Please Pray For South Africa
This afternoon the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, resigned due to pressure from his political party, the ANC. This leaves our country in a large deal of uncertainty. The main person behind this is Jacob Zuma, a man known to be a people-pleaser, and previously accused of large-scale fraud. Many South Africans are scared of a country ruled by Mr Zuma, as they fear that South Africa could easily turn into another Zimbabwe.
As a white South African, this causes me in particular to feel uneasy. If Mr Zuma does indeed have his way, one of the first things he might do is to attack the whites in this country. Hannah and I will be forced to leave South Africa and find another country where we can settle down - not something I want to do.
From a political and government standpoint, the following is about to happen:
- The deputy president has indicated that she too will step down.
- Many of the cabinet who support Mr Mbeki will most probably also step down.
- The country will plunge into a crisis.
- Mr Zuma does not want to taint his (already tainted) image, and thus will not step up to become president.
- An interim president will be elected, either the current Speaker, or someone elected by the cabinet.
- Next year's elections can be brought forward.
The president of Azapo, another political party, has stated that the resignation of Mr Mbeki has "dire" consequences. To put his statement into perspective, from my point of view, if I had to choose between the ANC and Azapo, previously I would have chosen the ANC. For Azapo to say this means that South Africa really is in trouble.
Please, please pray for us. Pray for this country, which is about to hit the most turbulent period it has ever been in. Please pray for all South Africans, as this affects us all, whether we're black, white, coloured, Indian, Asian, whatever.
Some of the news: