Bisho - Speaker of the Eastern Cape Legislature Mkhangeli Matomela says Jesus was a communist and has challenged all Christians to prove him wrong.
"To me Jesus was a communist and I challenge all Christians and parties espousing Christian norms to prove me wrong," Matomela said on Tuesday during the advisory board report.
Quoting from Acts chapter four verses 32 to 35, he said: "All believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own but they shared everything they had."
Matomela was defending the alliance between the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party in his response to the Legislature's annual report.
He said Christians, including the African Christian Democratic Party, attacked the African National Congress for working with communists because they read the scriptures wrong.
"If this is not communism at best, please tell me what it is. You will agree with me that angels were not the first to introduce communism and socialist principles."
He said many organisations saw the ANC alliance with the SACP as a marriage of convenience but the alliance itself was not the issue - the issue was the collective programme to transform the country.
"Such a collective programme must address the plight of the poor and rural communities. This is the guiding philosophy of the organisation," he said.
Democratic Party provincial leader Eddie Trent said Matomela's statement was uncalled for in the debate on the board's report. - Sapa