Cape Town - Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has appointed a three-person panel to review the handling by the Anglican Church in South Africa of reports of abuse carried out by the former British lawyer and camp-master, John Smyth.
Two weeks ago, the Anglican Church of South Africa said they would be launching an inquiry into the alleged abuse by Smyth.
The panel who will conduct the review and make recommendations to the Archbishop, include Dr Mamphela Ramphele, the South African civil society leader, Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC, a barrister who practises in South Africa and Britain, and Judge Ian Farlam, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The review will cover the past actions of the church in South Africa, including its handling of a report of Smyth's abuse in the UK between 1981-82 and in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, received from the Diocese of Ely in 2013.
The Anglican Church said no cases of abuse by Smyth in South Africa were reported to the knowledge of their current leadership.
“The Church's Safe and Inclusive Church Commission, established separately from the church's hierarchy to deal with complaints of abuse, has re-circulated its contact details and will deal with complaints which may be received in future,” said the archbishop.
“I am pleased to report that following a meeting with the church's legal advisers and our Safe and Inclusive Church Commission at Bishopscourt in Cape Town today, three prominent South Africans experienced in human rights issues have agreed to review my and the church's past actions in relation to the John Smyth abuse scandal.”
The review panel comprises the civil society leader, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC, Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town, and Judge Ian Farlam, Provincial Chancellor of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, who chaired the Commission of Inquiry into the killing of miners at Marikana in 2012.
“They will carry out a retrospective analysis of our handling of reports received by the church, including a letter from the Diocese of Ely in 2013, reporting a historical case of abuse in Britain in 1981-82, a suspected case in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, and alerting us that Smyth was living in Cape Town. They will make recommendations to me as to further action,” the archbishop said.
“In the past week, it has become clear that Smyth was a member of three Anglican congregations in South Africa, two in Durban in the early 2000s and one in Cape Town, first for a period until December 2013, and later for some months before his death in 2018.
“To date, we have not found any cases of abuse reported to the Anglican Church in South Africa.
“However, our Safe and Inclusive Church Commission has re-circulated its contact details, and should any complaints be received in future, they will be handled by the Commission.
“For someone in the church, which is meant to be a safe and nurturing space, to prey on God's children when they are at their most vulnerable is evil beyond description.
“We must eradicate it, root and branch.
“My hope is that this panel will make recommendations which help us to achieve that.
“I am profoundly grateful to the members of the panel for agreeing to serve.”
The scandal was blown open earlier this month following the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby after the Makin review revealed an entrenched cover-up of abuse by Smyth, who had lived in Cape Town and worshipped at St Martin’s in Bergvliet.
At least 85 boys were believed to have been Smyth’s victims in various countries. The review called for a full independent review of Smyth’s activities in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
During a recent speech, the Archbishop detailed the background of Smyth, stating in the absence of evidence, no action could be taken in the past.
“We now know that John Smyth appears to have lived in South Africa, mostly in Cape Town, from the early 2000s until his death in 2018. When the diocese (of Cape Town) received a warning in 2013 from a bishop in the Church of England about the abuses he committed before he came here, it was established that he had worshipped in one of our parishes for a year or two about eight years earlier,” he explained.
“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.
“In the absence of any evidence that Smyth had committed abuse in the relatively short periods during which he had worshipped in our church, there was no action that could be taken under our Canons (church law).
“Nor did we know of any crime that he committed in South Africa, whether inside or outside our church, that could be reported to police.
“But the Diocese and I are accountable to you, our church members, and to society, to ensure that all our churches are safe spaces in which to worship and minister.”
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za