In Their Words: Cele Esau’s Social Activism Journey With the Cape Town Unitarians

Cele Esau is a lay leader for social justice and special services in the Cape Town Unitarian (CTU) community. With their youngest child, John, Cele recently participated in successful protests against Shell’s proposed oil and gas seismic exploration off the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. If you want to get involved with CTU’s social justice work, contact Nolu at community@capetownunitarians.org.

If I think back two years ago, this kind of social justice activity was nowhere on my radar. Going to Faith Leader Environmental Activist Training (FLEAT) with the South African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), connecting with others and realizing what social activism is really about, really launched me on this path of standing in the gap however I can.

Young Climate Voices featured John, Cele’s son, on their Instagram page late last year.

And for John to come on board, it makes me feel both proud and inspired. In many of the interviews that he does, he will mention the fact that, number one, climate change is not “something that’s happening over there and doesn’t touch me” kind of thing. And number two, he’ll say things like, “You can’t really rely on the adults to do the right thing.”

So, you can’t wait and see what happens. You have to do something now. I think that messaging really goes for all of us and I try to put it in our CTU community as well.

Charter for Compassion is a Good Guide for Continuing Tutu's Legacy

Compassion helps us in tough times and encourages meaningful connection—and it’s something Cape Town needs more of, Nic Paton wrote in a recent opinion essay published by the Mail & Guardian. Nic, an advisory board member for the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative, has allowed us to excerpt his essay below.

It is just more than a month since South Africa bade farewell and lala uxolo to our beloved Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, a champion of peace and common-sense humanity and spirituality. In his wake, we are coming to terms with the fact that the champion of the deep values of unity, justice and compassion — in a word, ubuntu — has passed the baton to us, the people.

Among Tutu’s many legacies, one that stands out as being of utmost relevance is his contributions to what became the Charter For Compassion. Tutu’s interfaith work with the 14th Dalai Lama was instrumental in the creation of this document, launched globally and in Cape Town in 2010. The charter urges all people and religions to embrace compassion, focusing on the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. This simple awareness forms a solid basis for morality, and the potential for genuine unity between faiths.

Be sure to read Nic’s full piece on the Mail & Guardian website.