Press release – FOR SA; For Faith & Freedom

Wednesday, 11 February 2026, marked a significant moment in the ongoing dispute between the
CRL Rights Commission and South Africa’s faith communities.

After sustained requests from diverse religious bodies and civil society organisations, the Portfolio
Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (PC COGTA) convened a meeting to
hear concerns regarding the CRL Chair’s continued push toward State regulation of religion through
the Section 22 Committee process. This was the first formal opportunity for faith communities to address Parliament directly on the matter. The message delivered to the PC COGTA was clear and unequivocal: there is no support among faith communities for legislation to regulate religion.

Broad-Based Faith Opposition
Although the CRL’s attention has mainly focused on Christianity, submissions were made by a wide
spectrum of religious leadership, including Muslim and African traditional spirituality representatives.
These leaders expressed serious concern at being unfairly discriminated against by being excluded
from the Section 22 Committee process. They warned that any legislative outcome would affect all
faith traditions equally.

Stakeholders raised objections relating to inclusivity, religious representation, the purpose and
constitutional basis of the Section 22 Committee, and the risk of eventual state regulation of
religious institutions.

While unequivocally condemning abusive or criminal conduct within religious settings, faith leaders
emphasised that such conduct must be addressed through existing criminal and civil laws, not
through new regulatory legislation targeted at religion.

FOR SA: A Constitutional Issue
FOR SA’s presentation framed the matter squarely as a constitutional question.
“This is fundamentally a constitutional issue,” said Michael Swain, Executive Director of FOR SA.
“Abuse and exploitation are crimes. They must be prosecuted effectively and without hesitation by
the State. Creating additional legislation to regulate religion is neither necessary nor constitutionally
permissible, particularly where viable alternative solutions already exist and have been proposed.”

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Date published: 03/03/2026
Feature images sourced from article

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