Living legend Rev John Ncaca saluted

In the same year that song composer and intellectual Rev John Knox Bokwe died in 1922, another theologian, Rev John Pat Ncaca, was born.

Ncaca celebrated his 100th birthday on July 7 2022.

Ncaca is a doyen of the church in the Border region and it is fitting to pay tribute to a towering figure like him while he is still alive.

Our country sadly is in need of ethical leaders like him, and our society is confronted by many social ills that Ncaca fought against tooth and nail during his younger days.

He has inspired the younger generation to value life and our hard-earned freedom that seems to be slipping through our fingers.

His father was a farmworker and an Anglican preacher.

It is no surprise Ncaca was introduced to Christian values at an early age.

He started his professional life as a social worker in Gqeberha, working closely with vulnerable families who were traumatised by the then 180 days detention law, mass arrests of political activists and numerous state of emergencies following the Sharpeville and Langa massacres in 1960.

He then proceeded to the seminary in Dikeni in 1964, following in the footsteps of Bokwe to study theology to become an Anglican priest.

In his illustrious carrier as a priest, he worked with luminaries such as Canon James Calata, Bishop David Russel and Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

When he moved to Qonce, he worked as a priest in Zwelitsha at St John and St Chad.

He worked under perilous conditions as he faced the wrath of the then Ciskei government.

When struggle icon Steve Biko was banned and made to settle in Qonce, he got a lot of support from Ncaca.

He also co-presided with Tutu at Biko’s funeral in 1977 and at the unveiling of his tombstone in 1978.

He became a leading figure in the Border Council of Churches and his role during the Nompendulo High School massacre in the 1985 students’ boycotts remains part of his history.

Our province and the entire church fraternity are blessed and honoured to have been associated with this living legend, whose contribution in the development of our country is greatly appreciated.

Turning 100 is a milestone for anyone and what better way to celebrate it with him and his loved ones.

Ncaca believes all people are capable of critical thought, which when undertaken collectively, forms the basis of organisation and struggle. The ethical bankruptcy we have today is not in line with his values.

He still teaches us as young people about participatory democracy and that we must not be onlookers in our own lives.

— Mandisi Aplom, researcher for the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders. He writes in his personal capacity