You can't pray the ANC out of power - Helen Zille

Politicsweb
10 October 2011

My most extraordinary encounter during the recent election campaign took place at OR Tambo airport 3 days before the polls on 18 May. I had just arrived in Johannesburg from Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Metro), after my 5th campaign visit there. A middle-aged man, who had been on the same flight, approached me. He grasped my hand and pulled me towards him. In a voice shaking with emotion he said: Helen, the DA MUST win Port Elizabeth. You MUST! 

I replied that we stood a good chance if every DA supporter went out to vote. I then expressed the hope that he would return to PE in time to vote on May 18. Without batting an eyelid, he replied: "I don't vote, I pray".

"What's stopping you from doing both?" I asked, struggling to retain my composure.

"Prayer is more powerful than voting," he replied.

"I also believe in the power of prayer", I told him. "But I presume in this case, you are praying that enough people in PE will go out and vote DA? If they don't, we can't win. And, anyway, why should they vote when you won't?"

"You don't understand", he said, in a tone that told me he was closing down the conversation.

He was right. I didn't understand. As I left, I said I hoped his prayers would be sufficient to pull us through. Three days later, the ANC won PE by 2%.

I thought of this interaction again, when I listened to SA's beloved Archbishop Desmond Tutu venting his fury at the government over its refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend his long-time friend's 80th birthday celebration.

Waving his finger, the Arch said: "The day will come when we will pray for the downfall of this government. I am warning you!" His words "trended" on Twitter in no time. So I added my two-cents worth: "Pray by all means, but vote too." Click here to read the full report.