This past week we have received two notifications from the Secretary of the COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee advising us that they have again changed the dates for these hearings. The last one – received after close of business yesterday – reads as follows:
Please note that the above-mentioned committee will no longer be meeting on the issue of the CRL Report on 12 and 13 September 2017. The committee is dealing with a piece of legislation that was scheduled to be finalised by 6 September, but due to the challenging nature of the bill this will now only be finalised by 14 September.
The Committee apologizes for the inconvenience this may cause. The Committee will put 2 days aside in the 4th term to deal with the matter. Everyone will be informed in due time of the new dates for this engagement.
As you may be aware, this Committee was formerly due to meet on the CRL’s Report on Regulation of Religion and Abuse of People’s Beliefs on Wednesday 13th – Thursday 14th September 2017.
Of interest is that FOR SA was further informed verbally that they have received over 200 submissions and requests for opportunities to make verbal presentations, so the response has been almost overwhelming. They admitted that they have a problem on their hands because they can only accommodate 10 – 15 oral presentations in a day. This may well have contributed towards their decision to cancel because, yet again, only a fraction of the voice of the religious community would have been heard on this matter. On the positive side, it is a clear indication to them that – contrary to the statements made by the CRL when they made their presentation on June 27th – there is massive and broad-based opposition to the recommendations in the CRL’s report.
FOR SA takes this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken the time to make their voices heard in defense of this battle to prevent the State from taking control of the religious sector.
We continue to urge those who have not yet been able to send in a submission or to request the opportunity to make a verbal presentation to visit the FOR SA website. On the Home Page, in the image slider, you can click to download a pro-forma submission which you can cut/paste and amend as you see fit. This document also contains the contact details for the COGTA Committee, to whom this must be sent. We suggest that you specifically request the opportunity to make a verbal presentation in the covering email that you will send to the COGTA Committee Secretary, together with your written submission.
We trust this is helpful to you and assure you that we will continue to keep you updated with any new developments that we may learn.
Support FOR SAFreedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) is dedicated to protecting and preserving the freedoms and rights that the South African Constitution has granted to the faith community. You can help FOR SA protect our freedom by:
Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) is dedicated to protecting and preserving the freedoms and rights that the South African Constitution has granted to the faith community. If you have found this helpful, please consider supporting the work of FOR SA to protect our constitutional right to enjoy the freedom of religion by:
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NOTE & DISCLAIMER
FOR SA currently has a support base of religious leaders and individuals representing +/- 6 million people across a broad spectrum of churches, organisations, denominations and faith groups in South Africa.
FOR SA is not registered as a law firm and therefore cannot (and does not) give legal advice for which we can attract any legal liability; neither can we charge legal fees for our services.
