Abstract:
This article examines how coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impacted on religion–state
relations in South Africa. By examining the models of religion–state relations the article
highlights the implications of these relations in the context of the South African government’s
national response to COVID-19 and critically engages a public theology of ‘immense
trust and authority’ assigned to leaders. The article identifies ‘separation with interaction’
as a model, which informs the South African government’s state–religion engagement.
Although this model is constitutional and promotes religious freedom, the article identifies
the government’s failure to act decisively on religious leaders who exploit the poor as a
major obstacle to socio-economic and religious transformation. The article contends that
the dark part of South African history presents a dilemma to church–state relations in
South Africa and suggests that life-affirming practices of political and religious leaders
should be tested through the values of goodness, kindness, justice and obedience as a
demonstration that they are essential workers who have an important transformational role
to play in the context of COVID-19.
CONTRIBUTION: This article represents a systematic and practical reflection within a paradigm
in which the intersection of philosophy, religious studies, social sciences, humanities and
natural sciences generates an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary
contested discourse.
