The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela cordially invites you to attend the Inaugural lecture of Professor Helena van Coller, entitled: "Secular or Sacred? Regulating Religion in South Africa"

Title and abstract: Secular or Sacred? Regulating Religion in South Africa

‘Devilsdorp’, a South African true-crime documentary television series had South Africans glued to their seats as it depicted and analysed the 11 killings in Krugersdorp, West Rand by the group Electus per Deus between 2012 to 2016, dubbed the Appointment Murders. And who can forget the Mancoba Seven Angels massacre in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape, and the various reports on pastor Timothy Omotoso and Prophet Shepherd Bushiri? It is against this backdrop that the question of whether the state should regulate religion was raised again. South Africa is a multi-religious country and is home to a wide variety of religious traditions. Religion has been legislated since the middle of the 1600s through various legislative enactments. Although most sought to uphold and protect certain religious tenets as opposed to regulating them, this has changed over the years, and religious institutions are subject to and are being regulated through numerous laws and regulations. The preamble of the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms highlights the fact that the constitutional recognition and protection of the right to freedom of religion is an important mechanism for the equitable regulation of the relationship between the state and religious institutions. However, religious communities and leaders argue that they are already ‘overregulated’, which can create the danger of violating communities’ right to freedom of religion. So, the question is, where do we draw the line between the secular and the sacred?

Please join at: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fOqmD9_2Q6e72NFraOXsJA