Search

This article investigates an assertion by faith-based organisations (FBO) that spirituality is the defining feature of their HIV and AIDS interventions. It is based on interviews with 24 people working on the issue of HIV and AIDS in churches or church organisations in Johannesburg, Rustenburg, Pretoria, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, and Cape Town. The article critically assesses the perceived difference between faith-based responses to HIV and AIDS and secular responses, including government programmes, in relation to the research literature on spirituality. After introducing the article, the argument begins with an exploration of the literature on churches and HIV and AIDS, outlining a gap which the article seeks to fill. The article then discusses the methods used for interviewing and analysing interview material. This is followed by religious leaders’ own comments on how faith-based responses to HIV and AIDS differ from secular responses. The article concludes with a discussion which brings the literature to bear on the interview excerpts and then outlines the implications of decreased international funding for the HIV and AIDS programmes operated by the Anglican and Catholic churches, for example, a likely reduction in the accompaniment and monitoring of those who are HIV-positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how and why the church in South Africa became an important civil society space and actor at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle and yet its civil society role declined following the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and the release of political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela. It does this by engaging in a discussion of the nature of the South African church as civil society, followed by a consideration of the church's role at various points during the democratic transition. Specifically, it explores the church as a 'site of struggle' during the late stages of the anti-apartheid struggle, as engaging in mediation and negotiation during the democratic transition, and as returning to a predominantly religious organisation in the post-apartheid era. It concludes with a discussion of the reasons for and implications of the church's decreased role in public and political life following the transition from apartheid to non-racial democracy. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]