He appointed former Supreme Court of Appeal judge Ian Farlam, former UCT vice-chancellor Mamphela Ramphele and advocate Jermy Gauntlett SC (who later withdrew) to the panel.
Smyth attended a Cape Town Anglican Church — in the early 2000s and again months before his death in 2018.
The panel flagged a failure by the church to warn another church of Smyth’s prior abuse in the UK and a failure to quickly strengthen their “safeguarding procedures” against sexual abuse.
The panel did not find evidence of reports or complaints about Smyth’s conduct in church records but acknowledged there had been a “high risk” of repetition by Smyth of the grooming and physical abuse he perpetrated in the UK and Zimbabwe.
“I have priestly, pastoral, spiritual and administrative responsibility for the institution and, most importantly, I am accountable to our church members and to society for ensuring that our churches and institutions are safe spaces in which to worship and minister. The buck stops with me. That being the case, I accept the panel’s findings unreservedly. I acknowledge that during Smyth’s time in Cape Town, God's people were exposed to the potential of his abuse and I and the Diocese apologise to our congregants and the wider community that we did not protect people from that risk,” said Makgoba.
Makgoba said steps were being taken to urgently address the shortcomings identified.
TimesLIVE
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba sorry for 'exposing congregants to risk of sexual abuse'
Church failed to adequately respond to letter of warning from the Church of England about UK barrister and church member John Smyth
Image: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
Cape Town Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on Tuesday apologised to congregants and the community because the church had left them exposed to the risk of sexual abuse by a former UK barrister and church member.
Makgoba accepted the findings of a panel of inquiry he appointed 10 weeks ago to determine whether the church failed to adequately respond to a letter of warning received from the Church of England in 2013 about John Smyth.
Smyth, who died in 2018, was accused of molesting boys in the UK and Zimbabwe during the 80s and 90s.
“I want to emphasise that the panel was not asked to investigate the nature and extent of abuse in the church. I asked the panellists a very specific question: to examine our failure to respond adequately to a letter of warning received from the Church of England,” said Makgoba.
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He appointed former Supreme Court of Appeal judge Ian Farlam, former UCT vice-chancellor Mamphela Ramphele and advocate Jermy Gauntlett SC (who later withdrew) to the panel.
Smyth attended a Cape Town Anglican Church — in the early 2000s and again months before his death in 2018.
The panel flagged a failure by the church to warn another church of Smyth’s prior abuse in the UK and a failure to quickly strengthen their “safeguarding procedures” against sexual abuse.
The panel did not find evidence of reports or complaints about Smyth’s conduct in church records but acknowledged there had been a “high risk” of repetition by Smyth of the grooming and physical abuse he perpetrated in the UK and Zimbabwe.
“I have priestly, pastoral, spiritual and administrative responsibility for the institution and, most importantly, I am accountable to our church members and to society for ensuring that our churches and institutions are safe spaces in which to worship and minister. The buck stops with me. That being the case, I accept the panel’s findings unreservedly. I acknowledge that during Smyth’s time in Cape Town, God's people were exposed to the potential of his abuse and I and the Diocese apologise to our congregants and the wider community that we did not protect people from that risk,” said Makgoba.
Makgoba said steps were being taken to urgently address the shortcomings identified.
TimesLIVE
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