Section 15(1) of the Bill of Rights provide us with an important and fundamental right and that is: ‘the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion’. But what does this right really mean?

It is important to first understand what ‘religious freedom’ means. Religious freedom means that a person should be free to follow or not to follow any belief system which he likes, provided that the following of such belief system does not infringe the rights and beliefs of others. Believe it or not freedom of religion also means the right to have no religion.

The second important aspect is that freedom of religion is much more encompassing, it includes the right (1) to have a belief, (2) to express such a belief in practice, (3) to  manifest such belief by way of practice, worship,  teaching and dissemination Freedom of religion further includes: ritual practice, wearing religious attire, raising one’s children in the religious teachings, observing dietary restrictions, having property rights regarding places of worship, possessing and publishing liturgical and educational materials.

The third important aspect of section 15 is that the Constitution only protects the religious belief, but does not recognise the observance of the rules of the religion (the religious law). The essence of the protection of religious freedom is thus that all religions or non-religions have to be equally and neutrally regulated, and that the State is under obligation to encourage tolerance and respect towards beliefs among society.