ANC defends 'Jesus' remark

2004-03-16 21:22

Johannesburg - The African National Congress on Tuesday dismissed as "petty electioneering" criticism by some political parties of remarks made by deputy president Jacob Zuma at a weekend meeting.

ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said: "These parties have deliberately misrepresented Zuma's use of a common colloquialism to stir up emotions among those voters who belong to the Christian faith."

He said Zuma told Gauteng election workers at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Sunday the ANC would remain in power, subject to the will of the people, in perpetuity.

Zuma said the ANC "will rule South Africa until Jesus comes back".

Ngonyama said: "The expression that the deputy president used was a manner of speech which is used in a number of ways in a number of different languages."

Ngonyama said common expressions similar to the one Zuma used include "till kingdom come" and "uyakulinda axe abuye uNxele" in Xhosa which means "you will wait until Chief Nxele comes back".

DA calls for retraction

"All of these are simply meant to refer to an indeterminate point far into the future.

"It is a pity some political parties in the country are prepared to abuse the religious beliefs of some South Africans in their efforts to secure votes for themselves," he said.

Since Monday, opposition parties have been criticising Zuma for the remarks he made in his speech during a special council meeting of the ANC in Gauteng.

Democratic Alliance chairman Joe Seremane called on Zuma to retract and apologise for the remark.

"His implication is that it will be in power forever," Seremane said on Monday.

Apart from anything else, this was offensive to Christians - Zuma should not be "so loose" with the Christian faith.

Seremane said Zuma's statement was more than just in poor taste; it raised serious questions about the ANC's understanding of, and commitment to, liberal democracy in South Africa.

'Christian majority must now be heard'

African Christian Democratic Party spokesperson Selby Khumalo said Zuma's statement showed the ANC was "desperate".

"The ANC must not abuse Christ and Christianity in this manner. The ANC must know that majority of voters are Christians," he said.

"The voice of the Christian majority must now be heard loud and clear in this coming elections. The issue of Christian holidays will be important as well.

"The Titanic will begin a process of sinking on April 14," Khumalo said on Monday.

- SAPA