Religious leaders say sector has been singled out

Religious leaders complained bitterly about the government’s Covid-19 lockdown regulations during a Portfolio Committee on Cogta meeting on Tuesday evening – and some claimed that the religious sector had been singled out.

Representatives from the Christian, Muslim and Bahá’í faiths aired their grievances.

A general concern was what they called a lack of consultation with the religious sector on disaster management regulations. To them, it appeared that the regulations imposed restrictions on faith-based organisations that were not imposed on other sectors of society.

There was also a concern about the police’s enforcement of lockdown measures at religious gatherings– some heavy-handedly, they claimed – while contraventions at political gatherings were left unpunished.

It was also lamented that the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) didn’t take up the cudgels for religious communities.

Some of the religious leaders alleged that there was no evidence that religious gatherings were super-spreader events.

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Two representatives also suggested that the clergy should have been vaccinated along with healthcare workers.

Committee chairperson Faith Muthambi said Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and the department would respond on Thursday evening.

She also noted that the committee had resolved that FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald’s private member’s bill to amend the Disaster Management Act should be subjected to public participation.

“It is high time that the religious sector participates in the lawmaking process,” she said.

ACDP MP Steve Swart shared the religious leaders’ concerns and said Parliament was unable to impact lockdown regulations, saying that its oversight was limited.

He said it was “disgraceful that the police have been shooting” at religious communities, and sad that the CRL Rights Commission and Human Rights Commission didn’t help. Swart said he was deeply concerned by the lack of consultation.

DA MP Cilliers Brink added that a crucial element missing in South African law was that South Africans, including the religious sector, were not allowed to comment on the disaster management regulations.

FF Plus MP Michal Brink said the department should explain, in its response on Thursday, why the religious community is treated differently to businesses.

Cogta Deputy Minister Obed Bapela said the government had engaged with the religious community, and added that the lowering of initial restrictions on religious events came from this.

He said the department would present evidence on super-spreader events on Thursday.