Issued by Daniela Ellerbeck and Lusanda Mahkuntsu on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 09/10/2025

Introduction

Did you know the Constitution protects your freedom to believe what you want and your freedom to live out those beliefs in public? To mark Heritage Month, the FW de Klerk Foundation released its Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Report Card, 2025 monitoring how this right is enjoyed in practice.

What’s Protected and Why

Section 15 of the Constitution entrenches your right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion (“religious freedom”). This right protects all people (the religious and irreligious) and ensures that everyone has the freedom to believe what they want to (or not) in their hearts and minds. It also protects their freedom to manifest their beliefs externally (even if others think these beliefs are irrational, illogical or bizarre). The right to religious freedom also applies to companies or organisations when appropriate – like in the case of a church (section 8).

Celebrating someone else freely living out their beliefs publicly, granting them the same freedom that we wish to enjoy, builds unity. Freedom is essential to human dignity and by celebrating that person’s freedom to live out their faith publicly, we recognise their dignity.

This right is also fundamentally intertwined with other constitutional rights, such as equality, freedom of expression, freedom of association etc. Thus, the health of religious freedom impacts on all these other rights, because they are all woven together as strands in the tapestry of our Bill of Rights.

South Africa is not a secular state like the USA: The Constitution expressly provides for the conducting of religious observances at state and state-aided institutions, such as our public schools (section 15(2)). This allows everyone – civil servants, learners and teachers – to practise their religion in these public places, subject to certain rules to ensure fairness.

Finally, the Constitution goes one step further and even entrenches the right of religious communities to practise their religion together and to form, join and maintain religious associations in section 31. This communal aspect is important, because cultural, religious and linguistic rights by their very nature are exercised by individuals together as a community.

What’s Not Protected and Why

Your right to religious freedom does not include the right to commit crimes. The Constitution protects your rights, but they must operate within the law. Religious freedom (and religious communities’ right to worship together) can never be used as an excuse to break the law and commit a crime.

Take the “Prophet of Doom” as an example. Lethebo Rabalago sprayed his congregants with Doom, a pesticide. He was convicted of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (commonly known as “assault GBH”) and sentenced.

Positive Developments

The report card found the positive developments regarding the right to religious freedom over the course of the last year to include the fact that the version of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, 2024, which was signed into law no longer proposed removing school governing bodies’ power to manage school assets. As many religious communities rent or use school facilities for meetings, etc. this would have affected their exercise of their religious rights (both individually and as communities) due to affecting the renewal and/or granting of these religious communities’ lease contracts.

The version of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Act, 2024, which was also signed into law was also a great improvement: It no longer contained the overbroad definitions and failure to protect “lawful political activity, advocacy, protest or dissent.” Its initial version had triggered massive concern from the religious community, because many religious institutions and leaders who oppose government policies may have found the South African Intelligence Agency subjecting them, their leaders and/or members, to security vetting investigation for purposes of either issuing or denying a security clearance certificate. The implied risk was that those religious institutions denied a certificate would be forced to close.

Negative developments

Over the course of the last year, several incidents of religious intolerance occurred. These incidents reveal a troubling truth: global conflicts (like the war between Israel and Palestine) can strain relations between local faith communities, such as Jews and Muslims. In response, the Foundation called on the CRL Rights Commission to step in. Part of the Commission’s constitutional duty is to promote and develop peace, friendship, humanity, tolerance and national unity among different religious communities.

There also seems to be renewed interest from the CRL Rights Commission to revive its previous recommendations for peer-review mechanisms for religious communities. The Commission established a section 22 committee to develop and implement the peer-review mechanism and draft recommendations for oversight in the religious sector. Importantly, should such oversight limit rights, it must meet the Constitution’s test for limiting rights. This test says that a right can only be limited if there is no less restrictive way (like general law enforcement) to achieve the purpose.

Lastly, the Expropriation Act, 2024, also raises concern. Land owned by religious organisations, and/or used for religious purposes, is not exempted. Such land may thus still be expropriated without compensation (“nil compensation” as per the Act) by the state.

Conclusion

Living out our beliefs celebrates our diversity and strengthens the right to dignity for all South Africans. It is also a way to build unity. Considering both the above, the right to religious freedom was graded as moderate, but showing signs of regression. For more information on the health of this important right, see the FW de Klerk Foundation’s Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Report Card, 2025.