Uncle Tashe was blabbering away at the Assembly of God Church in Nyanga towship near Cape Town while mixing religion with politics as part of his campaigning in the local government elections when he said “according to our belief, we were anointed by God to lead the country from oppression to freedom and there are things that show us that we have that anointment”.
He is one of the latest high-level ANC members to be sent down to the Cape in a a last-minute attempt to win votes against the ruling Democratic Alliance.
The Times quotes Mantashe that he told the congregants there were signs that made him believe in God’s devine will for the ANC to rule because of their similarity to events described in the Bible. “OR Tambo stayed with the ANC in exile for 30 years but when we were about to get freedom the next year he died,” said Mantashe.
He said this was similar to the story of Moses, who led the Israelites to the Promised Land but did not live to experience it. Mantashe said Nelson Mandela led the country in the same way as the biblical Joshua.
“These examples give us the belief that there is anointment and a directive given to us by God that this country should be led by the ANC,” he said.
Mantashe said campaigning in Cape Town had given him hope that the ANC would win the elections and rule the city. Speaking to journalists after the service, Mantashe described Cape Town as “two cities in one… A city of the developed and rich, and a city of the poor, where no resources are directed. I compare townships here in Cape Town and in Ekurhuleni in Gauteng… There is a big difference in terms of capital expenditure in poor areas”.
