[1] The immediate impetus for the consultation was the international public outcry against the Sharpeville massacre that had taken place the previous March.
[4] One of the delegates was German theologian Wilhelm Niesel, author of Die Theologie Calvins.
[6] At the consultation, the member bodies were urged to push the government of South Africa towards greater inclusion of black people in political office.
[7] The delegates agreed on the adoption of the Cottesloe Statement, which rejected unjust discrimination in various forms and made several specific resolutions with respect to such issues as freedom of religion, migrant work, and due process.
[8] The boldest clause in the statement was the resolution that black residents of areas designated as "white" by apartheid legislation should be granted suffrage.