SACC still in 'Critical solidarity' with the ANC?

An article in the Mail and Guardian surprised me. Or rather a comment reflected in the article. The theme of the article is:

Why churches dumped the ANC

The article describes the relationship between the ANC and churches in South Africa. Especially the relationship with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) and the South African Council of Churches (SACC). Apparently the ANC has had a meeting with the SACC to discuss the strained relations.

Acting general secretary of the SACC Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, who was at the meeting with Mantashe, told the Mail & Guardian that the council’s relationship with the ANC was one of “critical solidarity”.

The concept 'critical solidarity'was left as early as 2001 in favour of 'critical engagement'. The SACC did this at its Triennial Meeting, according to resolution 18:

RESOLVES that the SACC adopt an attitude of critical engagement in its dealings with the state and other organs of civil society and therefore requests the NEC to develop clear policies that will inform the concept of “critical engagement” and to assist SACC members in defining our relationship with the State ...

The rationale behind the shift from 'critical solidarity' to 'critical engagement' was the idea that one cannot be in solidarity with a government or with a powerful entity. Solidarity is always directed to the poor or those in the margin.

According to the Mail and Guardian

The Methodist Church has withdrawn its ministers from acting as chaplains in the party.

The M&G claims that the relationship between the ANC and the mainline churches has reached an all-time low under President Zuma’s administration. That’s why  Mantashe invited the leaders of the SACC recently.

This is of course nothing new. Mbeki related to the church leaders and other religious leaders through the National Religious Leader’s Forum (NRLF), formed by the Mandela government. When Zuma came into power he formed his own structure: the National Interfaith Leaders Council (NILC). Already in 2010, the then President of the SACC, Prof Tinyiko Sam Maluleke, said in his Presidential Address at the SACC Central Committee Meeting:

Unlike the NRLF which was a forum, we are told that the NILC is going to be a service delivery partner of the ruling party.

A very prominent figure in the NILC is the Rhema church leader Ray McCauley. The Rhema Church  is by many regarded as a proponent of the prosperity gospel. Hence it is not surprising that Mantashe, according to the M&G, writes in a NEC report:

The SACC is of the view that the ANC is more comfortable with wealth religion …

One issue that is singled out in the article is that the SACC was at the forefront in opposing e-tolls in Gauteng.

In the article Professor Tinyiko Maluleke is interviewed. Now as a political analyst at the University of Pretoria and he claims that the ANC has kept the SACC in line by giving government positions to SACC leaders:

Desmond Tutu [was given] the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair position, Frank Chikane a position as director general in the presidency / … / This was a strategy to keep the SACC, the radical left churches, under control.

This is also old news. The question now is: Will the SACC become a strong, critical or even prophetic voice in the political situation of today’s South Africa? I hope so. I am, however, a bit pessimistic. The leaders are all men, most of them older than myself. Allow women and youth to be part of the leadership. That is my wish.

It is, however, a positive sign, that the ANC is a bit uncomfortable with the council.

ANC 100 år

När vi bodde i Sydafrika lärde vi känna en ung man, Fikile. Han är nu pastor i ett samfund, som jag inte riktigt vet vad det heter. Karismatiskt är det nog. Såhär skriver han på en FB-sida, som heter ”Get your shine on”. Sidan har över 400 medlemmar:

Kingdom greetings my brothers and sisters.
Kindly pray with South Africa as there will be an ANCESTORAL dedication of the country that will be done today. We sure want Theocracy in our country and not Demon-Crisis. As we well know, the African National Congress [ANC] was founded by pastors, but they went astray as years rolled. This ceremony that will be held today in Bloemfontein has to be rendered null and void by children of God. Make declarations against these evil forces that our government are is bringing into our country. Job 22:28, Matthew 18:18.

ANC firar 100-årsjubileum. Det börjar ikväll och pågår i tre dagar. I Bloemfontein, där vi bodde i 4 år. Det var just i Bloemfontein ANC bildades. 1912. Av bl a pastorer, som Fikile skriver. På ANC’s hemsida kan man också läsa om den bön, som kommer att äga rum. I en kyrka, eftersom ANC bildades just i denna kyrka eller i närheten.

18h00 Waaihoek, Wesleyan Church, the founding place of the ANC Night Vigil by CRATA and NICSA.
7th January 2012
05h45 Waaihoek Wesleyan Church, the founding place of the ANC, Cleansing and Restoration. This Ceremony takes place at the Marquee at Waaihoek.

Vi förstår begreppen ”Night vigil”, Cleansing and Restoration” som begrepp med anknytning just till den traditionella religiositet, som är just förknippad med förfädersandarna. Så långt har nog Fikile rätt. Men frågan är: är det oförenligt med kristen tro? Kyrkorna i Sydafrika svarar helt olika på den frågan. De karismatiska, pentekostala och evangelikala säger blankt nej. Traditionella kyrkor som lutheraner, anglikaner och metodister erkänner inte förfäderna i sina gudstjänster men alla vet att förfäderna vördas. Om det ska vara dop en söndag sker en traditionell ceremoni lördag morgon. Många kristna deltar. Men man skiljer på det som gäller förfäderna och det som gäller i kyrkan. Katolska kyrkan kan däremot väva in förfäderna i sin vanliga liturgi. Som en del av gudstjänsten.
CRATA utläses: The Commission for Religious and Traditional Affairs och NICSA betyder National Interfaith Council of South Africa. Det ska bli intressant att höra vilka kristna som är med på ceremonierna och på vilket sätt. NICSA är ett organ, som ANC tagit initiativ till. Förre presedenten, Mbeki, relaterade till ett annat råd, som hette National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF). Sedan startade Zuma ett annat råd: National Interfaith Leadership Council (NILC).
I ett ANC-uttalande gjort av Mathole Motshekga, ledamot i ANC national executive council, läser jag:

The ANC Commission on Religious and Traditional Affairs (CRATA) has given effect to the Polokwane resolution on interfaith work. It has facilitated the dissolution of the National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF) and the National Interfaith Leaders Council (NILC) and the formation of the National Interfaith Council of South Africa (NICSA) and its affiliation to the National Interfaith movement to the Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA). National Interfaith movements have already participated in Pan African Interfaith conference in Botswana and Kenya.
Under apartheid colonialism African culture and religion were suppressed, outlawed and defined as paganism. Our icon, Nelson Mandela unbanned and repositioned African Culture and religion when he called for religious tolerance between Islam and Christianity and between the two on one side and African Religion on the other. Nelson Mandela went on to say that African religion is no longer a superstition, which must be replaced, by other forms of religion.

Något är kanske på gång att hända. Hur kristna i Sydafrika kommer att förhålla sig till denna utveckling är intressant.
Vad jag förstår kommer en av mina kollegor, Hans S A Engdahl, vara på plats i Bloemfontein i helgen. Det ska bli intressant att läsa på hans blogg vad han eventuellt uppfattat av det hela.