The resignation of Jacob Zuma in its bigger picture.

The resignation of Jacob Zuma as President of South Africa is the latest event in a great shaking of the nations of that Continent. Many South Africans hope that Cyril Ramaphosa who replaces Zuma will deal with the corruption that has spread through Zuma’s nine years in power and quell the widespread social unrest that has destabilised the country.

South Africa’s woes are repeated in many other parts of Africa. It is only three months since Mugabe was ousted from power in Zimbabwe after many years of corruption and cruel oppression. The man who did most to expose Mugabe’s disastrous policies, Morgan Tsvangirai, sadly died this week after bravely fighting Mugabe’s violent oppression of democracy.

Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa and the greatest amount of natural resources but is riven asunder by political corruption and social unrest. The inept leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has allowed racial divisions in Nigeria to thrive to a dangerous degree. The threat of civil war has never been far away in Nigeria since the disastrous Biafran war of 1967-1970.

Perhaps the most tragic situation in Africa today is to be seen in South Sudan, the newest country in the world that was created in a severance from the northern, Islamic part of Sudan. Instead of South Sudan being a prosperous Christian country enjoying peace and protection from Islamic terrorism, the Christians have descended into tribal warfare that has devastated the economy, created massive refugee camps and brought deadly famine to millions of people.

But Christians in South Africa are already seeing hope, as Charles Gardner reports:-

Rainbow of Hope

Jacob Zuma’s resignation as South Africa’s President coincided with a literal downpour of heaven’s blessings as the drought-stricken land was drenched by an all-night cloudburst in the Northern Cape.

Zuma’s longstanding refusal to resign threatened the stability of an embattled nation already facing serious economic and social problems.

Cyril Ramaphosa is being sworn in as his replacement as I write, and I am hopeful of a brighter future for the ‘Rainbow nation’ that showed such promise following the success of its first-ever multi-racial elections in 1994. But the legacy of peace, prosperity and reconciliation left by Nelson Mandela was thrown to the winds of tribalism and strife that mirrored much of what has been going on in the rest of Africa.

Zuma’s refusal to resign threatened the stability of an embattled nation already facing serious problems.

The dawn of the New South Africa was preceded by a very worrying time when civil war looked a real possibility – and was widely predicted by the media – as the Zulu-led Inkhata Party threatened not to cooperate with the transition talks.

Thankfully, South Africa’s many Christians flooded sports stadiums to pray for a resolution, and Christian leaders like Michael Cassidy were used by God to broker peace. The nation was pulled back from the brink as a result, relatively little blood was spilt, and a wonderful new era dawned.

The Bandwagon of Political Correctness

Tragically, in recent years, lack of righteous leadership, along with non-cooperation with all parties of goodwill, has left a trail of destruction in its wake – violence has become rampant (especially in rural areas), along with corruption, unemployment and disease. And with the ruling African National Congress party strongly influenced by Marxism, South Africa has inevitably climbed onto the bandwagon of political correctness where anything goes except good, honest living according to God’s standards.

Part of the Government’s PC dogma is a thoroughly nonsensical accusation that Israel is now practising the ‘apartheid’ that so blighted South Africa, and they are using this as an excuse to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

The irony of the earlier threat to peace posed by Inkhata is that Zuma is a Zulu. But I don’t wish to taint the rest of his people – the country’s largest ethnic group – with his alleged corruption. They are a wonderful tribe; I was virtually brought up by a lovely Zulu woman, Agnes Nzimande. Indeed, they were once great warriors, who even defeated the British at the Battle of Isandhlwana in 1879, and their present King, Goodwill Zwelithini, is reputedly a believing Christian who has bravely challenged the Government over their anti-Semitic stance against Israel, urging them against loosening ties.

In the past, South Africa has been pulled back from the brink of civil war by the prayers of faithful Christians.

Wrong relationships have caused all these problems; politicians have allowed themselves to be influenced by the wrong people, leading to division and corruption. But we worship a God who is, above all, a God of relationships.

He himself is not alone, but acts in harmony with the Son and the Holy Spirit, and he calls us into a relationship with him. And when this happens, we also come into a right relationship with others. The greatest commandment, according to Jesus, is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind; and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matt 22:37-40).

Putting Things Right

But there is now another rainbow of hope on the horizon. Before I had even heard the news of Zuma’s fall, my wife and I were still in bed having a WhatsApp conversation with friends in South Africa, who were touring the Northern Cape encouraging farmers to keep trusting God through these difficult times, especially the long-running drought that has blighted the country for so long. Not surprisingly, there has been much prayer for rain.

Our friends were travelling to a distant farm to hold a Bible Study on the eve of Valentine’s Day. On arrival, they could see a black cloud heading their way, and during the evening there was an almighty downpour. The heavens opened and the farmers were ecstatic. They rushed outside to measure it, and reported that they hadn’t seen that much rain in ten years

But more was to come! Our friends left the farmhouse at 10:45pm, but due to the downpour and their planned route being rendered impassable, they had to make a 100-mile detour over very rough roads to return to base.

It took them all night. Their truck got stuck in deep mud, and it must have been a frightening experience watching a river of floodwater rushing past as they prayed for help, which eventually came - complete with a tow-bar - to extricate them from the mire.

Their ordeal was matched with much joy, of course, because these God-fearing farmers have been faithfully praying for an end to the drought for a long time. The picture above was taken next morning – a rainbow (promise of God’s faithfulness) of hope now hangs over the land, no longer parched but drenched by the goodness of God.

And it stands as a reminder that South Africa and all the other nations on that great Continent’s long-term hope is to put their trust in the only One who can supply the rain, while at the same time putting their relationships right – first with God, and also with one another.

In the face of so much instability in our nation, here’s a lesson in what brings peace.

South Africa was saved at the cross of Jesus – where enemies are reconciled to one another¹ – when threatened by civil war at the time of the transfer of power to majority rule in the early 1990s.

This is the claim of a former South African Navy officer who was chaplain to Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners on the infamous Robben Island.

He said that if civil war had broken out in his adopted country in the immediate aftermath of apartheid, it would have been “every bit as bloody” as the current strife in Syria.

“FW de Klerk [South Africa’s last white president] became a committed Christian. And he and Mandela found each other as Christians,^”2 Rev Colin Chambers told a Doncaster audience, attending an event now known nationally as Life Stories at Lunch.

He went on to explain how the Christian education Mandela had received from Methodist missionaries had taught him the value of forgiveness, which became more precious during his time serving a life sentence for plotting acts of violence against the state. The young Mandela was head-boy of his school, where he led a Bible class and prayed daily during assemblies.

Former chaplain to Nelson Mandela has claimed that South Africa was saved from civil war in 1994 by the cross of Jesus.

Opportunity to Bring Hope

A pastor for an Assemblies of God church at the time, Chambers, now 73, befriended Mandela and his fellow ANC (African National Congress) inmates during regular visits to the island, just a few miles from Cape Town.

On one occasion he found himself speaking about the Jewish patriarch Joseph; how he was imprisoned in Egypt and then released to serve as Prime Minister under Pharaoh, saving two nations in the process (through relief from famine).

He then realised he might have overstepped the mark and apologised to Nelson, begging his forgiveness for insensitivity. But the ANC leader insisted: “Not at all; you give me hope!”

When the job offer was first put to him, Chambers didn’t think – as a white officer of the South African Defence Force – that he had much chance of being accepted by the prisoners, who had been fighting against the apartheid regime. But he was amazed when first introduced to their iconic leader, who said: “The name’s Mandela. You’re very welcome. How was the sea? [It can be a rough passage] And how’s your father?”

Puzzled, he thought he might have known his dad, who was the same age, but later discovered that in the Xhosa culture in which Mandela had been nurtured it was an expression that meant you were accepted.

Learning About Forgiveness

“The general narrative among my acquaintances was that he was a terrorist getting what he deserved. He was, after all, arrested with bomb-making equipment and given a ‘free and fair trial’ by the standards of Amnesty International. “But when I told my congregation at Muizenberg (near Cape Town) that ‘Mr Mandela sends his greetings’, they were initially offended. Some people called me a traitor; even a ‘Pinkie’ [meaning Communist]. But I used to say: ‘If he’s ever released, you’ll see who he is.’”

Chambers once found himself speaking about Joseph imprisoned in Egypt and then released to serve as Prime Minister under Pharaoh, which Mandela received as a message of hope.

“We chatted about forgiveness (around 1980/1) and how Joseph, when he met his brothers who had thrown him down a well and then sold him into slavery, had said: “You meant it for evil, but God intended it for good…” (Gen 50:20).

See Photo Credits.Mandela is on record as saying that refusing to forgive is like “drinking poison and hoping it poisons your enemies”. He also said: “I knew that if I didn’t leave all my resentment behind, and forgive, that I would be walking out of one prison and entering another.”

Reconciliation Made Possible

South Africa is once more at the crossroads, with allegations of corruption at government level dividing the country, but Colin is encouraged by the response to a call for prayer that saw nearly two million people³ meet on a farmer’s field on 22 April this year to intercede for the nation before God.

It had happened before, in 1994 – at the cross, where Jesus’ death brought reconciliation between the nation’s black and white leaders – and it could happen again, he said.

Asked what he believed was Mandela’s legacy to the world, he replied in just three words: “Forgiveness brings reconciliation.” He added: “Forgiveness and reconciliation is the only way real peace can come.”

Chambers is “absolutely convinced he (Mandela) made a commitment (to Christ)”, adding that Jesus’ own test, “by their fruit you will know them”, certainly applied in his case. “We all have the right to change. I saw a change, and I would challenge anybody to say that Nelson remained a terrorist.”

Mandela is on record as saying that refusing to forgive is like “drinking poison and hoping it poisons your enemies”.

God’s Word Does Not Return Empty

One of Mandela’s great friends, apart from former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was Assemblies of God leader Nicholas Bhengu, once dubbed the ‘black Billy Graham’.

During his time as chaplain on Robben Island, Mr Chambers got some of his ‘flock’ – Nelson and other ANC leaders including future provincial premiers – to write their names in his Bible. And he showed me the evidence.

The British-born pastor, who grew up in East London, South Africa, and now lives in Portsmouth (Britain’s naval base), said it was after he became a born-again Christian that he felt it right to stay in the Navy. “I wanted to pilot the ship, fire the guns and preach the gospel, but the Lord in his wisdom allowed me to be a prison chaplain.”

His first assignment was at Polsmoor, where Mandela was to spend the final years of his sentence, and it was due to a security breach at Robben Island that he was offered a post there.

With Mandela’s Christian education in mind, Chambers encouraged his audience to trust the assurance of Isaiah that God’s word will always achieve the purpose for which it was sent (Isa 55:11).

Notes

1 Ephesians 2:14-16 explains how men are reconciled to each other, and to God, through the crucifixion of Jesus.

2 They both won the Nobel Prize for Peace for their efforts towards reconciliation.

3 Actual estimate 1.7 million.