Pictures: Kamo Thobejane (Custos 2025) and Yonga Mabizela (UIV Hodgson)
Forgiving is not forgetting; it's actually remembering—remembering and not using your right to hit back. It's a second chance for a new beginning." These words from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu anchored Habits of the Heart V, a series that called South Africans to engage critically with our past and acknowledge the intergenerational suffering that continues to shape our present. Under the theme 'Reframing the Legacy: Reclaiming our Future'.
The Memorial Chapel was filled with a quiet sense of reverence on Thursday, 2 October, as the St John's College community gathered to welcome The Most Reverend Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town. It was a moment of deep honour and reflection as he stepped to the lectern to deliver a sermon that would remind us of the hope instilled in South Africa by the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
Among the congregation were distinguished guests and representatives from the Anglican Board of Education South Africa, all drawn together in tribute to the late Archbishop Tutu: a man whose spirit continues to shape both Church and nation. The service marked the opening of Habits of the Heart V, and the tone was unmistakably contemplative, inviting all into a space of remembrance, gratitude, and challenge.
Archbishop Makgoba spoke with warmth and gravity about Archbishop Tutu's enduring influence. Tutu was a leader who, in a time of deep division, dared to call South Africans to a higher vision of shared humanity. His sermon traced Tutu's journey from prophetic witness to global icon, reminding those gathered that the dream of the 'Rainbow Nation' was not a naïve hope, but a moral summons grounded in faith and courage.
The Archbishop recalled the role of St John's College in Archbishop Tutu's life, evoking a powerful image of Tutu once finding refuge at the College during a turbulent period in the nation's history. In May 1976, deeply anxious about the mounting tensions in Soweto, Tutu spent a week in silent retreat at St John's.
Archbishop Makgoba recounted how, "sitting in what has been described as his schoolboy cell room at St John's, he spent the week here in silence, feeling called by God to write a 2 600-word letter to Prime Minister John Vorster, a letter which, he said, 'more or less wrote itself.' He addressed the Prime Minister 'as one Christian to another, for through our common baptism, we have been made members of and are united in the body of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has broken down all that separates us, such as race, sex, culture and status.'" That letter, written within these very walls, pleaded for justice, transformation, and the healing of the country. Tutu's warning of youth unrest if change did not come proved prophetic. Five weeks later, the Soweto uprising began. His moral clarity resounded anew in the chapel, stirring both pride and introspection among those listening.
As the St John's College choir led the congregation in song, the chapel seemed to hold not only voices but also the collective memory of faith, struggle, and hope. The Archbishop's message, that leadership must always be rooted in conscience, compassion, and courage, rang with particular poignancy in a time when such qualities feel as necessary as ever.
The service closed in a spirit of deep gratitude and inspiration. As the final hymn faded, there was a shared understanding that Archbishop Tutu's faith, his laughter, and his boundless belief in reconciliation shall continue to illuminate our path, reminding us of the important work still before us.
