CRL claims misleading: Facts show Parliament rejected state regulation of religion

Statement by Michael Swain, Executive Director, Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA)
Article source: Supplied

On 22 September 2025, the CRL Rights Commission issued a “Joint Media Statement” with several local ministerial fraternals, seeking to justify its renewed push for legislation to establish a Peer Review Committee system for regulating religion. While the CRL presents this as if it has both the parliamentary mandate and support to proceed, the reality is that key facts have been omitted. It is important that the public – and especially South Africa’s faith communities – understand the whole picture so as not to be misled.

1. Parliament rejected the CRL’s call for legislation
The CRL claims to rely on the 2018 Report of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). What it does not say is that the same Report did not support the CRL’s proposals for legislation to regulate religion. In other words, the CRL’s call for legislation regulating the religious sector was effectively rejected.

The Committee’s Report noted that most religious organisations were of the view that:

• “The CRL Rights Commission is not the body that should be regulating the sector”
• “There was disagreement over [the] Constitutionality of recommendations of the CRL”
• “Denominations have been self-regulated and this [has] been working well for them”

The Report also noted that the CRL itself was of the view that “There were enough existing laws that could deal with the prevailing religious challenges” – though gaps in enforcement needed to be addressed.

Instead of endorsing the CRL’s plan, COGTA recommended that the religious community develop mechanisms of accountability, including a charter for self-regulation and a code of conduct. In other words, not a state-controlled system.

2. The CRL has no legal mandate to regulate religion
The CRL Act of 2002 grants the Commission the authority to educate, investigate, advise, and recommend – but not to regulate or control religious communities. Even Prof. David Mosoma, who chaired the CRL from 2019 to 2024, confirmed this reality by not pursuing the agenda of his predecessor.

In July 2025, the Speaker of Parliament formally confirmed in writing that the 2018 COGTA Report “lapsed at the end of the 2018 Parliament and was never revived”. It therefore has no binding legal effect, and the CRL has no mandate or obligation to implement it.

3. Faith communities have already developed a Code of Conduct
The religious sector responded positively and responsibly to COGTA’s recommendations in its 2018 Report. The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA) initiated, and the South African Council for the Protection and Promotion of Religious Rights and Freedoms (SACRRF) developed, a Code of Conduct for Religion in South Africa.

This Code was grounded in the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms, a landmark document adopted by over 20 million people across the faith spectrum. It provides a clear and voluntary framework of accountability by and for religious communities themselves.

Why, then, is the CRL attempting to push for a new “Code of Conduct” through state processes when one already exists – developed inclusively by the faith community, rooted in our Constitution, and voluntarily adopted by millions? This Code is free to be adopted (“as is” or adapted to its specific context) by any faith community.

4. The church has strengthened self-regulation
Since 2018, the Christian faith community has made significant progress in strengthening voluntary self-regulation, particularly among independent churches that were not previously part of any umbrella structure.

This has culminated in the formation of the South African Community of Faith-based Fraternals and Federations (SACOFF) under the leadership of Pastor Bert Pretorius. SACOFF now represents 229 federations and networks, comprising 20,902 churches and approximately 5 million Christians.

This development demonstrates that the faith sector has taken the CRL’s concerns about abuse and Parliament’s recommendations seriously and is already ensuring stronger accountability through voluntary, community-driven structures – without the need for state control.

5. The Religious Leaders’ Summit rejected CRL’s proposals
At the national Religious Leaders’ Summit in February 2019 – co-convened by the CRL and the late Pastor Ray McCauley – hundreds of senior leaders from across the faith spectrum debated the CRL’s proposals. The outcome was clear:

• The CRL was told it is “inappropriate and unacceptable for the CRL to dictate to the Church how to regulate its affairs”.
• The Summit resolved that state regulation of religion is not an option.

6. Real problems must be dealt with under existing law
There is no dispute that abuses occur in the religious sector. However, South Africa already has a strong legal framework to address them: criminal law, tax law, consumer protection, child protection legislation, and more.

The rule of law applies equally to all South Africans. There is no such thing in law as a “spiritual crime”. If a law is broken – whether by a pastor, imam, rabbi, or any other citizen – the State has the responsibility to enforce it equally and effectively. The real problem is the enforcement of existing laws, not the absence of them. Adding another layer of legislation will not solve this.

7. “Self-regulation” cannot mean state control
The CRL’s proposal to enforce, by legislation, the Code of Conduct it is developing is nothing less than a state-driven system of control – not self-regulation.

As Bishop Zipho Siwa (then President of the SACC) warned in Parliament in 2018, when this matter was extensively debated:

“In whatever ‘self-regulatory’ terms this is couched, these regulatory bodies will be state-appointed, state-funded and state-controlled. As a result, the proposed legislation effectively amounts to state regulation of religion”.

Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town, was equally forthright:

“The recommendation that new laws be introduced to enforce registration of pastors and ministers is overkill and a response one would expect more from a totalitarian state than a constitutional democracy”.

Under such a regime, every pastor, imam, rabbi or faith leader would have to apply to a peer review committee, approved by the CRL, for permission to minister. This is not freedom – it is state regulation in disguise.

8. Discrimination undermines equality before the law
It is also deeply concerning that the CRL has chosen to target only one sector of the faith community – the Christian sector – through its Section 22 Committee investigations. No doubt, any outcome in the form of legislation will apply equally to all faiths in South Africa.

To exclude other religious communities from consultation is discriminatory and constitutes a breach of Section 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and equal protection and benefit of the law.

Conclusion
South Africa has already had this debate – extensively, transparently, and inclusively. It was settled in 2019, when Parliament, the faith community, and even the government itself confirmed that state regulation of religion is unnecessary, unworkable, and unconstitutional.

The CRL’s current proposals not only threaten freedom of religion under Section 15 of the Constitution but also violate the principle of equality before the law under Section 9 by targeting only one sector of the faith community. Any legislation arising from such a process would impact all faiths, without their voices having been heard.

FOR SA therefore calls upon all religious leaders, regardless of denomination, to stand firm against attempts to repackage old proposals under new labels. Our Constitution guarantees both religious freedom and equality. Neither must be surrendered to state control.

For more information, visit www.forsa.org.za/crl-regulation-of-religion

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Date published: 25/09/2025
Feature image: Image for illustrative purposes only. Artwork adapted from www.freepik.com

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