the holy month of Ramadaan, in which the Muslim community focuses on strengthening their faith and spirituality. Our city’s Jewish community also celebrated Rosh Hashanah two weeks ago, a time of spiritual renewal and self-reflection.

And this week has seen the election of a new Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba. He joins the proud tradition of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Reverend Njongonkulu Ndungane, and I am sure that all present here tonight wish him well in his new role.

It is truly inspiring that the people of Cape Town can share in such broad mutual respect for each other’s faiths. By holding regular interfaith initiatives, we are encouraging this positive trait, and showing the way forward for others. The history of religion tells us that conflict over beliefs has been far more common than dialogue. But the development of democracy in South Africa, and the model of an open society envisaged in our Constitution, have presented a new opportunity for constructive religious interaction.

The lesson we are learning is that the more open a society becomes, the more opportunity there is for religious traditions to thrive on an equitable basis. And under these circumstances, where individual rights are protected, people of different faiths feel safe and confident enough to focus on what unites their different traditions, rather than on what divides them. And this unity has been to the benefit of all our citizens.

One of our biggest success stories as a city has been the ability of our religious organisations to find common ground on civil rights issues, and work together to address these issues. In the past few years we have seen a level of unity and co-operation among religious leaders in Cape Town - almost unparalleled in the world - around the challenges of violence, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and poverty. Diverse bodies like the Mustadafin Foundation, the Salvation Army and the HIV/AIDS project MaAfrika Tikkun co-exist and share common goals in our city.

The people behind these organisations have understood that religion only lives when its principles are put into practice. And every major faith on this planet advocates the same practices around humanitarian works and charity. I would therefore like to pay tribute to the religious leaders of our city who have provided this example of co-operation. In living out their religious beliefs in a climate of tolerance and respect, they have also breathed life into the principles of the open society envisaged in our Constitution.

The model of the open society exists across much of the globe, but there are still too many places where its foundations are not yet in place. I hope that the lessons we have learned in Cape Town will be observed by others around the world, and ensure that this situation changes in the not too distant future. If it does, it will be the best possible means of sustaining the great religious traditions, and ensuring their peaceful and constructive co-existence.