South African Council of Churches

            The South African Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches bound together by a common loyalty to Jesus Christ, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and in service and obedience to God the Father and Creator of the Universe.  The Dependants’ Conference was one of eleven units within the Council.  It was a compassionate ministry to the families of political prisoners and detainees.  It was formed in 1963, and had offices throughout South Africa.  It was not a dependency-creating organization giving hand-outs; the fieldworkers were trained to encourage self-sufficiency when they visited families, and assisted them to cope with their crises using their own resources as far as possible.  Their work included:

1.    Arranging legal representation when a family member is detained and totally removed from contact with          his/her family;

2.    Subsistence grants to deserving families;

3.    Loans/grants for self-help reintegration or rehabilitative schemes;

4.    Coordinating practicalities of family visits to sentenced prisoners;

5.    Counseling to families of those serving sentences; and

6.    Educational assistance for the descendants of those receiving Dependents’ Conference grants.