There is something deeply fitting about the Archbishop of Cape Town becoming the new chair of Christian Aid. The Most Revd Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba has spent his entire ministry walking alongside people who are poor and marginalised—not as an observer, but as someone who has personally experienced what it means to be on the wrong side of power.

Archbishop Thabo grew up in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, before his family was forcibly removed under apartheid laws and resettled in Soweto. That experience of displacement and injustice has shaped everything about his ministry. He knows that poverty is not an accident—it is the result of systems and decisions that can be changed.

His appointment comes at a significant moment. His predecessor as Christian Aid chair, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, has become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury—a remarkable transition that speaks to the calibre of leadership Christian Aid attracts. Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt said: "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 has previously worked with Christian Aid on climate and economic justice—two of the defining challenges of our time. His leadership will be invaluable as the charity navigates a fast-changing landscape in which the causes of poverty are becoming more complex and the need for prophetic advocacy more urgent. This is an appointment that should give Christian Aid supporters genuine confidence in the direction ahead.