Schools cannot promote one religion, judge affirms
Public schools are not allowed to promote a single religion and school governing bodies must develop a pluralistic attitude on religion in education, the High Court in Johannesburg has ruled, reaffirming state policy.
Six schools — Randhart Primary in Alberton, Baanbreker Primary in Boksburg, Garsfontein Primary in Pretoria, Linden High in Johannesburg, Oudtshoorn High and Langenhoven Gymnasium in Oudtshoorn — were singled out by the Organisasie vir Godsdienste-Onderrig en Demokrasie (Ogod) for adhering to a Christian ethos.
It argued it was unconstitutional to run a single-religion public school as it infringed on the right of freedom of religion.
Ogod founder Hans Pietersen welcomed the ruling, saying it was not the job of schools to instruct children on how to be religious, especially in the case of these schools in which the only religion was Christianity.
Judge Willem van der Linde ruled that a public school could not promote or allow its staff to adhere to only one, or predominantly only one religion, to the exclusion of others. Religious practices could be conducted at state or state-aided institutions, he said, provided that such acts followed rules made by the appropriate public authorities and were conducted on an equitable and voluntary basis.
The national policy on education and religion stipulated that all religious rights were protected, but no religion ought to dominate others. The school was an organ of the state and it could, therefore, not serve as an indoctrinating facility, but had to reflect the diverse nature of the school community.
The judgment was welcomed by the Department of Basic Education, which said the ruling was consistent with the department’s policy, informed by the South African Schools Act and the Constitution.
However, Gauteng’s policy on education gives school governing bodies power to design and implement religion-related activities at schools at a grassroots level. Judge van der Linde said school governing bodies had the responsibility to take into consideration the rights of all students to not offend section 7 of the Schools Act, 84 of 1996.
“We have found that neither school nor school governing body can say they subscribe to a specific religion,” he said.