By Adv Nadene Badenhorst, FOR SA Legal Counsel At a media briefing by the CRL Rights Commission (CRL) on Friday, 30 November, it was announced that a national summit of all religious and church leaders will be held on 13 February 2019. According to a Statement read...
Update on Recent or Current Religious Freedom Issues and Cases
By Adv Nadene Badenhorst, Legal Counsel of FOR SA *The cases and issues in which FOR SA is / has been involved, are marked with a star (*). POLICIES & BILLS Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill* The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on...
FOR SA Interview with Link FM
FOR SA’s Executive Director, Michael Swain, and Mrs Rooks Moodley the Director at Eastern Cape NGO Coalition, spoke to Link FM about the CRL Commission’s recommendation to regulate religion through amongst others, licencing religious practioners and places of...
Notification of Change of Date for Hearings of the COGTA Portfolio Committee on the CRL Report
This past week we have received two notifications from the Secretary of the COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee advising us that they have again changed the dates for these hearings. The last one – received after close of business yesterday – reads as...
A guideline on the implications of the “OGOD” judgment
A Guideline for Public Schools, and Religious Practitioners and Organisations working into Public Schools On 28 June 2017, the Johannesburg High Court delivered judgment in the case of OGOD vs Laerskool Randhart & Others. In terms of the Court order, it is...
State Interference with Religion – A Biblical and Historical Perspective
By Andrew Selley (Founder & CEO, FOR SA) Freedom of Religion has long been considered to be the most important of all human rights. It was birthed from a recognition that whenever the State interferes with religion, the consequences are inevitably negative and...
Tipping the Scales: Balancing the right to equality and religious freedom in South Africa
by Guest Author Kelly Stone In October 2016, Parliament released the latest draft of the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill (“the Bill”) for public comment. The Bill, which has been ten years in the making, creates a separate category of...
Update on Important Cases and Issues
It has been an exceptionally busy year, with FOR SA assisting various churches, Christian ministries and businesses with regard to (threats of) legal cases opened up against them. In addition, we have made representations with regard to a number of policies and draft...
The Enemy’s Decoy?
by Rev. Moss Ntlha (TEASA Gen. Secr.), FOR SA Leadership team The Church has a lot of work to do. The times are desperate. The primary mission before us is to restate the case of the Son of God coming into the world to save sinners. This is more urgent than ever,...
“Regulating Religion” – what’s the deal?
In this briefing paper, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (Parliamentary Liaison Office) considers the recent Report by the CRL Rights Commission on the “Commercialisation” of Religion and Abuse of People’s Belief Systems, including recommendations for...