Churches demand snap election

THE South African Council of Churches yesterday called for the dissolution of parliament and for fresh elections be held to choose a new government.

SACC president Bishop Daniel Siwa told the Sunday Times that the country could not afford to have President Jacob Zuma at the helm for the next two years.

The resolution was taken at the SACC’s triennial national conference in Benoni this week.

As an influential body of religious leaders, the council has had a long association with the ANC, dating back to the struggle against apartheid.

Its call follows its Unburdening Panel report, which painted a grim picture of South Africa on the brink of becoming a mafia state.

Siwa said it was not enough to call for Zuma to resign. “The whole government must seek a new mandate,” he told the Sunday Times.

The conference was attended by representatives of 25 major churches in the country and various associate member churches.

All agreed that the executive and parliament were morally bankrupt.

“The present government and parliament has lost all moral legitimacy and now there has to be a call for a fresh mandate,” Siwa said. The plight of state-owned enterprises was further proof that a select few were controlling state resources for their own benefit.

“The executive is no longer in charge. There now seems to be a shadow state that makes decisions for this present, legitimately elected government,” Siwa said, in apparent reference to alleged state capture by the Gupta family.

The SACC leadership is to meet tomorrow to discuss how to advance the call for a snap election.

It will also begin making plans for a national convention that includes a broad base of South Africans to reflect on these matters and the way forward.

“This is to provide the opportunity for a new consensus on national values that will, for once, help South Africa arrive at a common basis for a common, reconciled citizenship,” the SACC said in a statement yesterday.

Siwa said allegations by government leaders that the churches were getting involved in regime change were mere propaganda. “We are saying, let us start afresh, and of course we want change. If you call that regime change, prove it. We see a change that must happen and must happen now.”