KGOTSONG
[ZCC STATEMENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING & SACC STANCE]
Zion Christian Church
HIS GRACE BISHOP DR. BE LEKGANYANE
Zion City Moria
P.O. Box 1
BOYNE 0728
POLOKWANE
PBO No.: 930009716
Tel.: (015) 266 0073
Fax: (015) 266 0036
Enq.: General Secretary
ReI.: ZCC/ 1/2/1/1/V
11 April 2016
The Zion Christian Church and its spiritual head, His Grace the Right Reverend Bishop, Dr Barnabas Lekganyane has noted the recent political developments sweeping our beloved country South Africa following pronouncements of the Constitutional Court regarding State President President Jacob luma and the National Assembly. In the aftermath of that historic ruling by the Constitutional Court, several religious leaders made statements regarding the matter under the auspices of the South African Council of Churches (SAGC) which the ZCC is not a member of. Among them was a male figure who paraded himself wearing ZCC insignia. As the said individual was part of the religious leaders making the call for President Jacob Zuma to resign and declaring that they rejected his apology, a wrong impression was created that the ZCC was part of the group.
We would like to categorically state it for the record that the person in question was not mandated nor appointed by the ZCC to represent it in that forum. Our internal processes to verify his membership of the ZCC are currently underway and we will deal with the matter internally. His conduct or presence at the said meeting wearing the church's emblem has brought the church into disrepute. We condemn his actions and distance ourselves and the spiritual head of the ZCC Bishop Lekganyane from same. We would like to reiterate our long-standing and inelastic policy that THE ZCC IS ABOVE POLITICS. This, because we believe that as a church, among our primary responsibilities is to pray for peace and stability. This we do by equitably prioritizing all traditional, political and government leaders in our prayers. It is only through God's powers that we know that this beloved land of ours experiences harmony.
Back in the early 1990s when the country was on the brink of a full-scale political war, Bishop Lekganyane convened leaders of all political parties to pray for peace in Moria. That was something that had never been done anywhere else. It is against this background that we want to restate our commitment to a peaceful solution to all the challenges facing our beloved country. As outlined during this year's Easter sermon, instability benefits no one. We urge our members to refrain from any actions and behaviour that may harm the good name of the ZCC by aligning it to a particular political view. Ours is to pray for a peaceful country, its leaders and institutions of state. Even under these current uncertain circumstances, it is still our firm belief that God knows best and we communicate with him through prayer. We remind all people that we are not to judge as there is only one judge, God. We urge all South Africans to pray to God for a stable nation. As the ZCC, we will also continue to set dedicated prayers for the leadership of this country to lead with the wisdom from God. South Africa is a unique country of people supposed to be united in their diversity amid all their clear challenges.
We have only one country and should therefore not destroy it. We wish all South Africans a peaceful election season and encourage all participants to campaign responsibly without denying anybody their freedom and rights. God bless South Africa.
GENERAL SECRETARY
DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
MINISTER-IN-CHARGE
ZCC
[ZCC STATEMENT ON CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING & SACC STANCE]
Zion Christian Church
HIS GRACE BISHOP DR. BE LEKGANYANE
Zion City Moria
P.O. Box 1
BOYNE 0728
POLOKWANE
PBO No.: 930009716
Tel.: (015) 266 0073
Fax: (015) 266 0036
Enq.: General Secretary
ReI.: ZCC/ 1/2/1/1/V
11 April 2016
The Zion Christian Church and its spiritual head, His Grace the Right Reverend Bishop, Dr Barnabas Lekganyane has noted the recent political developments sweeping our beloved country South Africa following pronouncements of the Constitutional Court regarding State President President Jacob luma and the National Assembly. In the aftermath of that historic ruling by the Constitutional Court, several religious leaders made statements regarding the matter under the auspices of the South African Council of Churches (SAGC) which the ZCC is not a member of. Among them was a male figure who paraded himself wearing ZCC insignia. As the said individual was part of the religious leaders making the call for President Jacob Zuma to resign and declaring that they rejected his apology, a wrong impression was created that the ZCC was part of the group.
We would like to categorically state it for the record that the person in question was not mandated nor appointed by the ZCC to represent it in that forum. Our internal processes to verify his membership of the ZCC are currently underway and we will deal with the matter internally. His conduct or presence at the said meeting wearing the church's emblem has brought the church into disrepute. We condemn his actions and distance ourselves and the spiritual head of the ZCC Bishop Lekganyane from same. We would like to reiterate our long-standing and inelastic policy that THE ZCC IS ABOVE POLITICS. This, because we believe that as a church, among our primary responsibilities is to pray for peace and stability. This we do by equitably prioritizing all traditional, political and government leaders in our prayers. It is only through God's powers that we know that this beloved land of ours experiences harmony.
Back in the early 1990s when the country was on the brink of a full-scale political war, Bishop Lekganyane convened leaders of all political parties to pray for peace in Moria. That was something that had never been done anywhere else. It is against this background that we want to restate our commitment to a peaceful solution to all the challenges facing our beloved country. As outlined during this year's Easter sermon, instability benefits no one. We urge our members to refrain from any actions and behaviour that may harm the good name of the ZCC by aligning it to a particular political view. Ours is to pray for a peaceful country, its leaders and institutions of state. Even under these current uncertain circumstances, it is still our firm belief that God knows best and we communicate with him through prayer. We remind all people that we are not to judge as there is only one judge, God. We urge all South Africans to pray to God for a stable nation. As the ZCC, we will also continue to set dedicated prayers for the leadership of this country to lead with the wisdom from God. South Africa is a unique country of people supposed to be united in their diversity amid all their clear challenges.
We have only one country and should therefore not destroy it. We wish all South Africans a peaceful election season and encourage all participants to campaign responsibly without denying anybody their freedom and rights. God bless South Africa.
GENERAL SECRETARY
DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
MINISTER-IN-CHARGE
ZCC
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