The Constitution does not allow schools to choose to adopt religion or be a particular religion, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Wednesday. Instead, it allows religious activities to take place at schools or other state institutions, which is not the same as teachers running religious assemblies. On the second day of what could be a precedent-setting case, the Organisasie vir Godsdienste-Onderrig en Demokrasie (Ogod), represented by Section 27, is seeking an order declaring 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 six single-religion schools were singled out for having unconstitutional religious practices that did not accommodate the variety of religions that the South African Schools Act protects, other than Christianity. HP Van Nieuwenhuizen‚ one of the advocates acting for applicant Ogod chairperson, Hans Pietersen‚ argued that court judgments interpret the Constitution to...
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