New amendment bill is tyrannical
THE Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Amendment Bill refers. A bill of this nature is just abusive, dictatorial, tyrannical-type leadership.
It is ludicrous. It’s arbitrary and is absolutely unnecessary. It is an uncanny coincidence that this bill is being introduced at a time when the powers that be are revising the Firearms Control Act. We are inching towards tyranny, as our constitutional rights are being eroded using stealth and deception. It has been said on multiple occasions that “The road to tyranny is always paved with good intentions”. Section 15 of the Bill of Rights as enshrined in our Constitution provides everyone the right to freedom of conscience ,religion, thought, belief and opinion. There must be constant vigilance by “we, the people” to ensure that our constitutional rights are defended.
Without our inalienable and constitutional rights, we will forfeit our humanity. Our current state of politics needs to adhere to the Constitution, for our beloved nation was founded on it. Tampering with freedom of religion is an ultra serious undertaking. To understand this, it is necessary to see how religious freedom relates to the other three freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of conscience. These four freedoms are indivisible. Without the other three, freedom of religion becomes nothing more than freedom of individual belief and freedom for private worship.
Religious freedom is supremely enshrined in our Constitution under The Bill of Rights. Constitutional supremacy is and has to be the bedrock upon which the edifice of a democracy rests. And if the foundation or the basic structure of the edifice is sought to be changed so as to invest one of the pillars of democracy with unbridled powers, the very edifice will tilt and consequently be weakened to the detriment of all law-abiding citizens, and consequently our cherished democracy. It is a proven fact that religious repression sustains authoritarian governance. It is also a proven fact that religious freedom instantiates and strengthens liberal democracy and its freedoms through the kind of activities that it allows. Our right to the free exercise of religion creates an obligation on the part of various levels of government, at the very least, to refrain from interfering in how we choose to worship. Our struggle heroes and beloved Madiba struggled to free us from bondage. Surely we cannot be enslaved again with a proposed bill like PEPUDA, which will take us back 30 years. This is not the ANC that I fought and voted for.
FAROUK ARAIE |