This weekend the Anglicans will inaugurate their new Diocese of False Bay in Khayelitsha and plan to slaughter the ox as part of the celebrations on Friday night.

The SPCA heard of these plans after complaints by furious Anglicans, and has now intervened to ensure that the ox is treated ethically and gets slaughtered with the minimum cruelty.

Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane replied that the slaughter was an "Africa ritual" and a way in which "we give recognition to those who have passed on and who worked so hard (during their lives) to make the new diocese possible. We seek their blessing when we pass on".

The False Bay diocese was founded after the church in the area, which includes Khayelitsha, grew so big that it justified having its own diocese. The diocese will be inaugurated this weekend at St Peter's Church in Khayelitsha.

Chief executive of the local SPCA Allan Perrins said he preferred the animal not to be slaughtered. They were worried that the ox could be transported, loaded and off-loaded and slaughtered with unnecessary cruelty.

If the slaughter did take place, SPCA officials would attend it ("whether or not we're invited") to ensure there was no cruelty. For example, a ramp was needed to off-load an animal from a truck and they wouldn't allow the ox to be off-loaded unless there was one.

He also asked the church to allow the SPCA to drug the animal before the slaughter so that it would not feel pain.

Perrins is an Anglican himself, and in his personal capacity said he also wondered whether it was theologically acceptable to slaughter an animal for the ancestors when a diocese was inaugurated.

"I'm sure they could have done something else. I think if anyone should be thanked on such an occasion, it should rather be God."

The archbishop replied that the planned ritual was not a sacrifice or ancestor worship.

"Black Africans have a unique and refined doctrine on the hereafter. We believe when people die - or rather breathe their last - they move to another form of existence. We call them abaphantsi, the living dead. When important events take place in our lives, we have to communicate with them. Shedding the blood of an animal, goat or sheep is an important liturgical act, depending on the nature of the event." - (News24)