Durban - When all else fails, turn to prayer.
This is what dozens of ANC members did when they packed the Durban Playhouse to pray for an end to the political violence that has plagued the party and the province.
They also prayed for an end to other crimes, such as the rape of elderly people.
Addressing the meeting, Premier Zweli Mkhize, who is also the provincial chairman of the ANC, said the party was in need of prayer following the assassination of its members – many of them perpetrated by fellow comrades.
“It is bad enough that our members are getting killed, but more painful when the perpetrators are coming from [within] our ranks,” he said.
He implored religious leaders and churches to pray for an end to violence and infighting in the ANC.
“This should not end at this level, but we want it to cascade down to the branches. Please pray for our branches because we want the ANC to survive for another hundred years,” he said.
The meeting was also attended by religious leaders from various faiths.
Mkhize said it was worrying that ANC leaders and members were being killed by their own comrades.
He said greed was one of the reasons why the assassinations were becoming prevalent.
“There is this demon that has infiltrated the ANC, that wants positions and wealth at all costs. Some among us have become more obsessed about our stomachs,” Mkhize said.
“Even at the voters rolls at branches you don’t know who is a member and who is not,” he said.
Mkhize also warned that if the infighting was left to continue, it would weaken the ANC.
“That is why now you see people trying to pass a vote of no-confidence on President Zuma. But we don’t know how they will achieve that when we are the ones who voted him into power,” he said. - Daily News