WATCH: DA receives Shembe’s blessings

The Democratic Alliance leadership, which is on a mission to dislodge the ANC from power in KwaZulu-Natal in next year’s general elections, on Monday received blessings from the province’s largest church, the Nazareth Baptist Church.

Led by DA KZN provincial leader, Francois Rodgers, the DA delegation attended a church service at the Nazareth Baptist Church — popularly known as the Shembe Church — in Pietermaritzburg’s Edendale Township’s Nhlanhleni Temple.

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The church service, which was attended by throngs of the Shembe Church’s followers, was presided over by the church’s leader, Mduduzi “Inkosi Unyazi Lwezulu” Shembe.

DA visits Shembe Church

With its main base in KZN, the Shembe Church is believed to have more than four million followers.

Rodgers confirmed that the DA had gone to the church to seek Inkosi Unyazi Lwezulu Shembe’s blessings ahead of next year’s crucial elections.

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The other reason for our visit was to thank the Inkosi for the role he and the church are playing in social cohesion, peace and the eradication of many of the social ills within our society. The DA views the Shembe Church and the Inkosi as a moral compass in society.

The DA, which is KZN’s official opposition party, is currently in a bid to dislodge the ANC from power in next year’s general elections.

While Rodgers asked the Shembe Church leader for prayers for peaceful elections in the province and the country, he also made it clear that the party needed the congregants’ prayers for “a change in government”.

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Citing the recent crime statistics showing that gender-based violence (GBV) and the abuse of children was rife in KwaZulu-Natal and the entire country, Rodgers said “the current government has clearly failed our women and children”.

Inkosi Unyazi Lwezulu Shembe, who blessed the DA delegation, is a charismatic church leader believed to possess spiritual powers.

Throughout Monday afternoon the weather in Edendale has been calm, with the sky being blue.

However, as Inkosi Unyazi Lwezulu Shembe was about to enter the temple where the DA delegation and the church’s congregants were seated, rain clouds gathered, strong winds, which were followed by rain, suddenly hit the area.

Rodgers believes that he witnessed a miracle while in the Shemble Church temple.

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“I have never seen something like that in my entire life,” he said.

Rodgers and the DA delegation donated two cattle to the Shembe Church leader.

Should the DA win in next year’s general elections, Rodgers said, the party will ensure that the provincial government attended to the needs of all the province’s residents.

“The DA is committed to serving South Africans of all religions, races and cultures,” he said.