‘I was here to solicit prayers’: Cyril Ramaphosa says he didn’t visit churches to campaign

The African National Congress (ANC) embarked on a church tour to seek ‘divine intervention’ as the Easter Weekend took full swing.

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited numerous churches on Good Friday.

Contrary to popular belief, the president said his church visits had nothing to do with the ANC’s political campaign.

Addressing members of the media, Ramaphosa said his tour was simply a quest for prayers ahead of the upcoming national elections.

“I was not here to campaign, I was just here to solicit prayers from the church on three issues,” Ramaphosa said.

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Presidential prayer points

At the top of Ramaphosa’s list of prayer points was for the government to serve the nation and improve the lives of South Africans.

Secondly, the president asked the church to pray for a peaceful election process.

“That all the parties participating in the election should do so peacefully, and with tolerance, enabling every party to have a space in the sun to campaign anywhere in the country, and to solicit the support of the people of South Africa,” said Ramaphosa.

Lastly, he asked the church to keep the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in its prayers.

“The IEC, they [SIC] have a mammoth task ahead of them. They have to ensure that the elections are well-run, they are free and fair, and credible.”

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‘Mammoth task’

As millions of South Africans gear up to take to the polls on 29 May, the IEC has to prepare more than 23 000 voting voting stations nationwide.

“Everything should work smoothly, the technology should be well-organised, well streamlined, and everybody who works for the IEC either permanently or on the day, should do their work.”

Meanwhile, election season will also be a busy period for the South African Police Service (Saps), as they will have to ramp up visibility to ensure safety.

The Saps also made it onto the president’s prayer request.

“…Also to pray for our state institutions, the police, the various officers who are going to ensure that they safeguard the elections, and strengthen our democracy through the work that they’ll be doing,” Ramaphosa said.