South African Christian News: Telling the God Stories of Africa
In this series of articles, Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) discusses existing legal remedies for abuses or strange practices by religious leaders highlighted by the CRL Rights Commission and the media. FOR SA has consistently cited applicable existing laws as one of its objections to state regulation of […]
Religious freedom watchdog FOR SA warns that the Church and South Africa are facing their “most serious threat to religious freedom to date” in the form of a new bid by the CRL Rights Commission to push for the regulation of religion. Alerting Christian leaders to a national consultative conference […]
Originally published in Politics Web Cheryl Zondi, the first witness to take the stand in the trial of Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso, has launched a foundation — the Cheryl Zondi Foundation — to support women and children who have been abused. The foundation, whose tag line is “turning pain into […]
The CRL Rights Commission should remember that its mandate is to protect the freedom of religious communities in South Africa and not to regulate them, says the Nelson Mandela Bay Church Leaders Network. The church leaders say, in an open letter, that they are deeply concerned about “what appears to […]
By Freedom of Religion SA The call by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency for “government to tighten legislation and to close churches, where necessary”, has been met with shock and outrage by religious leaders across the country. According to a statement by committee chair Thandi Memela: […]
October 27 marks International Religious Freedom Day, which is designed to highlight Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This fundamental human right was confirmed by the UN Human Rights Committee in its General Comment No 22, as follows: “The right to freedom of thought, […]
With fresh calls for the regulation of churches, inspired by the harrowing rape trial in Port Elizabeth involving Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso, we publish an article by Pastor Ray McCauley who says he is heading up a process aimed at achieving regulation of religion by church and religious leaders. The […]
At a meeting convened by The Evangelical Association of South Africa (TEASA) and South African Council of Churches ( SACC) on Wednesday May 23, a broad cross-section of senior Christian leaders met in Kempton Park to discuss the key issues raised by the CRL Rights Commission’s Report on the “Commercialisation” […]
The COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee has decided (for now) not to adopt the CRL Rights Commission’s proposed recommendations for the regulation of religion. Instead, COGTA recommended (as unanimously requested by the religious community during the meetings before Parliament), that the religious community be granted an opportunity to come up with […]
By Freedom of Religion SA Media statements by the chairperson of the CRL Rights Commission, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, claiming that parliament should answer for the Ngcobo shootings and that lives could have been saved if parliament had acted sooner, were challenged today by the COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee. At a briefing meeting […]