Six single-religion schools were singled out on Tuesday for having unconstitutional religious practices that did not accommodate the variety of religions that the South African Schools Act protects, other than Christianity. The Act upholds the constitutional right to religion, thought and belief free from unfair discrimination whatsoever and the strict teaching of one religion has been prohibited, outside of private schools, in the country. In what could be a precedent-setting case, the Organisasie vir Godsdienste-Onderrig en Demokrasie (Ogod) represented by Section 27 sought an order from the Gauteng High Court declaring the six public schools in Gauteng and the Western Cape to be in violation of the constitution and the National Policy on Religion and Education. The policy, which is applicable to all schools, has a curricular programme on religion education that aims to teach students about religious diversity. The applicants contended before Judge Colin Lamont that because Christ...
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