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The Lekganyanes and Prophecy in the Zion Christian Church

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The Lekganyanes and Prophecy in the Zion Christian Church THE LEKGANYANES AND PROPHECY IN THE ZION CHRISTIAN CHURCH BY ALLAN H. ANDERSON (University of Birmingham) The Significance of Zionist Churches in Southern Africa The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) is the largest African initiated church (AIC) in Southern Africa and the second largest in Africa.' AICs in their many different forms today constitute about a third of South Africa's population, over ten million people, of which probably at least three million are in the ZCC.' There are also many other smaller Zionist churches which, together with the ZCC, are a prominent form of African Pentecostalism, at least as far as its phenomena are con- cerned.3 Both Zionists and Pentecostals preach deliverance from sick- ness and the oppression of evil spirits, and especially a message of receiving the Holy Spirit. This message, which promises power to cope with what is often perceived as a hostile spirit world, was a welcome one. The new and enthusiastic type of Christianity provided concrete answers to African problems, covering every area of human life and fulfilling felt needs. One of the reasons for the remarkable growth of Zionist churches in South Africa and Pentecostal types of AIC in other parts of Africa has been their ability to adapt themselves to the African context. Pentecostalism itself is inherently adaptable-the vibrancy, enthusiasm, spontaneity and spirituality for which Pentecostals are well known and their willingness to address problems of sickness, poverty, unemployment, loneliness, evil spirits and sorcery directly contributed to their growth. The Pentecostal movement and the many AICs that have emanated from it constitute collectively one of the most significant expressions of Christianity in Africa today. In the past fifty years, Zionist and Apostolic churches have multiplied remarkably in South Africa. Anthropologist Martin West calculated that 286 the number of AICs in the country rose from thirty in 1913 to six hun- dred in 1939, to over a thousand in 1955, and from two thousand in 1960 to three thousand in 1970. The proliferation since 1970 has been even more impressive, as by 1990 there were at least six thousand AICs in South Africa.' Even more significant is the increase of the percent- age of the African population comprising members of these churches. West said that, according to census reports in 1960, 21 % of black South Africans belonged to these churches.5 By 1980 this figure was 30%,6 and the 1991 census report indicated that about 46% of the black pop- ulation were members of AICs, the majority being Zionists and Apos- tolics.' Various factors could be at work in this growth. The rapid increase in urbanisation among black South Africans between the years 1960 to 1991 may be one. The insecurities inherent in rapid urbani- sation provide strong incentives for people separated from their roots to seek new, culturally and socially meaningful religious expressions, especially in a society where there is no access to the instruments of social and political power. The increasing disillusionment experienced by black people in South Africa's political matrix after 1948 resulted in a rejection of European values and religious expressions such as those found in 'mainline' churches. The main thrust of Jean Comaroff's research in Body of Power, Spirit of Resistance is to depict the emergence of Zionist churches as 'a more radical expression of cultural resistance' for those dispossessed by colonialism than those offered by the more orthodox Protestant churches.' She sees the symbols of Zionist ritual as an enduring form of resistance to white hegemony, 'returning to the displaced a tangible identity and the power to impose coherence upon a disarticulated world'. Comaroff's study suggests that the forms of socio-political protest exhibited by this 'cultural resistance' are implicit rather than explicit, but are nevertheless all-pervasive.?' Although Zionist churches constitute such a large proportion of the South African population, little has been written on their history, and few sources are now available. Bengt Sundkler showed fairly conclu- sively that most Pentecostal and Zionist churches in South Africa have their roots in events that took place in Wakkerstroom, in what is now the province of Mpumalanga,'° and he demonstrated the continuity between the early Zionist and Pentecostal movements in Southern Africa." In the earliest stages, it was not possible to separate South African Pentecostalism from the Zionist movement, as each borrowed extensively from the other-if they did not always regard their move- ments as identical, they were certainly complementary. The African members of the Pentecostal movement were reluctant to give up their .
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