OWN CORRESPONDENT
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL), which investigated religious practices in South Africa, released a report this week with numerous recommendations. One of these is that every religious practitioner must be registered and fall under umbrella organisations.
The CRL Rights Commission has recommended that umbrella bodies, made up of credible religious leaders should oversee what happens in places of worship. It wants all religious leaders registered and it tabled a report following an investigation into unsavoury religious practices.
This follows numerous cases where religious leaders have fed congregants snakes and grass and paraffin to drink.
All religious leaders will now be forced to become part of a peer review system. CRL Chairman Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said there seemed to be a high number of deaths of worshippers who were using faith products such as holy water and powders and defaulting on their chronic medication.
The commission released its findings this week after a lengthy probe.
She said the investigation found there was no comprehensive database of religious leaders and a high number of unregistered institutions. It also found there were “cult-like” religious organisations that engaged congregants in controversial practices.
She said the aim of the investigation was to “protect vulnerable congregants”.
The commission recommended that every religious practitioner must be registered and have a location where he or she conducts religious ceremonies, be they in churches, homes, mosques, temples, mountains, fields or tents.
The commission presented its report to parliament last week.
According to the recommendations, each worship centre should form an umbrella organisation and this must be registered and known to peer-review committee.
These committee would each be responsible for a particular religion, the commission said.
The committees would ensure there is religious self-regulation and accountability and the peer-review committee would be the mediator of disputes within religions.
“We are convinced that the majority of reasonable religious leaders will agree with us,” said Mkhwanazi-Xaluva.
