CRL Rights Commission accused by some religious leaders of going beyond mandate

On Wednesday, the watchdog convened a summit with religious leaders from across the country at the Rhema Bible Church in Randburg to find ways of tackling problems facing the sector.

FILE: The CRL Rights Commission. Picture: Thando Kubheka/EWN

Thando Kubheka | 341 days ago

RANDBURG - Some religious leaders have accused the CRL Rights Commission of going beyond its mandate.

On Wednesday, the watchdog convened a summit with religious leaders from across the country at the Rhema Bible Church in Randburg.

Several pastors have made headlines over the past few years for using controversial methods like spraying churchgoers with pesticides.

Recently, Pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife were arrested for fraud and money laundering.

The conference, which was the first of its kind, brought together religious leaders from across the country to find ways of tackling problems facing the sector.

Issues that were top of the agenda included charting a self-regulatory framework which left the heads of faith-based organisations divided.

They claimed the commission’s process of compiling its report on regulation of religion and abuse of people's beliefs was flawed and non-inclusive.

However, commission chair Thoko Mkhwanazi Xaluva disagreed: “We hear people say they did not consult with them because we didn’t change the report to say what they wanted it to say.”

Religious leaders have resolved to begin their work of constructing their own regulatory framework next month before convening a national consultative conference in October.

(Edited by Mihlali Ntsabo)

More in Local

Comments

EWN welcomes all comments that are constructive, contribute to discussions in a meaningful manner and take stories forward.

However, we will NOT condone the following:

- Racism (including offensive comments based on ethnicity and nationality)
- Sexism
- Homophobia
- Religious intolerance
- Cyber bullying
- Hate speech
- Derogatory language
- Comments inciting violence.

We ask that your comments remain relevant to the articles they appear on and do not include general banter or conversation as this dilutes the effectiveness of the comments section.

We strive to make the EWN community a safe and welcoming space for all.

EWN reserves the right to: 1) remove any comments that do not follow the above guidelines; and, 2) ban users who repeatedly infringe the rules.

Should you find any comments upsetting or offensive you can also flag them and we will assess it against our guidelines.

EWN is constantly reviewing its comments policy in order to create an environment conducive to constructive conversations.

CRL Rights Commission accused by some religious leaders of going beyond mandate

Timeline

Commission calls for traditional leaders to account for initiates’ deaths

Commission declares suspension of intiation schools in EC where deaths occurred

CRL concerned over lack of monitoring use of indigenous languages in govt depts

Shepherd Bushiri fraud case postponed to November

Comments

Choose an EWN Twitter account

Choose an EWN app