Agapé

A micro-study of a vital centre in the history of Christian struggle against apartheid, this essay--part homage--identifies some key characteristics of those who influenced and trained people as they confronted the state and racism in South African society, especially those who operated out of a deep religious conviction. The history of the Cape Office of the Christian Institute, its complex interactions with an enormous variety of people from all walks of society, national and international, and the particular charisma of its director, Theo Kotze, form the substance of the essay. It is history, but it is also an attempt to point to and recover, for the future, the kind of leadership and commitment that this institution produced in large measure, to unpack on a small, local scale, exemplary historical dynamics that were present in South African society that still have a bearing for us.