EDITORIAL | Politicians and church leaders should meet beyond elections

It has been a busy weekend for political leaders as they moved from one church to another, joining millions of Christians who held Easter mass services. 

EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu was sitting next to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi as they attended Grace Bible Church’s Good Friday service in Soweto.

Mbalula was also seen on Sunday at the Covenant Fellowship Church International in Esikhawini, where Apostle Collins Dhlomo laid hands on him and prayed for divine intervention on everything that he does as the leader of the ruling party.

On Sunday, Bosa leader Mmusi Maimane and leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe were at the Grace Bible Church service at Orlando Stadium with Action SA leader Herman Mashaba. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the Zion Christian Church in Moria while his deputy Paul Mashatile was at the Wesley Methodist Church in KwaLanga in Cape Town.

What attracts politicians to places of worship at this time of the year is not just the celebration of Easter but the election fever that is gripping the country ahead of the May 29 polls.

Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, presiding Bishop Mosa Sono of the Grace Bible Church indicated that politicians are always welcome at places of worship because they are, after all, “God’s people”. 

Sono then encouraged thousands of congregants to vote on May 29. 

But one of the country’s most respected religious leaders, Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, took the election issue further by challenging South Africans to think about who they vote for as the country is facing tough times. 

“Not only has the country been devastated by corruption, we also suffer the decay that results from mismanagement. From national to provincial to municipal level, basic maintenance has been neglected, to the degree that many communities are going without water, and we can’t drive on many of our roads without potholes damaging our cars. 

“Perhaps worst of all, our 30 years of freedom have produced the most unequal society in the world. The elite of all races enjoy salaries which enable them to travel in private vehicles and buy private medicine, to live in private homes with burglar alarms in safe suburbs, and to be protected by private security companies.

“Meanwhile the poor and the marginalised must depend on rundown public transport, public hospitals that in some provinces are badly managed, over-stretched police and shacks prone to fast-spreading fires in informal settlements,” Makgoba said. 

Both Sono and Makgoba are in agreement that Christians should vote and have a say in the political discourse of their nation.

Sono went on to state that the church is the only institution that focuses on the family. He spoke about young people he had witnessed in his 40 years of ministry starting from scratch, building families and responsible citizens.

Methodology differs

When one hears the two preachers and the manifestos of political parties, it is clear that the church and politicians seem to desire the same thing, but the methodology of getting there is apparently different. 

This is the link that South Africa has failed to use in the 30 years of democracy. During the struggle against apartheid, churches had their role, and history is littered with examples of preachers who fought against the oppressive system from the pulpit as they found it to be against the will of God. 

It was expected that even in a free South Africa, churches would continue to play a big role in transforming society and creating that better life for all. 

Government should use the networks and structures that churches have in communities to address social ills.

Among these are gender-based violence, crime, vandalism of public infrastructure, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.

When it comes to teenage pregnancy, no policy of government has made any significant difference in retaining girls in school and ensuring they do not fall pregnant. 

Churches across all denominations preach and advocate for godly living. That is one bridge where religious leaders and politicians in government could meet to ensure societal matters such as teenage pregnancy are tackled.

Just like government partners with civil society to fight gender-based violence, the church can, and should, be a partner to fight most social ills. 

Each church could identify the social ill troubling its community and simply fight it head-on in partnership with support and co-operation from a relevant department in government. 

Churches are potentially important stakeholders for government as they are rooted in communities and can help elevate and enhance government efforts in eradicating social ills.

Therefore, the faces that the country saw in churches and kneeling at the altar should come back after the elections to partner with religious leaders and turn the tide against social ills. 

Politicians should not recognise that churches exist only when trying to appeal to churchgoers in an election year.