Assessing Nicholas Bhengu’s Unity Talk And Its Theological Implications For The Government of National Unity (GNU) In South Africa

Mookgo Solomon Kgatle ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol. 11 No. 12 2025 Issue Article 7 pp. 669 – 681
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202511127  | Published online 29th December, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views: 43
34 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

For the first time since the 1994 democratic elections in South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) failed to obtain a majority vote to govern (50% plus 1 seat) in the outcome of the 2024 elections. Consequently, the ANC had to form a government of national unity (GNU) and, to some extent, a government of provincial unity (GPU) in highly contested provinces such as Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. However, a historical contextualisation of GNU and a literature review in qualitative research demonstrate that this was not the first time the ANC governed through this model, as it was also used in 1994. The contribution of this article is the theological reflections on the GNU through the unity paradigms of Nicholas Bhengu. The purpose is to demonstrate that the theological principles of unity, using a theological analysis, are applicable in the context of the GNU in South Africa. The finding is that Bhengu’s principles of unity, such as preaching the gospel of love and forgiveness, unity beyond the names of churches and denominations, nation-building, support for leaders, and modelling peace, unity, and prosperity, are relevant for the success of the 2024 GNU.

Keywords: Nicholas Bhengu’s Unity Talk, Government of National Unity, Theology, Public Governance, African National Congress 

 

African Insider. “ANC ‘Sold out’ – Mapaila Slams GNU,” 2024. africaninsider.com.

Anderson, Allan. “Structures and Patterns in Pentecostal Mission.” Missionalia: Southern African Journal of Mission Studies 32, no. 2 (2004): 233–49.

———. To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Balcomb, Anthony. “Nicholas Bhengu—The Impact of an African Pentecostal on South African Society.” Exchange 34, no. 4 (2005): 337–48.

Barber, James, and John Barratt. South Africa’s Foreign Policy: The Search for Status and Security, 1945-1988. Cambridge: CUP Archive, 1990.

Becker, Derick A.  Neoliberalism and the State of Belonging in South Africa.  New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

Chauke, Thulani Andrew. “Youth Apathy in an Electoral Democracy: A Critical Discourse on Civil Participation in South Africa.” African Journal of Gender, Society & Development 9, no. 3 (2020): 35.

Clark, Matthew. “Two Contrasting Models of Missions in South Africa: The Apostolic Faith Mission and the Assemblies of God.” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 8, no. 1 (2005): 143–61.

Dlakavu, Ayabulela. “South African Electoral Trends: Prospects for Coalition Governance at National and Provincial Spheres in 2024.” Politikon 49, no. 4 (2022): 476–90.

Eby, John C, and Fred Morton. The Collapse of Apartheid and the Dawn of Democracy in South Africa, 1993. UNC Press Books, 2017.

Engel, Ulf. “South Africa: The 2014 National and Provincial Elections.” Africa Spectrum 49, no. 2 (2014): 79–89.

Evans, Graham. “South Africa in Remission: The Foreign Policy of an Altered State.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 34, no. 2 (1996): 249–69.

Ferree, Karen E.  Framing the Race in South Africa: The Political Origins of Racial Census Elections.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Goba, Thabiso. “Renewal Process of ANC Must Include an Audit of Its Membership’ – Mbeki,” 2024. https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/09/05/renewal-process-of-anc-must-include-an-audit-of-its-membership-mbeki.

Isike, Christopher, and Hakeem Onapajo. “The Decline of a Dominant Political Party: The caseand the Future of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC).” Politeia (02568845) 36, no. 2 (2017).

Kgarose, Mathebedi. F., and Magatane. T. Mashilo. “Deterioration of ANC Support: Conceptual Analysis of Rural-Urban Voters Patterns in South African Elections.” International Journal of Social Science Research and Review 6, no. 8 (n.d.): 207–19.

Kotzé, Dirk. “Constitutionalism and Democratic Transitions: Lessons from South Africa.” Constitutionalism and Democratic Transitions: Lessons from South Africa.-(Monografie. Scienze Sociali; 13), 2006, 1000–1028.

———. “The New (Final) South African Constitution.”  Journal of Theoretical Politics 8, no. 2 (1996): 133–57.

Lephoko, Daniel. Nicholas Bhekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu’s Lasting Legacy: World’s Best Black Soul Crusader. Cape Town: AOSIS, 2018.

Mapuva, Jephias. “Governments of National Unity (GNUs) and the Preponderance of the Incumbency: Case of Kenya and Zimbabwe.” International Journal of Political Science and Development 1, no. 3 (2013): 105–16.

Matebese, Hlalele, Thato Mkhwanazi, and Chumani Losi. “Analysing the Policy and Governance of the Government of National Unity in South Africa by Assessing the Ministerial Expediency Concerning Educational Credentials and Experience: Drawing Insights from Global Comparative Perspectives.” Global Journal of Political Science and Administration 12, no. 2 (2024): 63–91.

Mngomezulu, Bheki Richard. “Does the Party Manifesto Determine the Outcome of an Election? Lessons from South Africa.” Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa (JGIDA) 4, no. 1_2 (2015): 71–98.

Moloko, Kgalalelo Mathaga. “An Analysis of the Role of the ANC in Building a Political Culture That Is Conducive to Democracy in South Africa.” North-West University (South Africa), 2024.

Mpanza, Jonathan Bafana. “A Critical Study of the Impact of the Government of National Unity in South Africa, 1994-1999.” University of Zululand, 2014.

My Africa. “Julius Malema Hitting Back At Ramaphosa – ‘Tit For Tat’ on Waar Was Jy?,” 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7xJopbf_xc.

Resane, Kelebogile Thomas. “Moving against the Tide-Assemblies of God Polity at the Loggerhead with South African Socio-and Theo-Cultural Reality.” Missionalia: Southern African Journal of Mission Studies 46, no. 1 (2018): 36–55.

Sooka, Yasmin. “Can an Apology Ever Be Enough for Crimes of the Past?” In Unsettling Apologies, 29–52. Bristol University Press, 2022.

South African News Agency. “ Government of National Unity Will Thrive, Says President,” 2024. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-national-unity-will-thrive-says-president.

Zack, Naomi. Reviving the Social Compact: Inclusive Citizenship in an Age of Extreme Politics.  Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.

Mookgo Solomon Kgatle is a Professor of Missiology at the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africa (UNISA). He has published several peer-reviewed articles in the Pentecostal tradition, particularly New Prophetic Churches in South Africa. He is an NRF rated scholar in the area of African Pentecostalism. He won the Vision Keeper Award at the University of South Africa (2020- 2022).

Kgatle, Mookgo Solomon. “Assessing Nicholas Bhengu’s Unity Talk and Its Theological Implications for The Government of National Unity (GNU) In South Africa.” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 11, no.12 (2025): 682 – 692. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202511128.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Articles in this Issue

About Journal