Mandy Rossouw asks ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe why Christians seem to have little faith in his party
More than 70% of South Africans describe themselves as Christians. That translates into around 30-million potential voters for the African Christian Democratic Party, the election manifesto of which is based on Christian principles. But the ACDP remains tiny, managing to draw just 0,81% of the vote in the previous elections.
How do you explain the ACDP’s poor showing in the 2009 elections?
The one thing is money. We are a small party with not a lot of funding from outside sources. The ANC, with its big majority, gets first pickings of the funding that is out there, and there is not a lot left for the rest of us. The ANC also started campaigning in churches during this election campaign and that is bad for us because that is where we are supposed to find our core votes and funding.
Do you think the Stats SA figure that 70% of the population is Christian is reliable?
No, not at all. These are all people who say they are Christian because they were born into Christian families, but they go to church only at Christmas and Easter. They say they are Christians because that is what they know, but they don’t actually practise the religion. I think the actual number is probably around 30%, people who are truly Christians.
How does the ANC manage to implement laws that go against conservative Christian values, such as abortion laws and gay marriages, if it has so many Christians in its ranks? Why was there not an outcry in the party about these laws?
People voted out of fear. They knew if they didn’t vote as they were told they could lose their position. I speak to a lot of ANC people who are deeply unhappy about these laws, but they had to choose between their religion and their jobs.
What is the ACDP’s plan to capitalise on this?
People are starting to see the ANC for what they are. They see the party preaches good values but turns around and does the opposite, if you look at what the president is doing with the love-child saga. The ANC can’t do this forever and then people will come to us, because they know that we do what we say.