Zuma claims leaders were appointed by God
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has chastised religious leaders who have joined actions for his removal, saying they were in need of prayers.
Zuma delivered the keynote address at a Women’s Day-themed church service at St John’s Apostolic Faith Mission in Evaton in the Vaal yesterday.
The president said leaders were appointed by God and that it was the responsibility of believers to intercede on their behalf.
He also criticised what he termed a lack of respect in Parliament, saying the country had become a shame in Africa.
Speaking in isizulu, he told congregants: “Izwe lonakele bakwethu. Lonakele… Ukona kuningi (loosely translated, the country has become a mess. It’s a mess. There is too much sinning).”
The remarks come a few days after he narrowly escaped a vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly, where at least 35 ANC MPS voted with the opposition for his removal.
Zuma is a central figure in the state capture allegations by his controversial friends the Guptas. The #Guptaleaks allege grand-scale corruption by the immigrant Indian family, accused of looting stateowned enterprises, and exerting influence in the appointment of cabinet ministers.
At the church service, Zuma said religious leaders needed prayers.
“You know, sometimes it baffles me that religious leaders say this country must fall and that the government must fall. Pray for them too and pray to God to bring them back on the right path.
“God doesn’t say if they go offtrack you should curse them. He says pray for them.”
Zuma wondered out aloud how many people would be left behind if Jesus were to come back.
“Before Jesus’s Second Coming, He must come back to redeem us from our sins first. We are overwhelmed by sins. He can then go back to Heaven before His actual Second Coming,” Zuma said.
He implored his largely female audience to continue praying.
“I like the fact that you follow God’s way. God says it’s His will that we are leaders. Leaders are appointed by God. You should constantly intercede on their behalf so that they remain strong. I’m glad that you follow God’s orders. I say this because I’m a Christian too.”
He admitted that the country was faced with “great difficulties”.
There were instances where children needed to be protected from those who should protect them, and where grandchildren were raping their grandmothers was testament of the “sinful world we are living in”, Zuma said.
He said people’s hearts had become “very hardened” and he also touched on the issue of respect.
“Respect has diminished a great deal. Even in Parliament things are not going well. That House is there to enact laws, but what’s happening there shows there is a lack of discipline. Everyone knows what’s happening there,” he said.
African leaders, he added, “say South Africa is the light of the continent but they are asking me: ‘What is it that you are doing (in Parliament)?’ … It’s hard to answer them because they see what’s happening in our Parliament.”
He lauded the role of women in society, saying they brought peace and made things look easier.
Zuma told the congregants about his meeting with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Pretoria on Friday, saying she commended him for helping to bring about peace in her country. Sirleaf is Africa’s only female president.
Meanwhile, ANC presidential hopeful Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma addressed a dialogue on radical economic transformation at Woodmead, Joburg, on Friday night. She said the advancement of women in society led to development.
“Women must be involved and be in leadership positions in every area of human endeavour. The ANC was a product of a patriarchal society… it was liberated by women leaders of the struggle,” she said.
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