South African Christian News: Telling the God Stories of Africa
Parliament has re-opened the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill for public comment until Friday October 1. The decision to reopen the bill follows on from the Constitutional Court’s recent decision and definition of hate speech (in the Qwelane matter). The bill – for the first time in SA’s history – criminalises certain […]
The call for comments on the revised draft of the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill has been extended to February 15, reports Freedom of Religion (FOR SA). Commenting on the Bill, FOR SA says clause 4(1) makes “hate speech” a crime– with potentially dire repercussions from […]
On Tuesday August 28 the latest version of the controversial Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill was published for public comment (https://pmg.org.za/call-for-comment/727/), reports Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA). The original draft of the Bill received over 70 000 submissions, with many labelling it “draconian” (https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-03-13-draconian-hate-crimes-bill-will-destroy-freedom-of-speech/) and a “threat […]
At Parliament on May 30 2018, Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) attended a briefing by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice regarding the proposed Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill (“the Bill”). This briefing followed certain amendments made […]
Pastor gets prison sentence for offensive remarks towards gays On Friday, 18 May 2018 Pastor Oscar Bougardt – who found himself in trouble with the law again after making certain “highly insulting, demeaning and uncharitable” statements regarding the LGBT community – was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to […]
The surprise tabling of the contentious ‘Hate Speech Bill’ in parliament this week raises serious religious freedom concerns writes Advocate Nadene Badenhorst of Freedom of Religion SA (FOR SA) in this special report. It has come to our attention that the controversial draft Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes […]
In a recent “open letter”, Martina Navratilova, one of the greatest tennis players of the modern era and a well-known LGBT activist, slammed former tennis great Margaret Court for her comments on same-sex marriage and an article she wrote expressing concern that a child born to a high profile lesbian […]
John Qwelane’s case is an important one for freedom of speech writes Advocate Nadene Badenhorst in this special report on the issues and implications of this high-profile hate speech hearing. After many years, the controversial case of Qwelane v Minister for Justice & Others finally came before the Johannesburg High […]
Redraft of proposed legislation good news for religious freedom Deputy Minister of Justice John Jeffrey this week conceded that the controversial Hate Speech Bill was ‘overbroad’ and should be reconsidered taking into account concerns raised by the religious sector. He was addressing religious leaders at a meeting in Cape Town […]
