Religious leaders question plan to regulate churches

Some religious leaders in South Africa are concerned about a proposal to regulate their institutions.

The Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission (CRL) is pushing ahead with creating a committee whose work it will be to find mechanisms for improved regulation of churches in South Africa.

But a group called the SA Church Defenders (SACD) has taken legal action, asking that the court set aside the decision to appoint this committee.

The SACD says the commission is biased against so-called 'charismatic' churches, and that its attempt to regulate churches is an act of overreaching.

So, is the registration of churches a step in the right direction, or is religion a grey area where hard-and-fast regulations are inappropriate?

Professor Dion Forster of the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University says the state has the right to promulgate policy to protect South Africans.

"Civil society needs some regulation as well." How religious institutions operate has consequences for society, he adds.

The real question, says Forster is not if the state can regulate, but whether it should.

"In our history, [religion] played a very important role in liberation from apartheid. The churches, because they were difficult to regulate, had an opportunity to speak truth to power."

For this reason, says Forster, many people in South Africa are sceptical about the political apparatus that seeks to silence, by way of regulation, those who can speak out against them.

On the other side, we have to protect citizens' rights, he says.

"We do clearly need some regulation to make sure people are not abused by religious actors."

To listen to Forster in conversation with CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit, click below: