A charismatic Cape Town pastor, who drew world attention with his “Jesus had HIV” sermon, has embarked on a month-long hunger strike to highlight the plight of the township poor.
Reverend Xola Skosana, of the Way of Life Church in Khayelitsha, is no stranger to using religious extremes and shocking measures to spread awareness. Last year his “Jesus had HIV” sermon made international headlines after it angered Christian leaders across the globe.
His Christmas Day campaign last year, “Welcome to Hell, SA Townships!”, took him on a march through Khayelitsha, and again during the Easter weekend this year, on a 13km march from Gugulethu and Khayelitsha, carrying a huge wooden cross.
Last week Skosana took his campaign a step further, embarking on a 30-day hunger strike to highlight an array of issues plaguing poor township residents, including crime and poverty.
“I have been like a zombie from the time I started fasting at the beginning of this month. I’ve been hallucinating about water and food, with signs of dehydration starting on the fifth day. Every part of my body tells me to get up and walk to the kitchen, and eat anything and everything I lay my hands on. But then I realise why I am doing this, why it is important to take a stand,” he said.
Among his reasons to stop eating were the following, Skosana added:
l The justice system acquitted two of the young men who raped and killed 20-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana in Khayelitsha in 2006.
- The separate development that was the blueprint of apartheid South Africa was still entrenched in this country. “Townships remain crime-infested hell holes with no political will to eradicate shack and backyard dwelling.”
- Three million young people aged between 18 and 24 were roaming the streets without any prospects of employment.
- People who had the courage to disclose their HIV status and started treatment were now having having to sell their ARVs so they and their children could eat for a day.
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There were extreme levels of corruption by politicians and state officials in South Africa, amid widespread landlessness, homelessness and joblessness.
- Water, electricity and education were rapidly being turned into profit-making commodities in the hands of the private sector.
- Farmworkers were still being evicted from the only homes they had known for 30 years and longer.
“In a nutshell, it is a burden to be black in the world today,” Skosana said.
He said he had exhausted other avenues, and his strike was the only response left in the face of the country’s “obstinate” leaders who appeared to be “hard of hearing”.
“If you complain, they either bring you into their lavish offices or boardrooms, or feed you, only to dismiss you. Protest marches must dance to the music of those whom they are protesting against… If you cross the line you die like Andries Tatane.”
Skosana said he had no aspirations to be branded a hero, or to seek personal attention.
“For the record, I do not want to die and leave my wife and kids in distress. Like all people, I would like to live a long life, but if death should come, it is the least of my problems.”
He was aware of the major risk to his health, but said he was taking some liquids.
“After five days without food and water, I have started taking some electrolyte mixture. With the help of my wife, who is a doctor, I am doing all I can to stay relatively strong, even though I am not eating food.”
Skosana said he hoped his strike would not only speak to the conscience of political leaders, but would spark the imagination of people to expect more of themselves and their leaders.
“I hope to trigger an irrevocable tidal wave, an army of people who will stand up for true liberation and freedom,” he said. - Sunday Argus