Churches venture into political arena after 20 years of silence

NELSON Mandela Bay church leaders took the first step towards strengthening government accountability in the city yesterday.

The ministers held the first of five meetings for this week at the Westering Full Gospel Church, where they resolved to mobilise their communities to champion the plight of the residents of the Bay.

Yesterday's meeting was to brief ministers from wards 1 to 9, 39 and 40 of the churches' plan to speak out against corruption in Nelson Mandela Bay and to hold the government to account regarding how it plans to spend public funding budgets.

The leaders, who believe that the church has to play catchup after being quiet since 1994, plan to monitor the government's performance in basic service delivery, education and health. - Thulani Gqirana