Freedom of religion is under attack, Again!

Following the article i published on the state vs the church, regarding regulation of religion, it has now emerged that the state is using other means to archive its foolish mandate. The CRL Rights Commission is no longer the only force behind the agenda to "regulate religion". The ammendment of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, No. 4 of 2000, otherwise known as “PEPUDA” or “the Equality Act”, opens the front door for State regulation of religion, this by proposing to broaden the definations of "equality" and "unfair discrimination", and removing the requirement of "intention" altogether.

In November 2019, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) declared Section 10 of the PEPUDA Act unconstitutional in the case Qwelane, following its broad definition of “hate speech”. Following this declaration by the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Department of Justice has published the PEPUDA Amendment Bill, which significantly expands the scope and extent of the original Act.

For religious freedom in South Africa, The PEPUDA Amendment Bill will have detrimental and far-reaching implications. According to Daniela Ellerbeck, The Amendment Bill – if passed into law in its current form – will quite literally be the death knell for religious freedom in our country.  Religious autonomy – formerly considered sacrosanct, and allowing organisations to define their own internal processes and procedures and core tenets of faith and practice – will simply be over-ruled.  Furthermore, independent faith-based schools will be a thing of the past. 

If the Bill is adopted in its current form, the State will have the right to, effectively, disallow certain beliefs and practices that it deems to be discriminatory or against a pre-determined definition of equality. The Bill will allow the state to prescribe what may or what may not be said, published or propagated. The Bill will also allow the State to decide what we, as Christians, may or may not do as an expression of our beliefs and religious values. This is equivalent to State regulation of religion which contradicts the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution.

Furthermore, should the Bill be adopted, people and institutions of faith will be dragged before the Courts simply because someone does not like, does not agree with, or is offended by the expression of our religious convictions and beliefs.

I personally believe that the PEPUDA Amendment Bill is one of the greatest threats to religious freedom in South Africa and therefore, I'm calling upon every individual and every denomination, church and other faith organisation, to make your voices heard on this Bill by making a submission to the Department of Justice before Friday, 30 June 2021.  (Although the deadline for submissions on the Bill was on 12 May 2021 already, the Department has indicated to FOR SA that it would accept submissions until 30 June 2021).

A template submission (both for individuals, and for organisations) is available on FORSA website (www.forsa.org.za), which can be used “as is” or adapted and e-mailed to fbhayat@justice.gov.za

IMPORTANT!
If your submission is rejected because the mailbox is full, please forward it to info@forsa.org.za

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References:
• www.forsa.org.za