WATCH | Mbalula praises church’s leadership amid party turmoil

As internal battles continue to dog the ANC in the year of elective conferences, the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, held up the Bantu Church of Christ as a model of order — praising its clear hierarchy and disciplined leadership, a structure he implied is not always mirrored within his own party. At the weekend, Mbalula visited the home of Bantu Church of Christ leader Bishop John Bolana, who died at Greenacres Hospital on Tuesday last week after a short illness. On Monday, the Eastern Cape provincial government announced that Bolana had been granted a special provincial funeral, category two.

On Friday, the church’s secretary-general, Lucky Phechudi, announcedMlungisi Bebulaas its new bishop. Speaking at the family home on Sunday, Mbalula said: “We’re not going to wake up to someone we don’t know, someone unfamiliar with the culture of the church, and suddenly call them a leader. “There are no surprises.

There are no newcomers here. “No party can do as it pleases and assume everything is up for grabs.” He said the pecking order was clear at the church and conflicts were minimal. “They don’t clash, and it’s clear who speaks on which matters.