The state should not regulate religion but should rather enforce existing laws against errant church leaders, says Freedom of Religion SA (FOR SA).
The organisation was reacting to recent comments made by the newly reappointed chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission), Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, during an interview on Newzroom Afrika.
She reiterated her call for state regulation of religion, proposing the establishment of state-appointed peer review committees to assess individuals seeking to become religious leaders or start churches.
She said these committees would determine whether to grant individuals a licence to work as a religious practitioner or operate a church. They would also have the authority to suspend or dismiss religious leaders found guilty of wrongdoing. She urged parliament to pass legislation enforcing this system, stating “it’s not business as usual around churches any more”.
FOR SA said this proposal was not new. In 2016, the commission presented a report to parliament titled “The Commercialisation of Religion and Abuse of People’s Belief Systems”, in which it highlighted criminal acts committed by certain religious leaders and called for state intervention.
FOR SA executive director Michael Swain said the constitutional right to religious freedom did not, and had never, protected individuals who committed crimes.
“A crime is a crime — whether committed by a politician, a pastor, or a postman — and those who commit crimes should face the full force of the law,” he said.
He pointed to the successful prosecution of the so-called “Prophet of Doom”, who was convicted of assault after spraying insecticide in the faces of his congregants, as evidence that existing laws were sufficient to hold perpetrators accountable.
Swain said the real issue was not a lack of regulation but rather a lack of enforcement of existing laws.
We look forward to engaging with the [CRL Rights] commission to explore alternative and effective solutions to the concerns raised by Ms Mkhwanazi-Xaluva — solutions that respect both the rule of law and the fundamental right to religious freedom
— Michael Swain, FOR SA executive director
In the interview, Mkhwanazi-Xaluva acknowledged that by the end of her first tenure as CRL Rights Commission chair, this matter had “fallen off the table for whatever reason”, but declared that “it’s back on the table now, squarely”, with plans to form a committee to push the legislation through parliament.
Swain said the proposal did not “fall off the table” but was squarely rejected after careful consideration.
The CRL Rights Commission’s proposal had already undergone extensive scrutiny during five days of hearings before the parliamentary co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) portfolio committee, where the overwhelming majority of South Africa’s faith communities had opposed state regulation of religion.
He said in its 2018 report, Cogta had acknowledged this broad-based opposition and recommended that the faith sector develop its own self-regulatory mechanisms. It stated: “We must be mindful not to use the abuses of religion as a motivation to introduce regulations that would infringe on the rights and freedoms of religious individuals and organisations.”
Swain said a consultative process had led to the creation of a code of conduct based on the Religious Freedom Charter, which had been endorsed by more than 20-million people of faith and multiple faith-based institutions, including the CRL itself.
“FOR SA fully supports the CRL’s mandate to uphold and protect the religious freedom rights of all South Africans. We look forward to engaging with the commission to explore alternative and effective solutions to the concerns raised by Ms Mkhwanazi-Xaluva — solutions that respect both the rule of law and the fundamental right to religious freedom.”
TimesLIVE
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