Moral terrain of Christian faith and armed Struggle

CHURCH House on Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town was once the administrative and mission centre of the Anglican Diocese of Town.

From 1980 onwards, some of its occupants included Vernie Petersen, Ngconde Balfour and Sid Luckett of the Board of Social Responsibility (BSR), the social justice arm of the church.

Bonita Bennett, their fellow conspirator and co-ordinator of the youth desk, had an office on the same floor. With their faith-based entry into the struggle being literally through the church doors of their parishes, Bennett and Petersen’s friendship was shaped around their activism in the communities of Mitchells Plain.

Bennett said: “It was 1980 and I was a first-year university student and Vernie was in his final year social work.

“I had lived in Mitchells Plain for almost three years by then, but had struggled to find my feet in this sprawling, amorphous township. It coincided with my first friendships in the area and so for me signifies a time of particular vibrancy and energy, enriched by the common purpose of involvement in the Struggle.

“Being drawn into youth and community politics represented my coming home to Mitchells Plain and I associate Vernie very strongly with this moment in history.

“At the time I was a youth worker employed by Christ the Redeemer, Westridge. Vernie was the reflective, cornerstone of our band of activists.

“A feature of his spirituality was his genuine interest in other people. He would draw out from the quiet ones, their opinions and, in that, also deepen their level of confidence.”

Bennett said Petersen encouraged her to take a prominent leadership role in the Mitchells Plain Youth Movement; stimulating her growth and through “bolstering support, tacitly given, sustained my sense of achievement and leadership”.

A young priest in the area, Father Karl Groepe, played a pivotal role in encouraging young people like Bennett and Petersen to become part of the governance structures of the church.

That is how Petersen brought his community-based organising skills into the church via the BSR. This was most evident in the formation of parish-based social action groups.

By 1985, many young progressive Christians were drawn into the underground activities of the liberation movement. Crossing into the ethically vexed, moral terrain of Christian faith and armed Struggle.

Bennett and Petersen remembered that these sombre, intense discussions “were often punctuated with joyful, playful strains of music from an eclectic self-styled repertoire flowing from Vernie’s mouth organ or guitar”.

I heard Petersen’s voice for the last time in January 2011. He was addressing the audience assembled for the launch of the catalogue at the District Six Museum.

With quiet humour he drew us into his life as a youngster growing up in Juliana Court, Heideveld. He spoke of his attendance at the Thursday night meetings of the Church Lads Brigade.

He emphasised how social institutions can nurture positive values, provide identity in places, developing a healthy and positive self-awareness.

Before the meeting Petersen and I spoke about Constantia, his place of birth. He was intrigued to learn that many of the slaves who lived on the slave-holding estates of Constantia, were from Mozambique.

Vernie Petersen, a descendant of

whose descendants had been sold into bondage exacted an indelible revenge by refusing to be bought. His integrity was not up for sale.