BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
Interestingly, Kruger did not refer to the promised-land metaphor. Al-
though he applied this in other texts and speeches^2 , he did not justify the
fight against the British with the promised-land argument as is common
in South African history.^3
This short analysis of the dispatch has shown that Kruger used religious
language and biblical metaphors to strengthen his message. By linking
the situation of the Israelites with the situation of the Boers, he could
convince the readers to continue fighting. Although the situation of the
Boers was probably a very difficult one, Kruger used biblical miracles in
order to motivate his troops not to give up.
In The Memories of Paul Kruger, many biblical references can be found
including many examples of the Exodus motif. However, this single
example gives an impression of how Kruger used biblical allusions.
Concerning the dispatch presented here, Kruger’s aim was to link the
needs of his officers with those of the Israelites. This identification leads
to implicit normativity. The Boers’ actions are legitimized because of
their linkage with biblical texts. The Bible is used as book for motivation
without reflecting on the negative effects a usage like this can have on
marginalized groups such as the indigenous Africans in South Africa.
- Isaiah Shembe (around 1930)
Another example from nearly the same time is that of Isaiah Shembe
who used the Exodus and especially the figure of Moses. Although the
biblical text remained the same, the results and the political intention for
which Shembe used the text were totally opposed to those of the Boers.
Intensive research has been done on Shembe, his life, and his use of the
Bible, but the research results are disparate and some books are not
available in Germany. Since Shembe was Zulu, some hymns, articles,
and his biography were written in Zulu and are not yet translated. This
is why not all of his work can be regarded for this article.
Isaiah Shembe was born around 1870 in the Orange Free State (Mzizi
2004:191). The exact date is unknown. In 1906, he was baptized; after-
wards he was introduced to the Wesleyan and Zionist church traditions
(^2) See Speech to the commencement of the Sitting, October, 2nd 1899; Kruger 1902:376.
(^3) See Deist, Ferdinand E.: “The dangers of Deuteronomy. A page from the reception
history of the book.” Pages 13-29 in Studies in Deuteronomy (FS C.J. Labuschagne).
Ed. by García Martínez et al.