2019 ELECTIONS: God and elections: Religion and politics meet behind – and in front of – the pulpits this Easter By Rebecca Davis becsplanb
Easter always sees an outburst of religious devotion from South African politicians, and never more so than in a year when elections are to follow shortly afterwards. But the 2019 national elections are unique in the unprecedented number of religiously-flavoured parties contesting the polls, and the unprecedented number of party leaders who have held positions in the church.
This is also the first election in which a powerful church conglomeration – the South African Council of Messianic Churches in Christ – has launched a political party as a vehicle with which to contest the national polls. Makgoba urged voters to give careful scrutiny to the names on party lists, and cast votes “not on the basis of blind party loyalty, but for the group of prospective parliamentarians we believe represents our values best and will act in the interests of the country as a whole”.
For one thing, it’s worth noting that the majority of self-proclaimed church leaders who have established new parties to contest the polls are marginal figures drawn from pop-up evangelical churches, rather than household names from South Africa’s mainstream Christian denominations. The likes of the African Covenant Movement, the Christian Political Movement and the Economic Emancipation Forum are unlikely to make a significant dent in the final vote-count.
(Whether or not this hope is justified is open to question: former president Jacob Zuma was himself anIt is not implausible that citizens disenchanted with politics-as-normal could be drawn to overtly religious parties at this particular juncture in South African history. If the resolutely secular Constitution has failed to ensure that basic needs are met, perhaps it’s time to try the Bible?
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