The African National Congress (ANC) National Chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, says the church has a critical role to play in nation-building and helping the ANC find its way around strategic issues such as the land question.
Mantashe also says the church needs to continue being the moral compass of the ANC.
“They should have been part of trying to rescue the liberation movement in its difficult times, and my view is that the church distanced itself from the movement. Remember the SACC (SA Council of Churches) released a report last year, mainly critical of the ANC. I would have loved the church to be critical, and become part of the solution. If that was the case the moral compass of the liberation of the movement will not be lost.”
Mantashe delivered the Reverend Henry Reed Ngcayiya memorial lecture in King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape.
Reverend Ngcayiya was one of the founding members of the ANC, and was among its first chaplains.
Mantashe says Ngcayiya’s contribution to the liberation struggle cannot be overlooked.
“He played a very important role. He was in the first chaplaincy of the ANC in 1912 – and he became a chaplain general himself, and ultimately became an NEC member of the ANC. So he was a political activist who was appreciating that church and politics cannot be separated. The liberation of black congregants was intertwined with the liberation of the black nation. That’s what he understood and that’s why we are celebrating him today.”
Mantashe’s comments on the land issue come as the ANC is continuing its dialogue on land expropriation without compensation.
Senior party members are holding a two-day land summit in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
On Saturday, party President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit that there was a clear social imperative to the issue of land. He says land is about dignity, identity and security adding that its expropriating is the only way to alleviate poverty in South Africa.
The ANC hopes to emerge with a united voice from its two day land summit this weekend. Although the party resolved to expropriate land without compensation at its December conference, opinion in the party is divided.
Some want amendments to Section 25 of the Constitution, while others argue that the provision is sufficient.
http://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/no-need-to-amend-constitution-to-expropriate-says-expert/
