But if anyone does sin…

By Sodwana Bay

I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s. 1 John 2:1-2 MSG Originally posted 2016-01-26 19:05:11.


Jacob Zuma dares the ANC to fire him

By Sodwana Bay

Date published: 22-03-2016 President Jacob Zuma has dared the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) to recall him if they wished to.  Emboldened by the superior number of NEC members who support him, Zuma made the remarks on Sunday while closing the three-day meeting. The NEC is the party’s highest decision-making body between national conferences. The meeting discussed the allegations made by current and former ANC leaders about the influence of the Guptas, who are Zuma’s friends, in government. The Gupta family have consistently denied they wielded corrupt influence on the government, including controlling cabinet appointments. Zuma’s son Duduzane shares business interest with the Guptas’ sprawling business interests with tentacles across state-owned companies. ANC NEC leaders who attended the meeting said Zuma gave an explanation about the Guptas. He spoke of how they gave Duduzane a breakthrough when no one wanted to employ him after Zuma was recalled as deputy president in 2005. He said he was introduced to the Guptas by former minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad. Zuma made similar claims when confronted by Eastern Cape alliance leaders two weeks ago. The NEC members also said Zuma stated that unlike former president Thabo Mbeki, he had never made the Gupta family participate in government. He allegedly claimed that Mbeki appointed them to his economic advisory council. “If you want to recall me, you can go ahead. I will step aside and go to my branch,” an NEC member who wanted to remain anonymous said Zuma told the gathering. However, Pahad yesterday denied introducing the Guptas to Zuma. “It is not true that President Zuma was introduced to the Guptas by me,” Pahad said. Another NEC member said Zuma defended the Guptas and accused some ANC leaders of also being controlled by big business. Zuma told the NEC that after he had appointed Des van Rooyen as finance minister, billionaire Remgro chairman Johann Rupert flew from London to meet with a senior ANC leader demanding the reversal of the decision. Although Zuma didn’t mention the ANC leader, his claims were similar to those made in a column published by The New Age, a Gupta-owned newspaper, which claimed that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa had received a call from Rupert. Following a discussion on the influence of the Guptas, the NEC decided to invite submissions from those who wished to report allegations of state capture by the family. The submissions will be handled by the office of secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. Mantashe said the information would help the party to decide what action to take. Yesterday, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the ANC NEC statement released on Sunday reflected the outcome of the meeting, therefore he could not talk about who said what during the meeting.


He is there!

By Sodwana Bay

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:28 MSG


We’re a free people

By Sodwana Bay

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. Ephesians 1:7 MSG