Partnerships

National Religious Leaders’ Forum (NRLF)

The story behind the NRLF

The NRLF arose from a national interfaith forum in 1997.  The forum was initiated by former president Nelson Mandela, who invited prominent national religious leaders to meet with him twice a year in order to exchange views on a broad range of issues.

Today, the NRLF has regular consultations with the president.

The partnership between the NRASD and the NRLF:

The NRASD and the NRLF developed independently – partly through the different historical processes in their development but also regarding the leadership and institutions involved.

A formal agreement of cooperation between the NRASD and the NRLF was reached in 2003.  According to the agreement of cooperation, the NRASD would act as the development arm of the NRLF – as a body of equal stature to the NRLF.

The agreement highlights the conviction that South Africa needs an interfaith forum to work together and learn from one another.  Such a forum has to engage with the state and other role-players on policy issues from one platform as the religious sector that jointly face the serious social challenges that confront South Africa, such as poverty, and the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

To this end, interfaith cooperation are guided by the following principles:

  • Accept one another as equal partners;
  • Respect the diversity and denominational differences among us;
  • Strive to cooperate with and learn from one another; and
  • Be fair to one another – what we claim for our own denomination, we will also defend as the right of all other denominations.

The religious sector and development

According to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) almost 80% of the people of South Africa trust their religious communities – the highest total of all institutions surveyed.

Religious communities have the largest developed networks spreading into all the corners of South Africa, and they offer more than just administrative programme support.  They are essential in the formation of values and value systems in broader society.

These findings underline the pivotal importance of the partnership and agreement of cooperation between the NRASD and the NRLF.

South African Government

On 10 May 2005, a formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the state and the NRASD/NRLF, on behalf of the religious sector in South Africa.

Religious communities are committed to building a democratic, equitable, just and caring society with moral and honest citizens.  This will be achieved via partnerships between the religious sector, the state and civil society – with a commitment to shared values between partners.

The cooperation between the NRLF and the government is based on values and principles of respect and just behaviour – not only towards one another as partners, but also toward the society and people they serve:

To this end, cooperation between the religious sector and the state are guided by the following principles:

  • The state acknowledges the unique contribution and role of the religious sector;
  • The advancement of subsidiarity (formal cooperation between different sectors to ensure the effective utilisation of limited funding) and the importance of public/ private partnerships;
  • Treating all religions equally on a provincial and national level;
  • Making the procedures to access public funding simple, clear and transparent in order to foster equal access to public funding for all religions; and
  • Replacing ad hoc grants to a select few with comprehensive and inclusive partnerships for all religions.

The rationale for formal cooperation

Many governments channel a substantial portion of their international aid over religious agencies.  There are several significant reasons for this.

  1. Religious communities have proven to be closest to the people in need, even in remote rural areas.
  2. Religious structures have the best developed networks, especially in areas where the infrastructure is weak.
  3. They provide the most effective network at the most affordable cost.
  4. The religious sector plays a crucial role in the formation of values such as love for other people, respect for life, responsibility and tolerance – the functioning of our whole society presupposes these values.

The religious sector can render services via formal (specialised, institutional) and informal (local neighbourhoods and community) structures in numerous areas with reference to:

  • education (pre-school centres, schools, vocational training, literacy programmes);
  • health care centres (disease prevention and treatment);
  • food security and water provision programmes;
  • social services to children, youth, the elderly, the physically and mentally-challenged, and families (providing access to multi-purpose centres and being granted access to homes where people can’t reach services);
  • housing (housing projects for the poor and homeless);
  • legal advice services (e.g. accessing identity documents to access social grants and further services);
  • micro enterprises and income generating businesses;
  • agriculture (capacity-building and management); and
  • support for political refugees;
  • amongst other services.

The advantages of formal and structured agreements of cooperation are:

  • Formal agreements between the NRLF and the state make religious communities co-responsible for the implementation of poverty alleviation and other social programmes.  It also challenges religious communities to contribute some of their resources.
  • Religious communities become partners in the process, not spectators.
  • Such agreements ensure better coordination of scarce resources and the multiplication of resources whilst avoiding unnecessary duplication.  Structured partnerships enable the NRLF to use such agreements to negotiate additional (and international) funding for priorities that were agreed upon with government.

The government values the contribution and the role the religious sector has played in the past – the role that churches and the broad religious sector played in bringing education, medical services and support to neglected areas, as well as the struggle against apartheid.

Now we face a new struggle: we can only succeed to eradicate poverty in our country if we can build effective partnerships between the state, the religious sector and other institutions of civil society.

Apart from the large networks available to churches (and other religious networks) and the resources they have at their disposal, we also know that they play a crucial role in the formation of values and the moral fibre of our society.  As Department of Social Development we have launched a national campaign to create a caring society in South Africa.

How can we succeed with this effort without the support of our religious communities, which are known for their networks reaching into even rural parts of South Africa?

-Dr Zola Skweyiya
Former Minister of Social Development (1999-2009)
(cf letter addressed to the NRASD on 9 October 2000)