(Constitutional Court of South Africa) A rule which prevented a Tamil-Hindu girl from wearing a nose stud which was central to her cultural and religious identity was discriminatory on religious and cultural grounds. The court rejected an argument similar to the one put forward in this case that the refusal to offer the girl an exemption to the uniform code was justified to promote uniformity and acceptable conventional among students.
Langer CJ said that the comparator group which was treated better than the claimant was those pupils: ‘whose sincere religious cultural beliefs or practices, or religious beliefs or practices are not compromised by the [Uniform] Code, as compared to those whose beliefs or practices are compromised’.
Judges:
Langer CJ
Citations:
[2007] ZACC 21
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Watkins-Singh, Regina (on the Application of) v The Governing Body of Aberdare Girls’ High School and Another Admn 29-Jul-2008
Miss Singh challenged her school’s policy which operated to prevent her wearing while at school a steel bangle, a Kara. She said this was part of her religion as a Sikh.
Held: Earlier comparable applications had been made under human rights . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional, Discrimination
Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.271242