South Africa must not forget God

African Christian Democratic Party leader Rev KRJ Meshoe

18 June 2003

Removing God from society will be a very costly mistake, African Christian
Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe told Parliament during the
President's Budget Vote debate on Wednesday, reminding South Africans of the
vital role Christianity played in overthrowing apartheid.

"During the apartheid regime, meetings were held in churches, prayers were
said to God in the name of South Africa. People cried tears; blood was
shed for the sake of the liberation of this country. Did He not help us?
Now we have forgotten about Him. We want Him out of Parliament, we want Him
out of our Courts, we want Him out of schools," Rev Meshoe said.

Rev Meshoe warned that any attempts by the government to remove Christian
religious holidays would be tantamount to political suicide.

"The debate has started on whether Christmas and Good Friday should continue
being public holidays as they are religious holidays. Those that are saying
they must be done away with are going against the wishes of the majority of
South African voters.

"When this government legalised abortion on demand, they disregarded the
wishes of the majority of our people and they got away with it. When they
abolished capital punishment, they again ignored what the majority of South
Africans said, and got away with it. If they again ignore what the majority
of our people say about the two mentioned public holidays, then they will
not get away with their arrogance this time round. Anyone who tries to
remove the memory of Christ from the South African calendar and history is
making a very costly mistake," Rev Meshoe said.

Referring to the arms deal and reports of government corruption, Rev Meshoe
urged government to commit itself to transparency and clean governance.

"Those who want to satisfy themselves that there was no back-door deals,
personal gain or benefits or even corruption in the whole arms deal process,
should be allowed to do so. The ACDP supports all those who want the whole
truth to come out," Rev Meshoe said.



For more information: Rev Kenneth Meshoe MP at 082 962 5884
Media Liaison: Charmaine Horne at 084 370 3550 or 021 403 3307