Religious leaders our moral compass

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) and National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF) last week added their voice to the growing calls for Jacob Zuma to do the honourable thing and resign.

Now what makes this so special?

The religious groups normally speak out on pertinent social issues.

But this is the first time I can recall in our young democracy that the two bodies not only have a joint meeting on a specific issue, but also a joint meeting with the ANC as well as a joint press briefing calling on Jacob Zuma to resign.

Surely this alone calls for a moment of silent reflection, considering past tension between the two and in the foreseeable future we may not see this joint effort again.

A brief history of the two formations is that the NRLF was formed in post-apartheid South Africa, with one of their most prominent leaders being Pastor Ray McCauley of Rhema Bible Church. The SACC needs no introduction, having 

been in alliance with the ANC during the anti-apartheid struggle.

As one would expect the “devil” was not happy. Our church leaders were criticised and their actions questioned. Some colleagues even asked who gave them a mandate – even though they were elected. One of the comments I read was that our religious leaders should not judge but act with love and compassion.

“The pulpit cannot be used by religious leaders for politics, and only the ANC can ask the president to resign,” said the chaplain at the Chris Hani Memorial Service.

Yes, politically he may be correct, and we have already received indications of this.

ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe, at two press briefings he addressed - one after the national officials met and the other after the extended national working committee meeting X made this distinction clear. When 235 members of Parliament voted against the DA impeachment motion to remove the President, the ANC NWC and parliamentary caucus indicated they would never again recall a sitting head of state, as the party’s national executive committee did in September 2008 when it recalled Thabo Mbeki as President.

Not all religious leaders asked the President to step down. On Monday, the National Interfaith Council of South Africa welcomed the President’s apology to South Africa and criticised men and women of God for asking him to resign. It may be worth noting that one of the prominent members of this council is former ANC Parliamentary Chief Whip Dr Mathole Motshekga, who was also a member of the Nkandla Ad hoc committee.

Reading all the unhappy comments, I was wondering if they did not read or didn’t know 1 Timothy 5:20, which says: “But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning...” There is also Deuteronomy, Acts, Titus, Corinthians and several other scriptural texts one could quote from.

Prof Mary-Ann Plaatjies-van Huffel, World Council of Churches President for Africa and moderator of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (and first female to hold this position), wrote to President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday 6 April – in a letter composed on Sunday 3 April with a humble, though serious request.

The letter, a copy of which is in my possession, contains no politics just a humble reminder of moral integrity, asking the President to do the right thing and not let his own struggle in the fight for liberation fade from the memory of the nation.

A friend occasionally tells me that politics and religion do not go together... you will be busy praying and swearing at the same time. Although many religious leaders tried it on the political scene, I agree that the pulpit should not be used for politics – indeed for souls. But we cannot ignore our country’s history and remind ourselves that religious leaders – and we can name people like Oom Beyers Naudé, Dr Allan Boesak, Archbishop-emeritus Desmond Tutu, Rev Frank Chikane, Archbishop-emeritus Bill Burnett and many others – played an instrumental role in #ApartheidHasFallen and the #RiseOfDemocracy

Yes, politics can make one forget one’s values, even if only for a second.

But our religious leaders have a role to play and we should see them as the moral voice in our country, for our [political] leaders.

• This opinion piece was originally published in Paarl Post of Thursday 14 April 2016 [pg.8]