"die waarheid sal julle vry maak"! (Johannes 8:32)
Beyers Naude, 'n profeet in sy eie land, het van die Waarheid getuig en gedemonstreer dat die Waarheid 'n mens inderdaad vrymaak!
Beyers Naude, a prophet in his own country, has witnessed of the Truth and has demonstrated that it is indeed the Truth that sets people free!
Beyers Naude was a high-ranking and respected cleric within the South African Dutch Reformed Church, which church was preaching a religious justification for apartheid. Naude opposed, and as result of his actions, Naudé was put under enormous pressure by the Afrikaner political and church establishment and he thus subsequently quit both his church post and Johannesburg congregation.
During the three decades subsequent to his resignation, Naudé's vocal support for racial reconciliation and equal rights led to upheavals in the Dutch Reformed Church as well as police surveillance of his private life. He became an underground supporter of the anti-apartheid resistance and helped to move its members in and out of the country.
Naudé was also the only Afrikaner member of the ANC delegation during the negotiations in the early 1990's with the National Party government which led to the transition to democracy.Beyers Naude, Ekumeniese Baanbreker
De regte man op die regte tyd in Suid-Afrika.
So het God dit gewil, beskikbaar om deur God gebruik te word.The building of a post apartheid society in South Africa will demand courage and vision as Beyers Naude demonstrated.
The demands of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his obedience to God, was to Byers Naude more important than the accolades of men.True Afrikaner, Courageous Hero
After completing his last sermon in which he placed “ the authority of God before the authority of man” he removed his robes and left his church. Naudé and his family were completely ostracized by their fellow Afrikaners. He told his wife, “Whatever happens, we will be together and God will be with us.” Naude was embraced by the Black community and joined a Dutch Reformed congregation led by Reverend Sam Guti in Alexandra.
Minority groups feel uncertain and too many people are still asking: who is a true South African or what do you have to look like or speak like to be a true South African. Oom Bey's life makes it absolutely clear that: he, or she, who is white-skinned and Afrikaans speaking is as much South African, and as complete a South African as he, or she, who is dark skinned and speaks Sepedi.
No person exists as a linear being and Oom Bey demonstrated in the most visible and profound manner that we exist as beings in a multiple of ways which allows us to be Afrikaans speaking, culturally an Afrikaner but equally each others keepers across cultural and ethnic lines. The one does not exclude the other.
Dearest Oom Bey, thank you for your life. Thank you for your humanity. We will remember you forever. Your cherished memory will always bring a smile on our faces, a lump in our throats and a tug on our collective conscience.
Video: dr.Beyers Naude (Afrikaans and Dutch)
