Religion &Theology Religion & Th eology 14 (2007) 206–223 www.brill.nl/rt

Popularising the Prophet Isaiah in Parliament: Th e Bible in Post-, South African Public Discourse1

Jeremy Punt Department of New Testament, Faculty of Th eology, University of Stellenbosch, 171 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch 7600, Republic of [email protected]

Abstract Th e continuing presence of the Bible in South African public discourse was recently emphasised by the explicit references to the prophet Isaiah in the speech of South African president, Mr Th abo Mbeki, at the opening of parliament in February 2006. Various opposition parties followed suit by also referring, albeit somewhat differently, to Isaiah. Th e use of the Bible in a showcase political event in post-apartheid, multi-religious South Africa shows the major significance and intriguing role played by the Bible in South African public life. Upon further investigating the presence of the Bible in public discourse, two particularly interesting features emerge. On the one hand, and the different passages from Isaiah notwithstanding, the broader hermeneutical approaches of the politicians show remarkable similarity. On the other hand, the choice of different texts of Isaiah which were used in parliament betrays a careful process of selec- tion and requires further exploration. Finally the ethical implications and complications of a popularised Bible in party-political discourse and the biblicisation of politics in the particular context of post-apartheid South Africa are considered.

Keywords popular biblical hermeneutics; proof-texts; biblical authority; biblical agency; Isaiah; South Afri- can politics

1. Introduction: Th e Bible in Contemporary South Africa

Th e hold of religion on present-day South African society, although at times incongruous with contemporary sentiment and practice, is generally pervasive and goes beyond the often almost artificially imposed Christian labelling which in turn reaches back to the earliest colonial and missionary ventures on

1 Revised edition of a paper read at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature in Washington DC, USA, November 2006.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/157430107X241285 J. Punt / Religion & Th eology 14 (2007) 206–223 207 the continent. In fact, the regular references made to the Bible in society at large means that these texts are invoked beyond their expected use in church or in faith communities, with biblical citations appearing in political speeches, newspaper reports, public statements and so forth. Th is phenomenon is not restricted to the South African society and can be explained in many ways, but in the case of South Africa should primarily be understood against the back- ground of its colonial past as well as the extent to which the Bible has in the present become a cultural document. Th e breadth of the appeals to the Bible was recently illustrated by a few instances where references were made to biblical texts and in addition to which attempts were made to also interpret the texts, in the sense of intentionally providing a hermeneutical framework for their interpretation.

(1) On 8 March 2006, the editor of the official newspaper of the students of Stellenbosch University, the editor made reference to an interesting inci- dent surrounding the political parties’ campaign for votes in the local government elections. In the company of the former leader of the now defunct (New) National Party, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, who joined the governing African National Congress during the so-called ‘floor-crossing’ period after the previous general elections, one of the world-class wine- makers of the Stellenbosch region Beyers Truter, spoke on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC) in an effort to garner votes. In his speech he referred to his political conversion from the opposition Demo- cratic Alliance to the governing ANC, and compared his change of heart to Paul’s change on the Damascus road as accounted in the Acts of the Apostles, claiming that his eyes were opened when he ‘discovered the ANC’.2 (2) A popular South African rock-band, Fokofpolisiekar, made headlines when some of their members made derogatory remarks about Christianity and God early in 2006. Th is led to a campaign to ban them from appearing at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK), a major event on the cultural or social calendar of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans in par- ticular. Th is action again gave rise to the expected voicing of diverging opinions on freedom of speech, the public actions of popular music groups and their influence on children and the like. One particularly interesting response was reported in a local newspaper on 18 April 2006. Another South African musician, Jurie Els, spoke out against prohibit- ing the appearance of Fokofpolisiekar at the KKNK, and sanctioned his

2 ‘Editorial: Wine in Small Gulps, Knowledge in Large!’, Die Matie 6, 8 March 2006: 16.