Abstract:
The journey in writing this thesis has been both intellectual and spiritually challenging keeping
in mind that I am a Pentecostal scholar an “insider” responding to issues of politics which are
perceived as foreign to the Pentecostal discourses in Swaziland. The subject of political
participation though, still under debate and being pursued by the Church of Jesus Christ even this
time around has not wholly been appreciated by most Pentecostals. This is despite the fact that
some of the early Pentecostals, including the early Church as seen from the ‘Acts of the
Apostles,’ chose to pursue political dimensions of the gospel in addition to the Church’s mandate
of ‘pure evangelism.’
Although political engagement has been at the very heart of Jesus Christ’s mission and early
Pentecostal theology, traditionally speaking, the Pentecostals under The Swaziland Conference
of Churches (SCC) has been seen to place much emphasis on ‘pure evangelism’, which is
winning souls to Christ and the establishment of churches rather than ‘embracing’ both spiritual
and political reforms of the nation. Pentecostals have not been heard publicly voicing their
position on political issues affecting Swazi people. They could rather privately confront the
parties involved in disputes. The main line churches governed under Council of Swaziland
Churches (CSC), voice out their position on political issues. For instance, they normally speak
out when there are issues affecting people’s justice and the peace of the country, whether the
inconsistency is from the government or civil society. The traditional Swazi churches, under The
League of African Churches (LACS), on the other hand do not speak politics at all. Their
position is to support the government of the time. However, this trend is slowly changing as
observed from the political involvement that some of the Pentecostal congregations and
institutions are currently undertaking; such as occupying government political posts while at the
same time shepherding churches. It is, however, noted that most of them are appointed by the
majesties in office, not through a voting system.
The study views that part of the reason for the lack of an all-round political involvement by
Pentecostals lies in the state-church position. In the view of this study the church has become the
state, and the state has become the church. The church should be being assertive by remaining
the moral conscience and moral compass of the nation. The study also reveals that the lack of
clear constitutional guidelines concerning this has contributed to the absence of political forums in most of Pentecostal churches resulting in not having a strong ‘political’ voice compared to the
main line churches. The other aspect is the non-awareness of the Kingdom of Swaziland
Constitutional rights that could normally enhance their speaking from an informed political
position. This position impedes the Pentecostal churches’ call to God’s justice mandate as
codified by Jesus Christ teachings
As this study is in the practical theology field, the thesis uses a positive deconstruction and
mentoring praxis cycle to structure its theoretical framework and research methodology.