‘Dirtying their white robes’ – Shembe Church leaders decry political party, Afrika Unite Congress, launched by members

Shembe worshippers at their annual pilgrimage at the Nhlangakazi Holy Mountain north of Durban on January 5th 2019 in Durban, South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa was expected to attend, but due to bad weather he cancelled his visit. (Photo by Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Felix Dlangamandla)

By Chris Makhaye

30 Aug 2023

With an eye to the 2024 elections, the Africa Unite Congress promises to be a game changer in South African politics. But Nazareth Baptist Church leaders – and analysts – are taking a dim view of the whole endeavour.

South African voters, particularly those with religious and/or traditional inclinations, have one more political party on the ballot to choose from at the 2024 general elections.

This follows the launch this week of the Afrika Unite Congress (AUC), formed by leaders and followers of the Nazareth Baptist Church, also known as Shembe Church.

It is in the process of registering as a party to contest the 2024 national elections.

The Nazareth Baptist Church, which was founded by Prophet Isiah Shembe in Inanda, north of Durban, in 1910, combines Christian belief with Zulu tradition, and now has between eight and 10 million members. Most of them are loyal to the current leader, Mduduzi “Nyazilwezulu” Shembe, who rose to the top in a chaotic and highly contested succession battle following the death of his father, Vimbeni Shembe, in 2011.

Shembe Church Africa Unite Congress president Lizwi Ncwane. (Photo: LinkedIn)

The Constitutional Court found that Mduduzi Shembe is not the legitimate leader of the church, but millions of members side with him.

Like the church, the AUC was launched in Inanda last Sunday and its founders are leaning on their closeness with the church to win popular support.

We are saying it was a huge error that when we got our freedom in 1994 and ushered in the democratic dispensation, the religious and traditional leadership was not given any defined role in the governance of the country.

AUC president Lizwi Ncwane is a secretary in the Nazareth Baptist Church and legal adviser to Mduduzi Shembe.

Ncwane said party leaders and activists had spent the past three years and eight months planning the launch of their party, which he claimed will be a game changer in South African politics:

“We are the only party that puts religion at the forefront of our society, at the centre of governance. We are the only party that puts our African tradition at the centre of governance.

“We are saying it was a huge error that when we got our freedom in 1994 and ushered in the democratic dispensation, the religious and traditional leadership was not given any defined role in the governance of the country. Religious leaders are custodians of our souls and traditional leaders are the custodian of our African values,” Ncwane said.

He said the party will contest elections nationally, in the hope of getting seats in the National Assembly, but will campaign fervently in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng “where most of our potential supporters and voters reside”.

They were in the process of registering with the IEC and were filing queries which they would resubmit within the next few days.

Asked whether he had sought the blessing of the Shembe church leader, Ncwane said has not done so yet but will consider doing so in the future.

As a spiritual leader, Inkosi Shembe will not meddle in politics or party political matters.

“Although many of our leaders and members are long-standing members of the Nazareth Baptist Church, this is not a Nazareth Baptist Church political party per se. The party is open to people within the church and outside the church, people who share the values advocated and promoted by the AUC,” he said, adding that the party leaders and activists will criss-cross the country over the next few weeks and months, building branches and canvassing for votes.

Among other issues, the AUC would fight to have the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) taken away from the Department of Justice and Correctional Services to become an independent body so that “it does not account to political leaders but to the South African Constitution”.

Shembe worshippers at the Nhlangakazi Holy Mountain north of Durban on 5 January 2019. (Photo by Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Felix Dlangamandla)

No approval

But the Nazareth Baptist church itself and members of the Shembe family have distanced themselves from the party, saying they have not given a nod of approval to its formation, or any other political formation.

Thokozani Mncwabe, spokesperson for the largest faction of the Nazareth Baptist Church, said nobody has come forward to seek the endorsement of Inkosi Mduduzi Shembe, and even if they did they will be told that the church is an apolitical institution.

I categorically disagree and reject any political action within the church of our forefathers.

“The leader of the church, Inkosi Mduduzi Shembe, would like to state categorically that he has not embraced or endorsed any political party. As a spiritual leader, Inkosi Shembe will not meddle in politics or party political matters. He has always welcomed all political parties and political figures who came to him to seek guidance and blessings and will continue to do so without looking at the political affiliation of the person or party,” Mncwabe said, adding that Shembe will soon be meeting all the church leaders and issue a statement later about this matter.

Landile Shembe, a spokesperson for the Shembe family, said he was concerned about opportunists who are using the church and the family surname for their own narrow interests.

“As a spokesperson of the Shembe family and as a trustee of Imisebe yeLanga Family Trust, I categorically disagree and reject any political action within the church of our forefathers. There is NO support or blessings that were conferred to UAC by either Bishop Mduduzi Shembe or any other Nazareth Baptist Church faction, and certainly not from the Shembe family.

“It is sad that they would stoop so low as to enter the political fray, when in my view they could have stayed a voice of the people without dirtying their white robes,” Shembe said.

Hinges on the church support

Zakhele Ndlovu, an independent political analyst and a senior lecturer in politics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the viability of the party will depend on whether it gets the support of the church leadership.

“There are many people who are religious and traditional who feel that the existing political parties do not represent them and their interests. Shembe Church has millions of members and voters. But the support of this new political party, the AUC, will depend on whether it can get the tacit support of church leader Mduduzi Shembe. If it gets this support, it will stand a chance, but if it doesn’t, it will be like those political parties that are formed before an election and then fizzle out,” he said.

The problem is that even the church itself is divided along factional lines.

Retired Professor Musa Xulu, founder of the Indonsa Yesizwe Think Tank and executive director of the Heritage Development Trust, said he doubted the new party will have a long political lifespan.

“The challenge is that none of the new political parties is bringing anything new other than a different version of the ruling ANC ideology. It is not expected that the new AUC will attract many voters, especially because it looks like they are coming with the same narrative that the ANC has been giving to the South African voters for the past 30 years.

“However, if Mduduzi Shembe endorses them in public, they may get a substantial number of voters from the Nazareth Baptist Church. The problem is that even the church itself is divided along factional lines. Also, it should be noted that politics and religion tend to repel each other,” Xulu said. DM

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No approval

Hinges on the church support