Address by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Nazareth Baptist Church Ebuhleni Commemoration of the Founder of the Church, Prophet I.M.M. Shembe
Inkosi uShembe naso sonke isigungu esiphezulu seBandla laseBuhleni,
Usihlalo webandla lama Nazaretha, Rev FM Zama,
Abaholi bebandla ngokwehlukana kwabo,
Amakhosi nezinduna eziphakathi kwethu,
MaNazaretha amahle,
Ngisukuma ngokukhulu ukuzithoba. Kuyintokozo enkulu ukuhlanganyela nani kulenkonzo ebaluleke kangaka emlandweni wabantu abamnyama ezweni kazi le Africa.
Engani kulotshiwe ukuthi, ‘ngajabula lapho bethi kimi masiye endlini kaJehova.’
Ukuba nani namuhla kuyintando yomdali osikhumbuzayo ukuthi ‘ukuqala kokuhlakanipha ukumesaba u-Jehova.’
Kuyisibusiso esikhulu ukuzogubha nebandla lama Nazaretha usuku lokuhamba emhlabeni lwenceku yeNkosi u-Isiah Shembe.
Siyalidumisa leliqhawe lezintandane nabafelokazi.
Igama le Nkosi u- Shembe libhaliwe ezinhliziyweni zesizwe sakithi.
Koze kube phakade siyidumisa imisebenzi yakhe.
Koze kube phakade sibonga ukuphila nokukhanya akuletha endlini emnyana.
Koze kube phakade simkhumbula njengo Moses we-Afrika owasikhipha e-Gibhithe, indlu yobugqhila.
Siyambonga lomduduzi wethu owasivula amehlo wathi akusona isiqalekiso ukuba mnyama.
Wasivula amehlo wathi iBhayibheli aliyiso isitha samasiko ethu nobuthina bethu.
Wasivula amehlo wathi intando yomdali ayixabene namathongo nendabuko yethu.
Isizwe sethu sibusisiwe ngalomduduzi wabasweleyo.
Ngobaba u-Shembe sinethemba lokuvuseleka kwesimilo esizweni sethu.
Sinethemba lokubuya kwenhlonipho phakathi kwabancane nabadala.
Ngaye sinethemba lokuba nokuthula nokuqeda inkohlakalo ezweni lethu.
Sinethemba lokubuya kwesithunzi somuntu omnyama nokuqeda indlala emakhaya ethu.
Siyamudumisa lomholi wethu ukusishiyela lensika engazamazami yebandla lama Nazaretha.
Lapho abacindezeli babethi siqalekisiwe, umduduzi wethu waqopha ‘Umthandazo waKwaZulu.’Uma sicaphula kuwo uthi:
“U Jehova ungumalusi wami, angiyikweswela,
Uyavumela izindebe zami ziphathe igama lakhe
Izulu lingakenziwa wayesebathanda,
Umhlaba wabadalela bona,
Wabadala abantu, akabafanisanga nezilwane,
Ngokubathanda kwakhe.
Wathi, ‘Ngizodala abantu abafana nami’,
Wamdala-ke umuntu wokuqala.
UJehova umnene, uyanilalela,
Uhlezi phezu kwezintaba zas’ Ekuphakameni njengamazolo.
Phendulani iminyango yezinhliziyo zenu,
Zizukulwane ngezizukulwane zika Senzangakhona
To paraphrase, ‘The Prayer of Zululand’:
“Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want,
He makes me an eager vessel for his words.
Before the sky was made he loved them,
He created the earth for them.
He made mankind not to resemble wild animals,
Through his love for them.
He said, ‘I will create people in my own image’,
And he made the first person.
Jehovah is kind, he listens to you
He settles on the hills of Ekuphakameni like the dew
Open the doors of your hearts
Offspring of the offspring of Senzangakhona (ubaba weLembe eleqa amanye amaLembe ngokukhalipha, uShaka akashayeki!).
Brethren,
Exactly 82 years ago, our healer, prophet, and liberator ubaba u-Shembe joined our creator.
He left having taught us the value of dreams and the importance of pursuing them.
He demonstrated that our traditional songs, belief systems and cultural life were not superstition and inferior, warranting derision by the west.
He led a revolution in Zulu life at a time when his people were losing social cohesion in the face of European cultural domination.
His was the struggle to affirm the human dignity of Africans.
It was a courageous fight of the African to affirm their worth as a full human being.
His life exemplifies Africa’s long struggle for spiritual and psychological decolonisation.
The current demand for a decolonised curriculum in our educational institutions is a call for the syllabus to put at its centre, not periphery, the biographies and work of African nation builders like Inkosi uShembe.
Our children deserve to learn and write about this important history in the evolution of our country.
Not only did this African hero refuse to be a poor copy of the west, he used his imagination and every resource to contribute to the well-being of his people.
He gave his followers something they could understand, apply and own.
He instructed them to live in peace with nature and to take good care of animals.
He advocated the respect for political office and for society to pay their taxes irrespective of their views about their leaders.
Because of his gift in healing others, his generosity and kindness, the faithful of this church shouted in his presence, “Uyingcwele! He is Holy!”
Because he was brave, effective and upright, his followers were confident to follow him as he led them out of the cultural desert and moral malaise of the time.
This steward of the Lord condemned hypocrisy and back stabbing.
He taught us to practice what we preach.
He taught us love and respect.
The phenomenal growth of ibandla lama Nazaretha over the years is testament to the relevance of his message and righteousness of his conduct.
To see more young South Africans, urban and rural, seeking refuge in the church is testament that ‘Shembe is the way’ to Africa’s renaissance and revitalisation.
They come here for spiritual revival, for restoration of hope.
By inculcating abstinence from sexual activity, the church is our nation’s partner in the fight against the spread of deadly diseases like AIDS, TB and STIs and against unwanted pregnancies.
Izimfundiso zebandla zokuziphatha kwabantu abasha ziyancomeka.
We praise Prophet Shembe for his counsel to men to be good role models, instructing them not take advantage of women’s plight and vulnerability.
This church has always led the way in teaching the youth the value of hard work, the importance of education and the significance of ethical conduct.
As South Africans, we are indebted to its founder and the leadership of the church for faithfully looking after this nation-building institution.
It remains an African asset and national treasure that provides practical solutions to our complex socio-economic challenges.
It is a national pillar averse to wickedness, malicious gossip, public spats by leaders and disrespect of one by another.
The church abhors the ill treatment of women, failure to heed advice and stealing from the poor and congregants.
It promotes adherence to the rule of law and respect for church leaders’ oath of office.
For Prophet Isiah Shembe, the purpose of leadership was to selflessly and honestly serve the needs of the people.
But in starting this independent church, Shembe was not trapped in a fruitless effort to return to some pristine past.
He wanted this church to be solutions-oriented, relevant and to remain a potent force of social renewal.
He saw the church as a vehicle to address pressing contemporary challenges including access to land, security of tenure and enterprise development.
Absolom Vilakazi who taught at Ohlange Institute with the son of the founder of ibandla lama Nazaretha, Amos Shembe, says in his 1986 book, “Shembe: The Revitalisation of African Society”:
“Shembe’s genius can be seen clearly in the way he built his whole church organisation on old Zulu foundations and yet managed to give it a new orientation and new values. He set himself up as a leader and did not refuse to accept the political and social powers and responsibilities entailed in such a position.
In that position, he accepted gifts given to him by the people according to Zulu custom, but like a good chief, he understood that these gifts were to be used, not for his own enrichment, but for the profit of the people… Shembe’s gifts were not in the form of beer and food, but in the form of money, and he gave them back to the people in the form of forty-three pieces of land and a trading store which he left to the church.”
For putting the concerns of others above his own, this African Liberator of old remains admired both by the great and ordinary people in our country.
His charisma and magnetism flowed from the deep wells of his love for his people, especially the poor, the dispossessed and the despised.
He stayed true to his call to liberate his people from white oppression.
Failure to do so would have been a betrayal of the covenant he made with the creator at the sacred Mountain of Nhlangakazi, eNdwedwe, more than 250 kilometres away from here.
In commemorating him, we think of the potential greatness and excellence that we are capable of achieving as a nation.
When we ponder on his enduring legacy, we ask ourselves the old question of where did the rain begin to beat us that we find ourselves still far from the promised land of economic freedom.
Bazalwane,
We cannot talk about iNkosi uShembe without remembering his good friend, Dr John Langalibalele Dube, the founding President of the African National Congress.
It is well recorded that Dr Dube and iNkosi Shembe spent many hours together discussing the growth of the church.
Dr Dube helped iNkosi Shembe to write most of the literature that is used in the church today.
Dr Dube belonged to a different church but embraced Shembe’s work and invested all his intellectual energies towards its advancement.
That is why those of us who belong to the ANC embrace this church because it is part and parcel of our liberation history.
The story of what became known as the Ethiopian movement during the early years of the liberation movement cannot be complete without the role of Shembe Church.
In essence, this church is a revolutionary project, embedded in black imagination.
Bandla elihloniphekileyo lama Nazaretha,
Inceku ye Nkosi yasho Ekuphakameni mhlaka 4 March 1932 yathi:
‘Ubusisiwe osula izinyembezi zabadabukileyo. Ngokuba ukudabuka akusiko kwamunye. Uma ungadabukile namuhla njengabanye kusasa uzodabuka ufune abakwesulayo nawe.’
‘Blessed is who wipes away the tears of the sorrowful. Because sorrow is not solitary. If you are without it today, tomorrow, like others you will be sorrowful and you too will want others to wipe your tears.’
Siyaninxusa ukuba niqhubeke nibophe amanxeba esizweni.
Qhubekani nibeyinqaba yabafelokazi nezintandane.
Isizwe siyalila sikhihla esika Nandi!
Ikati lilala eziko emakhaya - imisebenzi inqabile. Abantu balahle unembeza. Abanye bayathakatha baze babulale nama albino ngenkohliso egcwele ezweni.
Asisukumeni siyibambe. Asingaphenduki insini ezitheni sibulalana sodwa.
Siyakhathazeka kakhulu ukungathelelani kwezepolitiki okugcina kudala ukubulalana.
Ukungezwani lokhu kuyethusa ngoba kungaphakathi kwamaqembu epolotiki.
Emini sizithola singaphansi kwethend elinye sigqoke ama-Tshirt eqembu linye. Ebusuku uzakwenu (i-comrade) wakha uzungu abulale umfowabo noma udadewabo.
Isihlava sisendlini! Siyakhuza sithi maluju Zulu! Izikhali phansi. Ukuvumelani ngokwezepolitiki akusho ukuthi kumele kuchitheke igazi.
Okubuhlungu akubulalwelana ukuthi ngubani onamasu angcono okuthuthukisa isizwe.
Esikhathini esiningi sibulalena izikhundla nemali.
Siyawadinga amaNazaretha nawo onke amabandla ukuthi asebenze emiphakathini avuselele isimilo nonembeza.
Lelibandla lama Nazaretha kade vele lisebenza nathi ukuletha ukuthula ezweni.
AmaNazaretha ayephambili nabaholi bethu bethulisa udlame lwezepolotiki ngama 90s.
Siyanibonga ngokugqugquzela ukuthula ezweni lethu.
Siyaninxusa ukuba niqhubeke nikhulekele uhulumeni wenu nabo bonke abaholi bamaqhembu ezepolitiki.
Iningizimu Afrika idinga izibusiso zenu ukuba sikhethe abaholi abaqotho abazobuyisa isithunzi sethu kdumale izitha.
Qhubekani nibambane zingane zenceku uShembe.
Uma nibambene, nezwe koba lula ukuthi libumbane.
Uma sengihlala phansi, ngivumeleni ngicaphune esinye sezihlabelelo zama Nazaretha:
Wonke amaNazaretha
Makabe munye
Njenge bumba
Lika semende
“All the Nazarites
Let them be one
Like a lump
Of cement.”
Sengivala, angizithobe phambi kwamakhosi ohlanga ahambele lenkonzo ebaluleke kangaka. Imisebenzi yenu njengamakhosi iyabonakala. Yini enakha isizwe kuvuselele izimilo namasiko.
Qhubekani njalo nihole imiphakathi yethu ikakhulu kazi leyo entulayo. Njengoba silwa impi yokubuyiswa komhlaba, silwa impi ezobuyisa isithunzi sawo wonke amakhosi.
Khulani njalo maNazaretha nibumbane! Sikhombeni indlela!
Ngiyabonga.
