With time running out for South Africans citizens of faith to respond to the PEPUDA Amendment Bill which poses a serious threat to religious freedom, Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) have partnered with Dear South Africa — a website which makes it quick and easy to make official submissions to parliament.
Written submissions on the bill have to reach The Department of Justice by June 30, which leaves little time to inform the public about the drastic repercussions of such a highly technical bill or to mobilise a necessary massive response from people and organisations whose religious freedoms and liberties are under threat, said Advocate Nadene Badenhorst, legal counsel to Freedom of Religion South Africa.
But she said they are excited about a partnership they have entered into with the Dear South Africa site where people can find information about the bill and can quickly and easily make an official submission to the department — all in one place!
Click here to see it for yourself — and don’t forget to get your submission off and share this article with others.
At the time of posting this article 12 552 submissions had been made from the website, in addition to a number of separate submissions made by organisation.
“But we believe we need at least 60 000 submissions — so we need a really big pushback over the next three weeks,” said Badenhortst.
She urged people to share the Dear South Africa link on social media, and to urge their pastors to get their congregations on board.
“If we can get that right, then we can really push back hard on this bill which will have radical implications for generations to come”
For SA warns that if the bill passes in its present form “religious autonomy will be overruled; faith-based schools will be a thing of the past; the state will regulate you and activists will police you; your voice will be muted and state-financed litigation, with ruinous sanctions, will await you”.
Vryheid van geloof is in konstitusie van die RSA vasgele, en my versoek is dat ons owerhede dit sal eerbiedig en nie die PEPUDA wysigingswetsontwerp deurvoer nie.
Giddiness vryheid moet bly.
Onder geen omstandighede kan ons die pedupa wysigingswetsontwerp laat goedkeur nie. NEEEE