THE DISTINCTION OF CLINT LE BRUYNS’ KAIROS
THEOLOGY IN SOUTH AFRICA

THE DISTINCTION OF CLINT LE BRUYNS’ KAIROS
THEOLOGY IN SOUTH AFRICA

GIFT MASENGWE

This article, contextualised within the commemoration of 50 years of scholarship at the
Research Institute for Theology and Religion of the University of South Africa, examines
the enduring contributions of Clint Le Bruyns to the development of the Kairos brand of
public theology in post-apartheid South Africa. Le Bruyns engages contemporary
imperatives of a transformative framework, including economic justice, gender equity,
environmental sustainability, decolonisation and political responsibility by synthesising
insights from theology, development studies and social ethics. He critiques the persisting
inertia of faith communities in passive theological reflection rather than prophetic action,
wherein the church remains a pivotal agent of social justice and human flourishing. Le
Bruyns’ theological framework (dual role as a scholar and activist), intensely articulates
the communal dimensions of Kairos theology anchored in the foundational tenets of the
South African Kairos Document and complemented by insights from global decolonial
discourses that include Palestinian Kairos and Latin American Liberation Theology. He
uses this background in his ecumenical dialogues to equip grassroots movements
to transcend denominational divides in grappling with the complexities of moral
renewal and social transformation in South Africa. Kairos theology serves as both a
historical artefact and active, engaging scholarship and praxis (i.e. robust public theology)
from an interdisciplinary perspective in view of historical injustices of colonialism and
apartheid

AOSIS

2025