The South African Council of Churches has called for parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be held as the current government is seen as illegitimate.
The call for parliament to be dissolved follows more than a year of unhappiness with the government and President Jacob Zuma specifically.
The SACC was a crucial ally in the fight against the apartheid government, and consists of 28 member churches and eight associate churches.
Conservatively estimated, their members tally more than 10 million people.
The decision was made at the SACC's triennial conference in Boksburg this week, following the release of an "unburdening report" which detailed allegations of state capture that was obtained over the past year.
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An unburdening panel was established by the SACC following revelations made by former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas and former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor in March 2016 that the Gupta family had offered them positions in Zuma's cabinet .
Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, general secretary of the SACC, made the announcement yesterday, and added that the SACC will also hold a national convention on issues in South Africa, which he says will cover a wide variety of problems, as "there needs to be time given if we are going to have a second chance of making South Africa a reconciled society".
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Mpumlwana said this was a moral call by the SACC.
When asked if they would be appealing to MPs' consciences to support the vote of no confidence that has been tabled by opposition parties against Zuma, he said MPs have had a chance to act with it, and that they have not done so.
"We would have loved for MPs to have used their conscience at the time they had to accept a wrongful decision. We would have loved for them to have used their conscience when the Constitutional Court said they were in breach. They should have at least passed a motion of regret," he said.
"We are not addressing ourselves to the MPs. We are addressing ourselves to South Africans." Mpumlwana said the situation had escalated since the SACC had said in 2016 that Zuma should step down.
The call was made after the Nkandla judgment, in which both the president and parliament was found wanting, and the Constitutional Court made it clear that Zuma did not "uphold, respect and defend" the constitution in the way the public protector's Nkandla report was dealt with.
The SACC said both the government and parliament needed a fresh mandate from voters.
Mpumlwana said the constitution was not designed for the environment SA currently faces, but for the best possible scenario and that "we don't have the best possible scenario right now. We do not know that there are constitutional mechanisms for what we are talking about; we are making a moral call. It is possible that the Constitutional Court could translate what we call moral illegitimacy to constitutional illegitimacy."
Dissolve Parliament: State capture renders the Zuma administration illegitimate
The South African Council of Churches has called for parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be held as the current government is seen as illegitimate.
The call for parliament to be dissolved follows more than a year of unhappiness with the government and President Jacob Zuma specifically.
The SACC was a crucial ally in the fight against the apartheid government, and consists of 28 member churches and eight associate churches.
Conservatively estimated, their members tally more than 10 million people.
The decision was made at the SACC's triennial conference in Boksburg this week, following the release of an "unburdening report" which detailed allegations of state capture that was obtained over the past year.
An unburdening panel was established by the SACC following revelations made by former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas and former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor in March 2016 that the Gupta family had offered them positions in Zuma's cabinet .
Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, general secretary of the SACC, made the announcement yesterday, and added that the SACC will also hold a national convention on issues in South Africa, which he says will cover a wide variety of problems, as "there needs to be time given if we are going to have a second chance of making South Africa a reconciled society".
Mpumlwana said this was a moral call by the SACC.
When asked if they would be appealing to MPs' consciences to support the vote of no confidence that has been tabled by opposition parties against Zuma, he said MPs have had a chance to act with it, and that they have not done so.
"We would have loved for MPs to have used their conscience at the time they had to accept a wrongful decision. We would have loved for them to have used their conscience when the Constitutional Court said they were in breach. They should have at least passed a motion of regret," he said.
"We are not addressing ourselves to the MPs. We are addressing ourselves to South Africans." Mpumlwana said the situation had escalated since the SACC had said in 2016 that Zuma should step down.
The call was made after the Nkandla judgment, in which both the president and parliament was found wanting, and the Constitutional Court made it clear that Zuma did not "uphold, respect and defend" the constitution in the way the public protector's Nkandla report was dealt with.
The SACC said both the government and parliament needed a fresh mandate from voters.
Mpumlwana said the constitution was not designed for the environment SA currently faces, but for the best possible scenario and that "we don't have the best possible scenario right now. We do not know that there are constitutional mechanisms for what we are talking about; we are making a moral call. It is possible that the Constitutional Court could translate what we call moral illegitimacy to constitutional illegitimacy."
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