Picture of barnabas lekganyane wife of bath

Until , 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 — 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, , 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 () as the successor to his father, Engenas Lekganyane (), who had founded the church in

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 al