Barnabas lekganyane children

Barnabas lekganyane family
Edward lekganyane
Bishop barnabas lekganyane age

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Edward Lekganyane

Religious leader (1922 – 1967)

Edward Lekganyane, popularly known as "Kgoshi Edward" (1922 – 21 October 1967), was the leader of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) from Easter Sunday, April 17, 1949, until his death eighteen years later. During this time he used his charisma and organizational abilities to expand the ZCC from about 50,000 to 600,000^[1] members, while also reshaping numerous facets of the church. During his tenure as bishop, the ZCC emerged as South Africa's largest independent church, while Lekganyane became arguably the wealthiest and most powerful African in apartheid-era South Africa.

Early life and career

Edward was the second-born son of Engenas Lekganyane and his senior wife, Salfina Rabodiba, and was born in Thabakgone in the Mamabolo Reserve east of Polokwane. Although his exact birth date is unknown, he is known to have been born during a smallpox epidemic that led his father to quarantine his household for some time.^[2] At this time, Engenas Lekganyane was the Transvaal leader of the Zion Apostolic Fait

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Every Easter weekend, several millions of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) faithful from across southern Africa descend on “Moria city”, the church’s capital in the north of the country, for their annual pilgrimage.

The church, founded by Engenas Lekganyane in 1925, is “the largest indigenous religious movement in southern Africa.” An estimated one in ten South Africans is a member, according to University Allan Anderson, Professor of Theology at University of Birmingham.

There are two branches of the church. The main one is led by the founder’s grandson, Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane (b. 1955) The breakaway St. Engenas ZCC is headed by his namesake and great-grandson.

Both of these competing branches are headquartered at Moria, two kilometres apart on the same farm on which Engenas died and was buried. They hold separate pilgrimages and other events.

The regular members of the main branch are expected to wear Star badges at all times. For their part the St Engenas members sport Dove badges. Both organisations are similar in theology – a fusion of Christianity and traditional African

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Until 1994, black South Africans were systematically denied any right to vote by the forces of colonialism, segregation and apartheid. Lack of representation and equality, in turn, led to systematic oppression and injustice.

But decades before that — in 1949 — a large group of black South Africans voted for their leaders in a free and fair election – an election that has been totally forgotten.

On June 1, 1949, less than a year after the Nationalist Party assumed power and began to implement its apartheid scheme, somewhere between a third and a quarter of the members of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) descended on their spiritual capital, Zion City Moria. They voted to install Edward Lekganyane (1922-1967) as the successor to his father, Engenas Lekganyane (1885-1948), who had founded the church in 1925.

Although the choice of Edward as successor caused a permanent split in the ZCC, the vote for him was a pivotal, wise and successful one. Edward not only enjoyed the backing of the majority of the membership, he also showed true genius during his tenure as bishop. Under his gui