Jacob Zuma Continues to Claim the ANC’s “Divine Right” to Rule South Africa
Jacob Zuma conitunes to claim the ANC’s “Divine Right” to rule South Africa, Microsoft Word format
Jacob Zuma continues to claim the ANC’s “Divine Right” to rule South Africa, Rich Text format
Jacob Zuma claims to be a Christian. This is in stark contrast to his predecessor, President Thabo Mbeki, who stated categorically that he was not a Christian, nor about to become one. Zuma has said things like people should not remain silent if their governments pass laws that are “anti-God”; and, “God says that those in authority must be blessed by those who are religious so that they govern people of God accordingly”; and, “As Africans we have got to work hard so we can have governments that fear God”.
Such statements are very pleasing to some, who do not know the Bible. Yet Jacob Zuma is emphatically not a true Christian. This is a man who was a high-ranking leader of MK, the ANC’s armed terrorist wing, and a long-time member of the Communist party. This is a man who regularly breaks into his “trademark” revolutionary song at public gatherings, “Bring Me My Machine Gun!” This is a man who until recently had multiple charges brought against him for corruption, fraud, etc., and although they have now been dropped because of “procedural errors”, he was not found innocent in a court of law and a cloud remains over his head regarding all the allegations, and always will. This is a man who cheerfully surrounds himself with Reds and other radicals, including the ANC Youth League which said it would “kill for Zuma”, and the Young Communist League which said it would kill if necessary to prevent him going to jail. This is a man who admitted to having a sexual affair with a young woman, and whose supporters called for her to be murdered. And we could go on and on.
No, Jacob Zuma is not a true Christian according to the Bible.
Zuma has a history of speaking about the ANC in such a way as to give the impression that it has a divine right to rule South Africa forever. He knows this will make a deep impression on the millions of black South Africans, most of whom attend “churches” of various types. A month or so before the 2004 general election, he told a crowd of supporters, “The ANC will rule South Africa until Jesus comes back.”
When Zuma said this, Joe Seremane, the chairman of the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, commented, “His implication is that it will be in power forever”, and added: “So what is Zuma saying? That if they cannot win a majority through free and fair elections, they will hold on to power through force?” And: “It is the language of a one-party state. A government may enjoy a majority of popular support, but unless it is willing to allow the opposition to come to power through the ballot box, then it is a dictatorship, not a democracy.” He said that Zuma’s statement echoed that of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who told his supporters in 1982 that “as clear as day follows night, ZANU-PF will rule in Zimbabwe forever.”
Precisely. Most of the ANC leaders are Marxist revolutionaries just like Robert Mugabe. They share the same ideology. As far as they are concerned, they were the ones who “liberated” SA from the mythical “tyranny” of white rule, and for that reason alone they have the right (in their minds) to rule the country forever. No one else has the right to govern, and no one else will ever be allowed to. They will hold on to power by fair means or foul, including force if need be.
Then in May 2008, Zuma told an ANC rally in Khayelitsha, “Even God expects us [the ANC] to rule this country because we are the only organisation which was blessed by pastors when it was formed. It is even blessed in heaven. That is why we will rule until Jesus comes back.”
This was nothing less than a claim, by Zuma, that the ANC rules by divine right! The Democratic Alliance stated correctly that Zuma’s claim displayed the anti-democratic attitude of an absolute monarch. Indeed it did. As far as the ANC leadership is concerned, it and it alone deserves to rule forever – indeed, as Zuma said, “until Jesus comes back.”
Whether or not the ANC, at its formation way back in 1912, was blessed by pastors, this is irrelevant: many religious leaders have supported the ANC over the years, just as religious leaders have supported other organisations and parties as well. Merely having a religious leader “bless” something does not make it approved by God! Besides, the subsequent history of the ANC proves that divine blessing certainly did not rest upon it: it became a terrorist, Marxist-dominated organisation that willingly made use of terror, torture, and murder to advance its revolutionary objectives. The Lord God, the living God of the Bible, the true and only God, does not give His blessing to such wickedness. Furthermore, now that it is in power, the ANC has pushed legislation into being that is utterly contrary to the Word of God, such as abortion, same-sex “marriages”, the legalised theft of property, the criminalisation of Gospel preaching by labelling it as “hate speech”, and much more. No, this organisation does not enjoy the blessing of Almighty God. And no true Christian could ever support such an organisation. Certainly, huge numbers of professing “Christians” have done so, including many so-called “pastors”; but that is an entirely different matter. Such “political pastors”, such Red religious leaders, are anything but Bible-believing Christians. For them, the Bible is merely a handbook of Marxist subversion, and the Lord Jesus Christ is a political revolutionary. They are strangers to the true Gospel, and to the true Christ of God.
Well, in March this year (2009) Zuma was at it again, as the April election drew nearer. This time he said: “People who love God must not play with their votes; they must vote for the ANC. We believers know that Jesus will come back; we say the ANC will rule until he comes back.”
Later in March he met with religious leaders in Mafikeng, North West province, and they told him that they would make sure every member of their churches would be “encouraged” to vote in the April 22 election. Zuma commended them for their support of the ANC, and said that the ANC was a “child of the Church.” And he said that the “Church’s” support for the ANC was an “unequivocal biblical declaration that if God is for us who can be against us.”
In this deeply religious country, consisting of millions of simple, unsophisticated, religious people, Zuma well knew that by asserting that the ANC rules by divine right, he would fool them into believing that the ANC alone should be in power; that in fact, it would be sinful for them to vote for any other party! In their minds, they will indeed believe that to oppose the ANC is to oppose God!
This is the very attitude that Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party have had in Zimbabwe: that they deserve to rule forever because they are the “liberators”. And look what it has done to Zimbabwe. There are deeply worrying signs that the ANC is following the very same path.
With the orchestrated “collapse” of the Soviet Union and the “Communism is dead” lie, Communists everywhere changed tactics, all part of their plan to achieve their goals by other, more subtle means. They called themselves “social democrats”, they spoke continuously of “democracy”, of “freedom to choose”, and so on. But all the while they remained in power by manipulated elections and other undemocratic means. And this is how the ANC operates in South Africa. It pays lip service to “democracy”, but uses decidedly undemocratic means to consolidate power and to hold on to it at all costs. Elections simply pacify the masses and make them feel they are accomplishing something and are masters of their own destiny, but those in power rig the results, threaten opponents, and make claims such as this one made by Zuma, who said what he did in order to convince the people that when they go to vote, they cannot vote for anyone but the ANC.
The ANC may be a “child of the Church”; but which Church? The true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, consisting of His blood-bought people, or the false “Church” that is really a political institution in religious dress, led by wolves in sheep’s clothing who promote wickedness behind a mask of piety? The answer is crystal clear. When the “Church” supports a terrorist organisation which conducted an armed rebellion against the State, this is not the true Church of God. It is the devil’s counterfeit.
And furthermore, he entirely misrepresented the meaning of Rom. 8:31: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Read in context, the meaning is plain: “us” refers to true Christians, the Lord’s own elect, His beloved saints. God is “for” His people in that He takes their side, saves them, preserves them, protects them; and therefore, those who seek to oppose them, to harm them, will not succeed. Neither sin, nor Satan, nor the world, nor wicked men, will ever succeed. Zuma’s application of this verse to God being for the ANC is a sinful perversion of it. It is taking a precious biblical verse, which speaks of God’s love for, and care of, His elect people, and misleading people into thinking it refers to the political fortunes of a wicked political party.
Zuma delights to take liberties with the Bible, in true “liberation theology” fashion. He is perfectly content to add to the Bible, filling in details that simply are not there. In November last year, speaking in Polokwane (Pietersburg, before the ANC changed its name), he said, in reference to the Congress of the People (Cope), a new party formed by breakaway ANC elements, that Cope was like the donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem. “The people were waiting for the Son of Man who was on the donkey. The donkey did not understand it, and thought the songs of praise were for him.” “Expanding on the biblical story”, as even the journalist reporting his words admitted, Zuma said the donkey later tried to return to Jerusalem on its own in order to again experience that moment of glory, but the people chased it away. In the same way, he said, the Cope leaders would find that they were nothing without the ANC.
Now I don’t know what Bible version Jacob Zuma is reading, or which preacher he has been listening to, but one cringes at this horrible mutilation of the triumphant entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. There is not a word in all the Bible about the donkey thinking the praise was for him, or returning for more of the same! Someone sucked this out of the air – either Zuma himself, or someone else. And what is so sinister about his fanciful tale is that he was comparing the ANC with the Lord Jesus Christ!
Well, Zuma’s comments about the ANC ruling South Africa until Jesus returns might have pleased the ANC-supporting “churches”, steeped as they are in diabolical “liberation theology”, and convinced that Zuma is a Christian and that the terrorist-organisation-turned-political-party which he leads is the vehicle to fulfil their dreams for an earthly paradise; but they were deeply disturbing to millions of others in the country, who profess to be Christians and who hate the ANC for its terrorism and for what it has done to South Africa. Of course, although so many millions profess to be Christians, only a small portion of them truly are; but nevertheless, as conservative churchgoers who outwardly profess a reverence for Christ, they were disgusted by Zuma’s remarks. And so, chameleon-like, when he was trying to woo the Afrikaans community at a meeting with Afrikaans leaders in Johannesburg on the 2nd April this year, Zuma attempted some damage control. He sought to “explain” what he had actually meant by his comment. He knew he was speaking to people who for the most part were very religious, so he said:
“Talking about Jesus is not abusing his name, it’s actually saying historically this is what the ANC is all about.” No harm was intended, he said. “It’s just a political expression that we [the ANC] are strong and will be strong for a long time.” He added: “I want to apologise if this reality sits uncomfortably with others.” He also said that he was baptised and that he knew Jesus. “I fear God… it’s [the comments] not because I’m despising God, not at all.”
Well, if Zuma truly feared the Lord and was a true Christian, he would live as a Christian. He would repent of his involvement in the ANC’s terrorist campaign in the past; he would come clean about the charges that were brought against him; he would stop singing his revolutionary song about his machine gun; he would break off all ties with the wicked, Bible-denying, Christ-denying liberal “churches”; he would stop adding more wives to the ones he already has; he would even resign from the ANC. But he has done none of these things.
Another extremely chilling aspect of the entire “Zuma-mania” that is occurring amongst millions of black South Africans, is that prominent members of the ANC have drawn comparisons between Zuma and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In late November last year, the leader of the ANC in the Free State province, Ace Magashule, said Zuma was being subjected to the same persecution as Christ. “Jesus was persecuted. He was called names and betrayed. It’s the same kind of suffering Mr Zuma has had to bear recently, but he’s still standing strong. He’s not giving up,” he told a newspaper. He said he did not believe anyone would be uncomfortable with the parallels he drew between Zuma and Christ. “Why would it make people uncomfortable? I’m a Christian too. I never said Zuma was Jesus. He can’t be Jesus. I merely compared the kind of persecution that had to be endured.” He said he also used the comparison to refer to people who had left the ANC: “Jesus had up to 70 disciples, but in the end, only 12 remained.”
Aside from being absolutely incorrect about Jesus’ disciples – the 70 were not “reduced” to 12 – Magashule’s comparison between the persecution the Lord Jesus endured, and Zuma’s woes, is ridiculous. The Lord Jesus was sinless, and was persecuted for righteousness’ sake, whereas Zuma is not sinless and was on trial because there appeared to be a very strong case against him, on various charges. The Bible teaches that true Christians who endure fiery persecutions for the sake of their Lord “are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet. 4:13); but that is a very different thing from Jacob Zuma being charged for corruption, fraud and racketeering!
Saying that God Himself wants the ANC to rule the country could lead to the same kind of bloodshed that Zimbabwe has experienced and continues to experience, as Mugabe seeks to hold on to power by brutality. When someone believes that no one else has the right to govern, then all talk of “democracy” and “equality” and “the rule of law” and “free and fair elections” is meaningless, and brutal means could be used to cling to power when the time eventually comes that the masses see through this evil organisation. How Christians must pray that this will not come to pass!
And Christians must pray for Jacob Zuma. He is almost certain to be South Africa’s next president after the April 22 election. Let us pray for him, that the Lord, if it pleases Him, would open his eyes to the truth of His Gospel, and that He would grant him the wisdom to govern this important, complex, complicated country for good and not for evil if he becomes president.
April 2009
(This article includes material from a previous article by the same author, entitled Jacob Zuma Says “God Wants the ANC to Rule South Africa”, which was published in June 2008, as well as some material from his article entitled “The ANC Will Rule South Africa Until Jesus Comes Back”: the Landslide ANC Victory in 2004, published in that year.)
Shaun Willcock is a minister of the Gospel and lives in South Africa. He runs Bible Based Ministries. For other news articles (which may be downloaded and printed), as well as details about his books, audio messages, pamphlets, etc., please visit the Bible Based Ministries website; or write to the address below. If you would like to be on Bible Based Ministries’ electronic mailing list, to receive all future articles, please send your details.
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ENDNOTES:
.Thabo Mbeki’s Distortion of the Holy Scriptures, by Shaun Willcock. Bible Based Ministries, August 2006. www.biblebasedministries.co.uk.
.Daily News, December 10, 2007.
.The Witness, June 18 and June 20, 2008.
.The Witness, August 6, 2008.
.Imagine: Jacob Zuma Could Be South Africa’s Next President! by Shaun Willcock. Bible Based Ministries, February 2008. www.biblebasedministries.co.uk.
.The Witness, March 16, 2004.
.The Southern Cross, May 14 to 20, 2008; and Independent Online, 7 May 2008, http://www.iol.co.za.
.The Witness, March 10, 2009.
.The Witness, March 19, 2009.
.The Witness, November 20, 2008.
.Zuma Spends Day with Afrikaners, 4 April 2009, http://www.praag.co.uk.
.The Witness, December 1, 2008.
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