The Rt Revd Winston Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman, has been elected Archbishop of Cape Town and becomes the new Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. He succeeds the Most Revd Desmond Tutu who has retired from the post and now heads the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Elective Assembly of the Province made its decision on 4 June.
Bishop Winston received his call to serve God when he was in prison on Robben Island (1963-1966). He was one of the first political prisoners and with other prisoners in the 1960s was involved in building the prison that Nelson Mandela was later to stay in. When he was released from gaol he pursued his call.
Winston Hugh Njongonkulu Ndungane (aged 55) comes from a long line of clergymen; his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all Anglican priests. After three years on Robben Island he studied for the priesthood at St Peter's College in Alice near Grahamstown. He was ordained in 1974 in Cape Town. He then went to Kings' College London, England to do a BD and Master of Theology and served a curacy in London. He was Provincial Liaison Officer for the Anglican Church in Southern Africa from 1982 until 1984 and then became Principal of St Bede's Theological College in Umtata. In 1987 he became Provincial Executive Officer for the Province in Cape Town and in 1991 was consecrated Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman.
Bishop Winston brings a wide international and theological experience to his new post. He served for nine years on the Anglican Consultative Council and was a member of its Standing Committee. He was Chairman of the Spirituality and Justice section of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Wales in 1990. In 1994 he represented the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Roman Catholic Synod of Bishops for Africa meeting in Rome. He serves on the Province's main theological committee. He is also a board member of the South African Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently on the Design Group for the 1998 Lambeth Conference. He will be enthroned on 15 September St George's Cathedral, Cape Town.
Bishop Winston is married to Nomahlubi and they have two teenage children.
The Rt Revd Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford, a friend of Bishop Winston, said of the election:
"We are delighted with the news. Because of the partnership link between the Diocese of Kimberley & Kuruman and Oxford, I have been able to stay with Bishop Winston and see his work in South Africa and here in England first-hand. He has real leadership gifts and great skills in organisation and these will obviously be needed and used in the years ahead. He also has a deep commitment to justice questions in South Africa. He will build on the excellent tradition, established by Archbishop Tutu, of enabling the whole South African community to work together."
Statement from the new Primate-elect upon his election
In a statement after the election, Bishop Winston said: "I am humbled and overwhelmed by the confidence that the Diocese of Cape Town and the Church of the Province of Southern Africa has placed in me.
"It is a distinctive honour for me to have been chosen to succeed Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an outstanding Church leader of our time.
"We have emerged from a crucible of fire where many people have been wounded and scarred. An urgent task for the church is the transformation of agents of brokenness into angels of healing. Wounded healers find their healing in Jesus. "By his wounds we have been healed." Wounded people in need of healing are fertile ground for God's grace. What a wonderful opportunity for the Church becoming a sound spiritual house for reconciliation, reconstruction and development.
"The instruments for a sustainable democracy are now in place. We have a new Constitution, Commission for Human Rights, Constitutional Court, a Public Protector. Our capacity for justice makes democracy possible and our inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. This means that we have to use these instruments responsibly as we are engaged in building up a new society in which the Rule of Law is maintained and human rights are guaranteed and protected.
"One of the greatest challenges in our country is poverty. As Christians we have to pledge ourselves to work for the elimination of poverty in our society and to ensure that people have all that is necessary for a fully human life such as food, housing, clothing etc. We must commit ourselves consistently to put before people the values of society as ordained by God."