The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has warned the African National Congress (ANC) against using the same Biblical scriptures that apartheid presidents often quoted to defend racial discrimination and oppression in the past.
This follows a recent statement from the ANC in Mpumalanga calling for the SACC to allow President Jacob Zuma to remain State president until his term comes to an end in 2019.
The religious organisation recently added its voice to calls to "help Zuma resign" following the March 31 Constitutional Court ruling affirming the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Democratic Alliance's (DA) position that Zuma "failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution."
“Our men and women in collar should be the first to accept the apology, especially in line with Romans 13:1-7. They can’t sing from the hymn book of the opposition,” reads the statement that the ANC released during a recent press briefing in support of its leader.
The extract, from the Christian Bible, urges people to be submissive to the authorities irrespective of their conduct.
SACC acting general secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, said the particular scripture used reminded him of apartheid days.
“The last I heard about this (Roman 13: 1-7) was from John Vorster and PW Botha. I would be very surprised if the ANC says that today. When we were justifying the campaign for the ANC for justice in our country, we were told by apartheid leaders that we should accept them because Romans Chapter 13 says we should,” said Mpumlwana.
The bishop added:“We did not publish the moral issues we raised with the President (and) they have nothing to do with the opposition. The fact is that an infringement of the Constitution has been caused by the very custodian of the Constitution.
- African Eye News Service
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