A 3-part series by political analyst and leadership consultant Craig Bailie’
See Part 1
A radio presenter recently asked me during an interview (listen here, here, and here), whether the GNU takes South Africa any closer to having a righteous government. This question is an important one because we learn from Scripture about the benefits accompanying righteousness, including when righteous people occupy positions of authority.
In Proverbs 13:34 (ESV) we read: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people,” and in Proverbs 29:2 (ESV): “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”
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The GNU Cabinet that President Ramaphosa announced on June 30, that was sworn in on July 3, and that constitutes South Africa’s new government, is worth celebrating, if only because it involves a shift away from successive one-party governments responsible for eroding the nation-building and democratic gains made during the Mandela and Mbeki years. South Africa’s new national executive includes members from nine political parties, one of which has a comparatively good governance record, especially in the Western Cape.
At the same time, however, one of the criticisms levelled against the GNU relates to the quality of its membership, namely, the individuals who have occupied ministerial positions across the respective government departments.
Before June 30, OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse) called for “fresh leadership in cabinet appointments”, stating specifically that “three ministers from the 6th administration should not be reappointed” because of their poor governance record. Despite the call that OUTA made, each of the three ministers in question occupies a post in the GNU Cabinet.
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Journalists Victoria O’Regan and Lisakanya Venna, for Daily Maverick, have asked whether the GNU Cabinet has the skills, ideas and energy to get the job done. Professor William, Gumede of the Wits School of Governance has argued that the “recycling of failed ministers proves the ANC is deaf to the electorate”.
I have reflected elsewhere on whether the GNU cabinet meets the good-governance criteria that President Ramaphosa himself cited during his cabinet announcement, including, effectiveness, experience, skills, responsibility, commitment, diligence, and, importantly, integrity. I asked this question because, as I’ve already written: “News reports link at least 30 GNU cabinet ministers to alleged or confirmed cases of corruption and/or mismanagement.”
There isn’t a straightforward or clear-cut answer to the question of whether the GNU takes South Africa closer to having a righteous government, or whether the GNU is more righteous than the previous dispensation. The answer depends on how one defines ‘righteousness’ and what one believes concerning the standard for, or measure of, righteousness. Even then, once this conceptual work is complete, one would have to assess each cabinet member on a case-by-case basis, since party affiliation won’t necessarily be a reliable indicator of a cabinet member’s righteousness across different definitions.
One can define righteousness in at least three ways – each definition’s underlying standard for righteousness being different from the next and each definition involving benefits for a nation, including in this instance, South Africa. These standards of righteousness, also applicable to the GNU, we can call, “conforming with state law”, “being in right standing with God” and “pursuing and applying biblical principles and values”.
Before expanding on these standards, let’s consider the meaning of “righteousness”, understood separately from any underlying standard. In his essay, The Righteousness of God, Professor of Systematic Theology Fred Zaspel, writes as follows: “The primary words which the biblical writers use (tsedek and dikaiosune) denote, in a physical sense, ‘being straight,’ or in a moral sense, ‘being right,’ and hence, ‘conformity to an ethical or moral standard,’ being and doing what is right. One who is righteous ‘lives up’ to expected obligations; he acts in accordance with what should be done. A righteous man is one who is right and who does what is suitable, one who maintains a ‘right relation with’ what is expected.”
Righteousness that results from conforming with state law
From a good governance perspective, South Africa (like any country) could always do with more citizens, beginning with the most powerful (including government ministers), who act according to the Constitution and state law more broadly. Based on the definition of righteousness given above, and from a good-governance perspective, South Africans in right relation with the Constitution, might be called righteous citizens.
Righteousness that results from being in right standing with God
From the Christian perspective, the Constitution, like any other human-made standard of righteousness, falls eternally short of God’s standard, defined in Scripture.
The Bible tells us we obtain righteousness (we come into right standing with God’s standard or arrive at God’s standard of righteousness) through no effort of our own except that effort required to confess our sins (1 John 1:9) when we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9). In other words, it is through Christ, not through our works, that we are made righteous (Philippians 1:11, 2 Corinthians 5:21).
People who confess their sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour (what we call Christians) become righteous before God. Why, from a biblical perspective, would an increase in the righteous (Christians), including among ruling authorities, be good for a nation?
Because God’s life-giving and sustaining Word contains the blueprint for managing human affairs, including in the sphere of civil governance, and because Christians who voluntarily come under biblically based discipleship (because they have a revelation of God’s sacrificial love and a desire to respond affirmatively to that love through obedience), develop an understanding of Scripture alongside a desire to see it applied in all spheres of life.
To the degree that Christians apply God’s Word, including in the civil governance sphere, benefits will accrue to all involved – Christians and non-Christians alike. Consider examples of scriptures that speak to the blessings that accrue from obeying and living according to God’s Word: Deuteronomy 6:24, Leviticus 26:3-10, Proverbs 3, Proverbs 6:23; Psalm 119:105, and Luke 11:28.
Importantly, the fact that the Bible’s authority transcends the authority of South Africa’s Constitution, doesn’t mean Christians should ignore state law. In fact, in Romans 13:1, Christians are instructed to subject themselves to (obey) the governing authorities. What would this obedience mean if not obeying the statutes that governing authorities pass? Christians in South Africa who are in right standing with God should also be conforming with state law, except in those cases where it is legitimate for Christians to defy the state.
Therefore, the more those in right standing with God increase and the more they exercise influence, including through civil governance, the more prosperous a nation ought to be. Jesus refers to His followers in Matthew 5:13-16 as the salt and light of the world. As I have explained elsewhere, salt enhances flavour and prevents food from rotting while light enhances perspective and gives direction.
The argument that more Christian influence in government would involve greater benefits for a nation than a government with less Christian influence is not the same as advocating for a Christian government (a government made up entirely of Christians) or Christian nationalism.
In Proverbs 29:2, we learn of a positive consequence resulting from righteous persons ruling. If, in this instance, “righteous” is understood as being in right standing with God, the scriptural correlation between righteous persons governing and the people of a nation rejoicing must not be interpreted as a command from God that Christians must govern or fully occupy government.
If, in South Africa or any other country, such a scenario was to materialise (an unlikely outcome) it would have to happen peacefully and with the consent of the governed, following which such a government would have to give due regard to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). Christians must recognise that “God has not established human government to Christianize the world.”
Righteousness that results from aligning with biblical principles and values
American scholar Daniel Dreisbach writes about Proverbs 13:34:“This proverb challenges conventional understandings of power politics, indicating that a nation’s greatness and power are determined by its moral character and not by its political, military, or economic strength.”
Dreisbach’s commentary is pertinent to the current conversation because moral character doesn’t equate with right standing before God, although, being in right standing with God, should necessarily develop moral character in a person or society.
A nation (or its government officials) can possess moral character shaped or informed by biblical principles and values without that nation (or its government officials) necessarily recognising or believing in the divine source of the principles and values. Just like one doesn’t need to know the authors of South Africa’s Constitution to recognise the Constitution’s value and conform with its precepts, one doesn’t need to know God to recognise the value and conform with the principles and values evident in a text inspired by His Holy Spirit.
According to this definition, the GNU cabinet will be righteous to the degree that its members, pursue biblical principles and values in their governance – irrespective of their religious identity, whether they identify with a religion at all, or whether they recognise the principles and values they apply in their governance as originating from the Bible or not.
Suppose the GNU has taken South Africa closer to having a righteous government. In that case, it will be because, compared to the previous administration, it includes more law-abiding citizens, or because it includes more Christians, or because it includes more leaders who are willing to govern according to biblical principles and values, or any combination of these reasons.
The full version of this article is available here.
About the author
Craig Bailie holds a Master’s degree in International Studies from Rhodes University and certificates in Thought Leadership for Africa’s Renewal and Transformative Governance from the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI) and the University of the Free State (UFS), respectively. He is the founding director of Bailie Leadership Consultancy. He writes in his personal capacity and reserves the right to improve his views whenever possible.
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