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Address by the Minister of Education, Naledi

Pandor, MP, at the World Halaal Council AGM,
Civic Centre, Cape Town
13 September 2005
Professor Aisjah
Imaam Solomon
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to
be able share the opening of the World Halaal Council
Annual General Meeting (AGM) with you.
On behalf of the people and government of South
Africa, I welcome you to our country.
The aspiration for freedom that characterised our
struggle against apartheid continues to influence and
shape our society today.
In 1994 South Africans of all races began to live in and
build the "new South Africa.
We drafted a new Constitution that gave practical
expression to all that we had fought for many years: a
united South Africa, a Bill of Rights that outlaws unfair
discrimination, and protects and promotes the rule of
law.
This Constitution is our guide in all that we do, as
citizens, and as government. I have been asked to say
a few words about cultural and religious freedom in
South Africa today. In democratic South Africa we live
by a Bill of Rights that enshrines the right to religious,
cultural and linguistic freedom. Communities have the
right to enjoy their many and diverse cultures, to
practice their many and diverse religions, and to use
their many languages.
These rights are essential to the realisation of our
project of democratic transformation. I will tell you
why.
In the past religion was used as a mechanism of
exclusion, and a great deal of evil under the apartheid
system was condoned in the name of religion. Today,
under our democratic Constitution, we have put behind
us the days of religious intolerance in society and, in

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particular, in our schools.
No child feels ashamed or excluded because his or her
beliefs are not those of the majority in a school. We
cherish the values of inclusiveness and diversity. We
see religion as a path among many towards freedom.
In particular we have developed a policy for religious
freedom in our schools.
Our policy is to teach our children about religion,
religions, and religious diversity in South Africa and the
world in the formal curriculum, and to encourage
voluntary religious instruction outside the formal school
curriculum.
In addition, there are many independent religious
schools in our country, schools that instruct their pupils
in their faiths and precepts. Some of our oldest schools
are Anglican or Muslim. But they operate without state
funding.
Imagine the consequence if we were committed to a
state religion or were stuck in the old ways?
To promote a particular religion, or a prescribed set of
religions, or a particular religious perspective, would
place our learners, who come from diverse religious,
cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, at risk of
discrimination and prejudice.
Given our past, this is something that we are anxious
to avoid. Our policy enables our children to engage with
religion, as a rich heritage, as a source of moral
reflection, and as a resource for spiritual formation; in
ways that are consistent with the educational aims and
objectives of our modern school curriculum.
In this way, teaching and learning about religion and
religions forms part of the curriculum; and provides
pupils with the skills they will need to contribute to our
diverse society. This is in keeping with international
developments in the field of religion and education.
But our policy is also an innovative South African
solution. Our policy for "religion education is an
exciting and distinctively South African response to an
educational challenge faced by our society.
Our educational policy recognises the difference
between religious, theological, or confessional
interests, and the educational objectives of Religion
Education. While respecting religious interests and
valuing religious contributions to our country, the policy
charts a course for our schools to make their own,
distinctive contribution to teaching and learning about
religion in ways that will celebrate our diversity and
affirm our national unity.
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Last Modified: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:20:00 SAST
One of the guiding principles we seek to promote in
education is the recognition that our racial and
linguistic diversity is a national asset. While being a
part of Africa, we truly celebrate the fact that we have
a rich mix of people from the continent, as well as from
Europe and the East. We are proud to have 11 official
languages, and are committed to promoting the
development of all of these.
We have adherents of almost every known world
religion, as well as some you would never have heard
of, like the Zion Christian Church, a wonderful mix of
traditional and indigenous beliefs, with over two million
members.
In closing, let me repeat that the value systems of our
people are primarily constituted and reconstituted in
our schools. Many other institutions and factors will
influence and shape the development of our children,
but it is in our schools that the moral fibre of our
society is created.
It is there that we are nurturing the values that
promote democracy, anti-racism and anti-sexism.
This is the shape of the new, post-apartheid South
Africa and the democratic project of transformation
that the education system must promote.
Issued by: Department of Education
13 September 2005


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