ABSTRACT
The understanding of Pentecostalism in South Africa rests in the context of political developments in the country. This chapter discusses the political economy of democratic South Africa as a condition in which the new wave thrives. The fourth wave succeeds because it causes what one can call internal migration or urbanisation, where people move from rural areas to urban areas because they see hope in religion. The growth of the fourth wave relates to the ability of its leaders to bring balance between the neo-liberal policies and their teachings in their churches. The extension of the work of the Holy Spirit has made people move from classical Pentecostalism into the fourth wave because they want to see what they are missing. David Maxwell asserts that the historical and theological affinity between the present-day Zionists and the pentecostals justifies the broad use of African Pentecostalism.
