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making sa the land of milk and honey

LOVEBIRDS: Sandile Mthiyane and Zulu Princess Thandeka get hitched. 14/03/09. Pic. Thuli Dlamini. © Sowetan.
LOVEBIRDS: Sandile Mthiyane and Zulu Princess Thandeka get hitched. 14/03/09. Pic. Thuli Dlamini. © Sowetan.

Namhla Tshisela

Namhla Tshisela

ANC president Jacob Zuma has likened the party's liberation struggle and vision for South Africa to the emancipation of the Israelites from Egypt in the Bible.

Zuma was addressing the congregation of the Rhema Bible Church in Randburg, north of Johannesburg, yesterday. He was welcomed with a thunderous applause.

Quoting a verse in the Bible where God outlined his plan to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians, Zuma said: "The call 'let my people go' is not far removed from our organisation's vision. It is not surprising that the phrase is the title of the biography of illustrious former ANC president Nkosi Albert Luthuli.

"In the struggle against apartheid we knew God would be on our side ..."

Zuma said the ANC promoted religious diversity though deeply rooted in the Christian faith and cited church leaders such as John Langalibalele Dube and Charlotte Maxeke who would later be prominent leaders in the party.

"The ANC derives its moral vision from the church, among other sources," said Zuma.

He said it was symbolic that the formation of "native congresses" that culminated in the formation of the ANC in 1912 coincided with the establishment of African independent churches.

Zuma pledged that the ANC government would continue working with faith-based organisations to "give practical meaning to the ANC's moral vision that embodies the values of a just and caring society".

"Together we can do more to make South Africa a land of milk and honey," said Zuma.

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