South African Church leaders have criticised the government for fuelling recent pre-election violence and warn that a culture of greed and patronage politics will destroy the country.
“We are disappointed that our political leaders have not been visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional violence and political assassinations,” Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, who chairs the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference justice and peace commission, said in a statement on 27 June.
Three people have been shot dead and 40 arrested in the Tshwane area close to Pretoria in violence triggered by the ruling party’s choice of mayoral candidate for the local polls. Shops belonging to foreigners have been looted and cars and buses set alight.
Politicians “are mobilising the young people in our communities, especially the unemployed youth, to engage in pre-election violence,” Bishop Gabuza said. Local government elections will take place on 3 August.
He urged young South Africans “not to allow themselves to be used by politicians who show signs that their primary interest is greed for power and government tenders”.
“At the root of many social ills in our country, including the current upsurge of pre-election violence, one finds greed and patronage politics,” he said. This political culture must be stopped before it destroys the country and sends it “into a downward spiral from which it will struggle to recover,” he added.
The mayoral dispute ignited after a member of the ruling ANC party was shot dead on 19 June as party factions met to decide on a candidate for mayor of Pretoria’s Tshwane municipality.
The ANC leadership then named senior party member and former cabinet minister Thoko Didiza as its candidate for Tshwane, overriding regional branch members and refusing to back down as the violence mounted.
The ANC said it picked the candidate as a compromise between two rival factions in Tshwane. But critics say the party’s action show the ANC fear they have lost political power within the area.
It is feared that the Pretoria riots will inspire other areas to protest against unpopular decisions made by the ANC leadership, Robert Besseling, the head of the EXX Africa business risk intelligence group, is reported to have said.
The South African Council of Churches, of which the bishops’ conference is a member, asked clergy to intervene in politically divided communities before the elections.
The council of churches urged its members to “intensify prayers and pastoral interventions in communities where peace must be restored‚ to maintain orderly coexistence across political divisions”.
South African president Jacob Zuma, survived an attempt by opposition MPs to force his to stand down in April, after the constitutional court ruled that he had ignored an order to repay some of the £11 million in state funds spent renovating his private home.
The elections on 3 August are predicted to become a referendum on Zuma’s leadership.
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