Make yourself heard

SA – It is important for all South Africans to be involved in the development of new legislature. The last day for you to make any comments on the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill is Friday 1 October.

What is a Bill?
A bill is a draft version of a law. Most bills are drawn up by a government department under the direction of the relevant minister or deputy minister.

This kind of bill must be approved by the Cabinet before being submitted to Parliament. A bill becomes an Act of Parliament and Law of the Land when the President signs it, declaring it as law. 

Section 4 (2)(d) ‘Offence of hate speech’ of the bill states:
the bona fide interpretation and proselytising or espousing of any religious tenet, belief, teaching, doctrine or writings, to the extent that such interpretation and proselytization does not advocate hatred that constitutes incitement to cause harm, based on one or more of the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(a). 

It is the interpretation part of this section that concerns several religious leaders, because a clear intention for one person can be interpreted as something totally different for another person.

Make yourself heard.
You can read through the bill and its latest amendments at: https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/hcbill/B9-2018-HateCrimesBill.pdf If you would like to see anything being omitted or added to the bill, please make your voice heard. 

You can do it by submitting your opinion on https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/hate-speech/ or send your submission to Mr V Ramaano on Hatecrimes@parliament.gov.za.

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