Archbishop announces sexual abuse inquiry

The spiritual leader of Anglicans in SA, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, has announced an inquiry into whether the church fulfilled its responsibility to protect its members from abuse. A Daily Maverick report says this comes in the wake of the resignation of the Church of England’s 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, after an investigation found he had failed to inform the police about widespread and prolonged physical and sexual abuse by John Smyth, a Canadian-born barrister who abused at least 115 children and young men before his death. Smyth, who ran Christian summer camps in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, committed physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Makgoba on Sunday said the Anglican Church had received a warning in 2013 from a bishop in the Church of England about the abuses Smyth committed before he came to SA. He was allowed to attend church services in Cape Town on condition that he did not make contact with young people. ‘It was established that he had worshipped in one of our parishes for a year or two about eight years earlier. There was no evidence that he had abused or tried to groom anyone. In 2020, I learned that during the last months of his life, when the diocese knew of his history, he had been allowed to attend services in the same parish on condition he was not to get involved in any ministry or contact any young person,’ said Makgoba.

Because there was no evidence that Smyth had abused anyone during the time he attended the Cape Town church, Makgoba said they could not take action under church law. According to the DM, he said the church was also unaware of any crimes he had committed while in SA. Despite this, Makgoba said the leadership of the church was accountable to the congregants and society, to make sure all their churches were safe places for worship and ministry. ‘Consequently, I am consulting the Safe & Inclusive Church Commission, which pursues abuse cases vigorously, as well as our chancellors and registrars, who give us legal advice, to work out the terms of reference of a review of whether the diocese, and I personally, met our obligation to keep you safe, and what we could have done better,’ said Makgoba. He said the commission had since republished its contact details on the church’s website and Facebook page in a bid to encourage anyone who knew of abuse to report it to them.