In years to come, we may well look at last night’s address by President Cyril Ramaphosa as the day he really stepped up to the plate.

Amidst ongoing and growing frustrations over load shedding, the failure of the NPA to prosecute anyone over state capture, and a litany of other issues, Ramaphosa exhibited the sort of leadership that this country has been lacking for years.

The same really cannot be said for some of South Africa’s religious leaders, who risked the lives of their congregants in order to ensure that their collection trays didn’t suffer this past Sunday.

Front and centre there is Bishop Bheki Ngcobo (above) of the South African Zion Christian Church, who deserves a snotklap delivered with serious vigour.

Speaking before the 21-day lockdown was put in place, Ngcobo insisted that his church would carry on with its Easter service, as usual, saying that God was above the president and that he trusts God more than the presidents of all countries.

Again, methinks he simply cannot stand the thought of his followers not handing their hard-earned (and much needed) money over to his church.

The country’s leading satirical cartoonist wasn’t buying this nonsense. This one from Zapiro’s cartoon today on The Daily Maverick:

Thankfully, it appears that Ngcobo will be reined in, with KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala offering a strong rebuke.

If ever there was an excuse to skip church without feeling guilty, this is it.

We should also mention Zapiro’s cartoon from last week Friday, focusing on what is currently one of the most difficult tasks going around:

Humankind can fly planes and build supercomputers and put people on the moon, but tell us not to touch our faces and we fail dismally.

It’s like when somebody reminds you to think about breathing, and how it just happens naturally.

Sorry, not sorry.

Here’s hoping religious leaders come to the party in times like these, and those who don’t face the full might of the law.

[sources:dailymaverick&dailymaverick]