The Relationship between the Economic Strand of Contemporary Pentecostalism and Neo-Liberalism in Post-1994 South Africa

South Africa endured racial segregation under the national party for many years until 1994, with the attainment of democracy. In the process of negotiating a democracy like the CODESA negotiations, the ANC-led government found itself adopting economic policies that embraced neo-liberalism, which later became unfavorable to the black majority in South Africa. Consequently, although these economic policies of the post-colonial South Africa have made a few black people rich, many still live under the triple socio-economic challenges like unemployment, poverty, and inequality. In addition to the triple challenges, many people still lack basic needs like water, sanitation, food, clothing, and shelter. This paper is a discourse on the relationship between contemporary Pentecostalism and neo-liberalism in South Africa. Given their economic standing, the paper seeks to demonstrate that contemporary South African Pentecostalism has potential to become an alternative economic reform.University of South AfricaChristian Spirituality, Church History and Missiolog