St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

Bishop Thabo Makgoba elected new Archbishop of Cape Town

The Right Reverend Thabo Cecil Makgoba, Bishop of Grahamstown, has been elected the 12th Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa on Tuesday 25 September 2007.

Archbishop-elect Makgoba was elected on the second ballot at an Elective Assembly at Diocesan College in Cape Town, ahead of Unisa vice-chancellor Barney Pityana and Johannes Seoka, the Bishop of Pretoria.

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane retires as Archbishop and Metropolitan on 31 December, and Bishop Makgoba will be collated as Archbishop on 1 January 2008. His enthronement will take place in St George's Cathedral at a later date.

Makgoba is married to Lungi and they have two children, a son Nyakallo, 12, and an eight-year-old daughter, Paballo.

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) welcomed the election of Makgoba, 47, who is the youngest Archbishop in the history of the Anglican church in South Africa.

"This election bodes well for the Southern African ecumenical movement and South Africa's young democracy and development," said SACC general secretary Eddie Makue.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town also assured the new primate of prayers as he prepares for the task.

A statement from the archdiocese said Archbishop Lawrence Henry expressed the hope that the same cordial friendship and spirit of cooperation which marked his relationship with Bishop Makgoba's predecessors would continue and grow during the Bishop Makgoba's episcopal ministry in Cape Town.

Asked whether he would continue the precedent of outspokenness displayed by his predecessors, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Njongonkulu Ndungane, particularly on Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDS and poverty, Makgoba said he would not want to imitate them, but that it will be his own spirituality that would call him to talk "through the church". He said he was going to reflect "what pains the people of God most" and how all can be viewed equally in the eyes of God.

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa extends over South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola, Swaziland and the island of St Helena.

Photo credit: Diocese of Grahamstown

For further details, see the following news articles:

Eastern Cape's loss is national church's gain - The Herald

New Archbishop to put jobs and religion first - Independent Online

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