{"id":136407,"date":"2019-07-01T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=136407"},"modified":"2019-07-08T11:56:30","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T10:56:30","slug":"how-pentecostalism-explains-jacob-zumas-defiance-and-lack-of-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/07\/how-pentecostalism-explains-jacob-zumas-defiance-and-lack-of-shame\/","title":{"rendered":"How Pentecostalism Explains Jacob Zuma\u2019s Defiance and Lack of Shame"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former South African President Jacob Zuma sings to his supporters outside the High Court. He faces corruption charges.\u00a0 EPA-EFE\/Phil Magakoe<\/p><\/div>\n

25 Jun 2019 – <\/em>Jacob Zuma, South Africa\u2019s 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\u2019s neo-Pentecostal circles.<\/p>\n

Media expos\u00e9s have laid bare Zuma\u2019s massive debts<\/a> and the financial burden of his large family. Taxpayers footed a multi-million Rand bill for unlawful upgrades to his private residence<\/a>. Zuma has featured prominently in a number of state inquiries<\/a>. One of them is a commission probing the \u201ccapture\u201d<\/a> of the South African state for the financial gain of his family and his associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Zuma has avoided any convictions, his detractors have been outraged at his lack of shame<\/a>. He\u2019s also been defiant in the face of various criminal charges<\/a>. Instead of shame, Zuma has often boasted of God\u2019s divine support when matters went his way and complained of dark plots when they did not<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While mainline Christian churches were uncomfortable with such claims<\/a>, neo-Pentecostal church leaders generally supported Zuma<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

Zuma\u2019s religious utterances presented a conundrum for scholars. That\u2019s 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 \u201ccrucifixion\u201d and convened prayer vigils<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What lies behind such adulation? And why were these supporters not outraged at Zuma\u2019s private extravagance, profligacy and brushes with the law?<\/p>\n

Zuma and the prosperity gospel<\/strong><\/p>\n

While academics have looked at various dimensions of Zuma\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

My chapter in the newly published book<\/a>, \u201cConspicuous Consumption in Africa\u201d, deals with Zuma\u2019s \u201cshamelessness\u201d and his continued political support. It takes a closer look at the prosperity gospel<\/a> to which he has so often referred.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. I make no judgements about his personal commitment to neo-Pentecostal values. Nevertheless, my research shows that members of these churches recognised in Zuma\u2019s reckless spending behaviour, his uncompromising fight against dark \u201cenemies\u201d and his political invincibility, the marks of a \u201cblessed\u201d man.<\/p>\n

A very specific neo-Pentecostal religious ethic can be recognised in Zuma\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an ethic that demands of its subscribers that they consume conspicuously and without \u201cshame\u201d as \u201cblessed\u201d Christians<\/a>. At the same time, they have to wage spiritual war on those who undermine their \u201cgood fortune\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neo-Pentecostalism found enormous traction in many African countries from the late 1970s onwards. It\u2019s also popular beyond Africa<\/a>. 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<\/a> suggested that over 30% of urban South Africans subscribed to neo-Pentecostalism. Thirteen years later, that figure is much higher.<\/p>\n

A Pentecostalised public space<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Zuma increasingly fudged the lines between his political and spiritual struggles, his fellow politicians responded in increasingly \u201creligious\u201d ways. Political lackeys sympathised with his \u201cpersecution\u201d and saw it as the dark work of invisible forces and evil conspirators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even Zuma\u2019s political enemies increasingly claimed that his continued rule was due to occult powers<\/a>. Thus the public space in South Africa, as in other African countries<\/a>, became increasingly \u201cPentecostalised\u201d.<\/p>\n

As African studies scholar, Adriaan van Klinken, has noted<\/a>, charismatic Pentecostal Christianity is a \u201cpublic religion par excellence\u201d. 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.<\/p>\n

Neo-Pentecostalism in Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zuma\u2019s 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<\/a> Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, of Equatorial Guinea, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Jerry Rawlings, Ghana\u2019s former long-term military ruler.<\/p>\n

On the close alliance between some African leaders and neo-Pentecostal churches, Paul Gifford, a professor of religion and philosophy, has remarked that this \u201cdomesticated Christianity\u201d, was not \u201cconcerned with a renewed order<\/a> or a \u2018new Jerusalem\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neo-Pentecostals are thus unlike previous Christian movements such as black liberation theology<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

Conspicuous Consumption in Africa is edited by Ilana van Wyk and Deborah Posel. Published by Wits University Press<\/a>, 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ilana van Wyk <\/a>– Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons license.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theconversation.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 Jun 2019 – Unlike the Puritan ethic, the neo-Pentecostal ethic is consumerist in its focus. It\u2019s an ethic that demands of its subscribers that they consume conspicuously and without \u201cshame\u201d as \u201cblessed\u201d Christians. At the same time, they have to wage spiritual war on those who undermine their \u201cgood fortune\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":136408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180,183],"tags":[239,109,287,107,1218],"class_list":["post-136407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brics","category-religion-2","tag-brics","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-religion","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}