Pastors 'must be ruled by earth as well as heaven'

Dodgy pastors can cause deaths among worshippers and should be forced to become part of a peer review system, a commission investigating religious practices in South Africa said yesterday.

Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities chairman Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva told reporters there seemed to be a high number of deaths of worshippers who were using faith products such as holy water and powders and defaulting on their chronic medication.

The commission was releasing its findings after a lengthy probe.

Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said the investigation found there was no comprehensive database of religious leaders and a high number of unregistered institutions.

It also found there were "cult-like" religious organisations that engaged congregants in controversial practices.

Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said the constitution stated that everyone had the right to choose a trade, including being a religious leader, and that a trade or occupation may be regulated by law. She said the aim of the investigation was to protect vulnerable congregants.

The commission recommended that every religious practitioner must be registered and have a location where he conducts religious ceremonies, be they in churches, homes, mosques, temples, mountains, fields or tents.

The commission presented its report to parliament last week.

According to the recommendations, each worship centre should freely form an umbrella organisation and this must be registered and known to peer-review committees.

These committees would each be responsible for a particular religion, the commission said.

The committees would ensure there is religious self-regulation and accountability and the peer-review committee would be the mediator of disputes within religions.

"We are convinced the majority of reasonable religious leaders will agree with us," said Mkhwanazi-Xaluva.

But Freedom of Religion SA said it was not persuaded that licensing practitioners was correct.

Executive director Michael Swain said the state had no business meddling in religion.

He said his organisation represented 6 million people from 227 denominations, churches and religious groups.

Swain said the issues the body identified were criminal acts.

"You cannot hide behind freedom of religion and then commit a criminal act. The law must be enforced," Swain said.

- TimesLIVE