The Most Revd. Dr. Thabo Cecil Makgoba, the Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, was today announced as the new chair of UK development and humanitarian agency Christian Aid.
Archbishop Thabo has a strong track-record of working on poverty and injustice in South Africa and globally, and has previously worked with Christian Aid on climate and economic justice.
He has personally experienced marginalisation, spending his early years in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, before his family was forcibly removed under apartheid laws and settled in Soweto.
In 2009, after receiving the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City, he described it as an award for all South Africans who were denied access to education.
Christian Aid CEO, Patrick Watt, said:
'We are delighted to welcome Archbishop Thabo as the new chair of Christian Aid.
'Throughout his ministry he has walked alongside people who are poor and marginalised, and strived for a just world in which everyone has life before death.
'Archbishop Thabo’s leadership will be invaluable as we work with partners across the world to tackle the root causes of poverty, in a fast-changing landscape.'
Archbishop Thabo pioneered the concept of indaba in the worldwide Anglican Communion as a means of getting to grips with difference, and was decorated by the Archbishop of Canterbury with the Cross of St Augustine for his role in the Communion.
Since 2012, he has served as Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape.
His appointment comes after Christian Aid’s previous chair, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, became the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.
A life shaped by justice and leadership
Born in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, and forcibly removed with his family under apartheid laws to Soweto, Archbishop Thabo’s life has been shaped by South Africa’s struggle for justice. After graduating with a BSc from the University of the Witwatersrand, he trained for the priesthood at St Paul’s College in Grahamstown, earning a Diploma in Theology.
After ordination, he served in Johannesburg, including at St Mary’s Cathedral and the Church of Christ the King in Sophiatown, and as Anglican chaplain at the University of the Witwatersrand. Alongside his ministry, he completed a BA (Honours) in Applied Psychology and an M Ed in Educational Psychology, later lecturing at Wits and serving as Dean of Knockando Residence.
Elected Bishop Suffragan of Grahamstown in 2002, he went on to serve as Bishop of Queenstown, Bishop of Grahamstown, and as Archbishop from 2008. He pioneered the concept of indaba in the worldwide Anglican Communion as a means of getting to grips with difference, and was decorated by the Archbishop of Canterbury with the Cross of St Augustine for his role in the Communion.
