BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
nceku who is the chief’s or king’s assistant. The nceku is responsible for
important business undertaken by the chief or king. This shows the
importance of a person like the nceku; the nceku has a high status in
society. The Zulu Bible also uses the word nceku. In Numbers 12:7 there
is the phrase that Moses is a servant. In the Zulu Bible the word nceku is
used for servant. This vocabulary, then, points directly to Moses (al-
though there are also other persons in the Bible for whom this word is
used, e.g. Jesus, Paul, and the prophets in general). Secondly, Oost-
huizen presents hymns composed by the amaNazaretha church in
which Isaiah Shembe is called a nceku:
“He remembered Africa
because He is righteous,
He did not forget his people
because He is righteous” (Oosthuizen 1967:164).
“He remembered his people
whose hips are naked
You sent them Isaiah your iNceku
because he is righteous” (Oosthuizen 1967:45).
Oosthuizen argues, as I said before, that “Isaiah Shembe is here the
Moses not only of the Zulu nation but of Africa” (Oosthuizen 1967:45).
Oosthuizen continues: “Although Shembe refers only once to Moses [...]
in the ‘Prayer for the Sabbath’, Section 3, 16, where he states that Jehova
has written the law through Moses, his iNceku, Shembe also usurped
his position” (Oosthuizen 1967:46).
There are more hints of Shembe as Moses. The Swedish missionary and
professor for church history Bengt Sundkler, for example, cites from
Johannes Galilee’s sermon in 1958 where he said: “[Isaiah] Shembe was
just like Moses who was God’s great servant. [...] Our Moses brought us
God among us Zulus” (Sundkler 1961:334). Here, the motif of the ser-
vant is used again. Furthermore, Shembe’s son clearly links Isaiah
Shembe with Moses. Sundkler also uses a hymn in order to underpin
his thesis of Shembe as Moses. The hymn is as follows:
“To-day you are the laughing-stock
Of all the Nations.
So wake up Africa
Seek thy Saviour.
To-day our men and women
Are slaves“ (Hymn No. 46).
“We ourselves are saved,
We all Nazaretha