Beyers Naudé

Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé (10 May 1915 – 7 September 2004) was a South African Afrikaner Calvinist Dominee, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist. The Naudé surname is one of numerous French surnames that retained their original spelling in South Africa. Beyers Naudé was named after General Christiaan Frederick Beyers, under whom his father had served as a soldier and unofficial military chaplain during the second Anglo-Boer War.

Jozua Naudé, an Afrikaner Calvinist minister, or "Dominee", "was convinced that the British would never leave." the Broederbond (Afrikaans, "Brotherhood" or "League of Brothers"), the powerful Afrikaner Calvinist men's secret society that played a dominant role in South Africa under apartheid. The Broederbond became especially synonymous with the Afrikaner-dominated National Party that won power in 1948 and implemented the racial segregation policy of apartheid. The elder Naudé also helped produce the earliest translations of the Bible into the newly standardized language of Afrikaans. Naudé studied theology at the University of Stellenbosch and lived at Wilgenhof men's residence. He graduated in 1939 with an MA in languages and a theology degree. But Naudé credited Stellenbosch theologian Ben Keet with laying the groundwork for his own theological dissent. starting at Wellington in Western Cape Province (1940–1942), Loxton (1942–1945), Pretoria - South-Olifantsfontein (1945–1949), Pretoria East (1945–1954), Potchefstroom (1954–1959) and Aasvoëlkop (Johannesburg) (1959–1963) preaching a religious justification for apartheid. In the three decades after his resignation from the denomination, Naudé's vocal support for racial reconciliation and equal rights led to upheavals in the Dutch Reformed Church.

Cottesloe and the Christian Institute of Southern Africa In response to Sharpeville, the World Council of Churches (WCC) sent a delegation to Johannesburg to meet with clerics. In 1967 Naudé and Geyser won a libel case against conservative Pretoria Professor Adriaan Pont, who had called them communists. "If blood runs in the streets of South Africa it will not be because the World Council of Churches has done something but because the churches of South Africa have done nothing," Naudé said. In response, the state formed the Schlebusch Commission in 1972 to investigate anti-apartheid Christian organizations. When Naudé refused to testify, he was tried and imprisoned. After a night in the cells, a DRC minister paid his fine.

During a 1972 trip to Germany and Britain, Naudé preached at Westminster Abbey, "the first Afrikaans theologian to be so honoured".

From 1977 to 1984 the South African government "banned" Naudé – a form of house arrest with severe restrictions on his movements and interactions. For example, he could not be in the same room with more than one other person. His ANC liaison was Sydney Mufamadi, who became Minister of Provincial and Local Government in the post-apartheid government. In 1987 the apartheid regime outlawed public pleas for the release of detainees. But Naudé pressed Christians to continue to publicly pray for detainees, despite government threats of imprisonment.

After his term at the South African Council of Churches ended, Naudé continued to serve a number of anti-apartheid and development organizations, including the Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, the Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation, Kagiso Trust, and the Editorial Board of Challenge Magazine.

Post-apartheid influence

After 1990 Naudé occasionally opened ANC events with scripture readings. Naudé's official state funeral on Saturday 18 September 2004 was attended by President Thabo Mbeki, other dignitaries, and high-ranking ANC officials. Naudé's ashes were scattered in the township of Alexandra, just outside Johannesburg. He was survived by his wife, four children, and two great-grandchildren. the Swedish Labour Movement Award (Sweden, 1988), the Order of Oranje-Nassau (Netherlands, 1995), Order for Meritorious Service (Gold) (South Africa, 1997), and the Order of Merit (Germany, 1999).

Legacy

In 2001 the city of Johannesburg, where he had lived most of his life in the suburb of Greenside, honored Naudé in several ways. Naudé received the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg while DF Malan Drive, a major road in Johannesburg, was renamed Beyers Naudé Drive. The Library Gardens in downtown Johannesburg, formerly known as Market Square, were renamed as Beyers Naudé Square. In 2004 Naudé was voted 36th among Top 100 Great South Africans in an informal poll conducted by a television program of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Naudé was called "one of the true Christian prophets of our time" by the acting secretary of the World Council of Churches, Georges Lemopoulos. The University of the Free State changed the name of one of its hostels (JBM Hertzog) to Beyers Naudé. In Leeuwarden, Netherlands, the local Christian gymnasium (a middle school comparable to a grammar school) was renamed in honour of Beyers Naudé.

In the year 2002 a school in Soweto was named after him, Dr Beyers Naudé High School.