PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Zuma under fire over religious comments
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has sparked an outcry following an attack on Christianity.
Zuma this week told a gathering in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province that "as Africans, long before the arrival of religion and the gospel, we had our own ways of doing things".
He said while “religious people” refer to that era as “dark days, we know that, during those times, there were no orphans or old-age homes. Christianity has brought along these things," he said.
African Christian Democratic Party President Kenneth Meshoe said Zuma's comments were "hypocritical" because Zuma “uses churches to get votes" during elections.
The South Africa Council of Churches also slammed Zuma while civil rights group AfriForum said it planned to discuss Zuma's "extremely insensitive" comments with the government and ruling African National Congress (ANC).
However, ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga said Zuma's comments were "perfectly sound".
"Irresponsible journalism will always find a creative way to mislead, and in this case it inexplicably saw an attack on Christianity in the President's perfectly sound assertion," he said.
Motshekga said a distinction needed to be drawn between "Christianity as a faith" and "nefarious missionary activities which have brought sufferings upon our people".
Meanwhile, Zuma’s office issued a separate statement in which it said Zuma's comments were a call not to neglect African culture.
"While we should embrace Western culture and Christianity, we should not neglect the African ways of doing things," spokesperson Mac Maharaj said. "Western culture had brought about the end of the extended family as an institution, leading to the need for government to establish old age homes, orphanages and other mechanisms to support the poor and vulnerable.
"Even poverty was an unknown factor as neighbours were always ready to assist each other, giving one another milk or cattle where needed."
-0- PANA CU/SEG 22Dec2011
Zuma this week told a gathering in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province that "as Africans, long before the arrival of religion and the gospel, we had our own ways of doing things".
He said while “religious people” refer to that era as “dark days, we know that, during those times, there were no orphans or old-age homes. Christianity has brought along these things," he said.
African Christian Democratic Party President Kenneth Meshoe said Zuma's comments were "hypocritical" because Zuma “uses churches to get votes" during elections.
The South Africa Council of Churches also slammed Zuma while civil rights group AfriForum said it planned to discuss Zuma's "extremely insensitive" comments with the government and ruling African National Congress (ANC).
However, ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga said Zuma's comments were "perfectly sound".
"Irresponsible journalism will always find a creative way to mislead, and in this case it inexplicably saw an attack on Christianity in the President's perfectly sound assertion," he said.
Motshekga said a distinction needed to be drawn between "Christianity as a faith" and "nefarious missionary activities which have brought sufferings upon our people".
Meanwhile, Zuma’s office issued a separate statement in which it said Zuma's comments were a call not to neglect African culture.
"While we should embrace Western culture and Christianity, we should not neglect the African ways of doing things," spokesperson Mac Maharaj said. "Western culture had brought about the end of the extended family as an institution, leading to the need for government to establish old age homes, orphanages and other mechanisms to support the poor and vulnerable.
"Even poverty was an unknown factor as neighbours were always ready to assist each other, giving one another milk or cattle where needed."
-0- PANA CU/SEG 22Dec2011
