ABSTRACT

For religious communities, it is particularly important that the right to believe includes the right to manifest those beliefs everywhere, also in the public sphere. Religious tolerance is accordingly not only important to those individuals who are saved from having to make excruciating choices between their beliefs and the law. Religious groups and communities must assert their rights and take their concerns to court, if not able to resolve them through other means. The educational and informative role of the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission can particularly assist the poorer religious communities in the remote and rural areas of South Africa, where people are potentially more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by religious leaders. Public authorities must themselves refrain from making any adverse distinctions against, or giving undue preference to, individuals or groups of individuals with regard to this right.