Call for transparency from CRL Commission following resignation, damning allegations

The South African Community of Faith-Based Fraternals and Federations (SACOFF) has called for “full transparency” from the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) and a reset of engagement with the religious sector.

The organisation made the call on Friday in a statement released by its President, Pastor Bert Pretorius, following the resignation of the former chairperson of the Section 22 Committee set up under the auspices of the commission.

Reverend Professor Musa Xulu announced his resignation at a briefing in Boksburg this week, complaining that the committee was being used “as a front to disguise a predetermined agenda of State control of religion, driven in part by personal hostility toward particular Christian faith and traditions”. 

SACOFF said it would request a formal meeting with the CRL Rights Commission to discuss allegations raised by Xulu in his resignation statement, which was made public, including the “hostility towards Pentecostal and Charismatic church representatives”.

The transparency the organisation is calling for pertains to the committee’s legal basis, composition, and mandate. It is also calling for a change of ways of engagement with the faith sector to a kind based on “voluntary, sector-led mechanisms”, the recognition and strengthening of existing instruments such as the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms, and “good-faith dialogue” that includes all major Christian traditions.

Religious Freedom

SACOFF said it remained committed to constructive engagement with the commission and all organs of state but would continue to defend "constitutional religious freedom" without compromise.

“Our position remains unchanged: SACOFF remains firmly committed to upholding the constitutional right to freedom of religion, belief, and association for all South Africans, while equally supporting the protection of individuals who may be harmed by criminal conduct within religious spaces.

“SACOFF supports lawful, transparent, and evidence-based measures that address criminality. However, SACOFF does not support the imposition of state control over religion, which undermines constitutional freedoms, is unnecessary in light of existing legal frameworks, and is neither practical nor sustainable,” the Pretoria-based organisation said. 

SACOFF stated that, without assigning blame or adjudicating the claims, it “cannot ignore the fact that several long-standing concerns raised publicly and formally by SACOFF have now been explicitly confirmed” by Xulu.

The organisation said it had over the past months warned about allegations of procedural irregularities in the establishment and operations of the Section 22 Committee, a lack of transparency and clarity around its mandate, and undue interference undermining the committee’s independence, and a “growing drift from genuine self-regulation toward legislated control of religion by the state”.

Xulu’s resignation comes while a national consultation process was underway after the release of a draft framework on internal governance and accountability, a code of ethical and professional conduct, and legal and regulatory compliance for the religious sector.

The CRL previously said it started the regulatory formulation process to deal with devastating reports of exploitation, where the vulnerable have been fed false promises and harmful substances, and suffered other forms of abuse in places of religion meant to offer sanctuary.