Bishop of Johannesburg scolds Malema for 'anti-Christian' hate speech

The Bishop of Johannesburg Dr Steve Moreo has reprimanded EFF leader Julius Malema for his vitriolic attack on fellow white South Africans.

Malema told party supporters at Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal in an emotionally charged address on Monday: “We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people – at least for now”. Such language‚ said Bishop Moreo in a statement published by the Anglican Communion News Service on Wednesday‚ had no place in a free democracy.

“Malema's vitriolic attack on his fellow white South Africans is sad and a stark reminder that the naked sin of racism is alive and well in South Africa. It is a reminder that racism is as damaging whether articulated by black or white and is no different to the corruption and greed of many in our country - all of which is decaying our land right now‚” he said.

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“It is particularly shameful to see it manifest in a person such as Malema.” Such language‚ he said‚ had no place in a country which former archbishop‚ Desmond Tutu‚ dubbed “the rainbow nation” after celebrating liberation from an institutional racist past in 1994.

“Malema is on record as saying that he may not be a churchgoer‚ but he believes in Jesus Christ and God. Like Mr Malema‚ I also believe in Jesus Christ and God. I too‚ like him‚ am black‚” said Bishop Moreo.

“But unlike him‚ it seems‚ I know that in Christ there is no east or west‚ no north or south‚ but one great fellowship of love.” He added: “Christians can have no truck with this hateful‚ anti-Christian rhetoric. All South Africans can trace the history of their lives to the influence of many people‚ from different races‚ various Creeds and backgrounds.

None of us exists in a vacuum‚ for all of us are made in the image of God and are dependent on the community of the faiths to which we each belong.”