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ANALYSIS: How Pentecostalism explains Jacob Zuma's defiance and lack
of shame
2019-06-27 08:17
Ilana van Wyk
Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s former president, has long been known as a
man who lives beyond his means. Interestingly, this has made him a
much-admired figure in the country’s neo-Pentecostal circles.
Media exposés have laid bare Zuma’s massive debts and the financial
burden of his large family. Taxpayers footed a multi-million Rand bill
for unlawful upgrades to his private residence. Zuma has featured
prominently in a number of state inquiries. One of them is a
commission probing the “capture” of the South African state for the financial gain of his family and his associates.
While Zuma has avoided any convictions, his detractors have been
outraged at his lack of shame. He’s also been defiant in the face of
various criminal charges. Instead of shame, Zuma has often boasted of
God’s divine support when matters went his way and complained of dark
plots when they did not.
While mainline Christian churches were uncomfortable with such claims, neo-Pentecostal church leaders generally supported Zuma. Whenever he
faced political scrutiny for a growing number of scandals, they
offered their pulpits as his political platforms. They also held
protest marches to show their support.
Zuma’s religious utterances presented a conundrum for scholars. That’s because many poor South African Christians supported his moral claims,
and celebrated his defiance. Outside the courts where Zuma faced
criminal charges, supporters often likened him to Jesus, decried his “crucifixion” and convened prayer vigils.
What lies behind such adulation? And why were these supporters not
outraged at Zuma’s private extravagance, profligacy and brushes with
the law?
Zuma and the prosperity gospel
While academics have looked at various dimensions of Zuma’s public
support, few have taken its religious dimensions seriously. A number
of critics have dismissed his religious utterances as mere political
populism; another shameless tactic to avoid taking responsibility for
his supposed moral decrepitude.
My chapter in the newly published book, “Conspicuous Consumption in Africa”, deals with Zuma’s “shamelessness” and his continued political support. It takes a closer look at the prosperity gospel to which he
has so often referred.
Zuma is well versed in this gospel. Apart from his longstanding
membership of various neo-Pentecostal churches, he was ordained as an
honorary pastor in the Full Gospel Church in 2007. I make no
judgements about his personal commitment to neo-Pentecostal values. Nevertheless, my research shows that members of these churches
recognised in Zuma’s reckless spending behaviour, his uncompromising
fight against dark “enemies” and his political invincibility, the
marks of a “blessed” man.
A very specific neo-Pentecostal religious ethic can be recognised in
Zuma’s unapologetic conspicuous consumption and how he and his
supporters have reacted to his travails. Unlike the Puritan
(productionist) ethic that often informs critiques of conspicuous
consumption, the neo-Pentecostal ethic is consumerist in its focus.
It’s an ethic that demands of its subscribers that they consume
conspicuously and without “shame” as “blessed” Christians. At the same time, they have to wage spiritual war on those who undermine their
“good fortune”.
Neo-Pentecostalism found enormous traction in many African countries
from the late 1970s onwards. It’s also popular beyond Africa. But it
was only after apartheid that South Africans started flocking to these churches. Precise figures are lacking, but a Pew Forum poll in 2006
suggested that over 30% of urban South Africans subscribed to neo-Pentecostalism. Thirteen years later, that figure is much higher.
A Pentecostalised public space
As Zuma increasingly fudged the lines between his political and
spiritual struggles, his fellow politicians responded in increasingly “religious” ways. Political lackeys sympathised with his “persecution” and saw it as the dark work of invisible forces and evil conspirators.
Even Zuma’s political enemies increasingly claimed that his continued
rule was due to occult powers. Thus the public space in South Africa,
as in other African countries, became increasingly “Pentecostalised”.
As African studies scholar, Adriaan van Klinken, has noted,
charismatic Pentecostal Christianity is a “public religion par
excellence”. As it engages with social and political issues, it
reshapes the public sphere as the scene of a spiritual battle between
God and the Devil.
Neo-Pentecostalism in Africa
Zuma’s public life has much in common with flamboyant political
leaders and former leaders on the continent who have publicly declared
their membership, leadership or support of Neo-Pentecostal churches.
These leaders include Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, of Equatorial
Guinea, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Jerry Rawlings, Ghana’s former long-term military ruler.
On the close alliance between some African leaders and neo-Pentecostal churches, Paul Gifford, a professor of religion and philosophy, has
remarked that this “domesticated Christianity”, was not “concerned
with a renewed order or a ‘new Jerusalem’”.
Neo-Pentecostals are thus unlike previous Christian movements such as
black liberation theology that advocated for social justice and the
alleviation of poverty. Instead, they individualise the causes of
material and political suffering. Followers are urged to fight the
Devil rather than push for radical reform. This makes them deeply
conservative political subjects.
In the case of Zuma, a specifically neo-Pentecostal ethic has
emboldened him to celebrate his conspicuous consumption and political invincibility. This, as scores of his religious followers aspire to
similar feats of spiritual accomplishment.
Conspicuous Consumption in Africa is edited by Ilana van Wyk and
Deborah Posel. Published by Wits University Press, 2019.The
Conversation
- Ilana van Wyk is a lecturer in Social Anthropology at Stellenbosch University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative
Commons license.
Source:
https://t.co/dTNWQE3vko
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web:
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog:
http://khanya.wordpress.com
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