Doing theology at the margins: PACSA's accompaniment of communities in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, 1979-2012

Abstract

The Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) is a faith-based organisation (FBO) situated in Pietermaritzburg, in the uMgungundlovu region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It works in 27 of the most marginalised communities in the region. Established in 1979, PACSA began as a Christian agency to raise awareness among the white Christian churches about the unjust and oppresive realities of the apartheid government. Over the years, it has continued to accompany partner communities as they seek their own liberation from forces that undermine their freedom and dignity. Using textual analysis of PACSA's documents and archives, this article explores the history of PACSA from 1979 to 2012. This period is significant because PACSA worked as a Christian social awareness FBO until 2012, when it changed its name to the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action, The article further explores its role during and after the political violence of the 1980s and 1990s; and its praxis of the theology of accompaniment and the preferential option for the poor and the marginalised.