Abstract
The faculty of law of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education in corroboration with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stifttung embarked on a study on Politics, Socio-Economic Issues and Culture in Constitutional Adjudication. The aim of the project is twofold. The first aim is to analyse the influence of political, socio-economic and cultural considerations on the constitutional court’s interpretation and application of the Bill of Rights. The second aim is to develop practical guidelines (based on the findings during the analysing process) for South African courts confronted with issues of a political, socio-economic and cultural nature. This article is concerned with initiating discussions of the decisions of the constitutional court with regard to cultural and religious rights.
 Before we can explore the role of political, socio-economic and cultural (and religious) rights in the decisions of the constitutional court it is important to discuss a few preliminary issues. In this article the meaning of culture and religion within the South African context receives some attention. Secondly, some preliminary comments regarding constitutional protection of culturally and religiously based rights will be made.
 We are well aware that this is a daunting task, not only in view of the seemingly abysmal gap between the applicable constitutional rights and values enshrined in the 1996 Constitution that, in some instances over centuries, brought about customs and practices within “traditional” communities which, seemingly, infringe on certain constitutional values and rights.
 
Highlights
The 1996 Constitution and its predecessor were responsible for revolutionary changes in the constitutional history of South Africa
Coupled with that was the enactment of an entrenched Bill of Rights and the establishment of a constitutional court with final jurisdiction over constitutional matters
The task of the judiciary has been described as follows: It will be the task of the judiciary – and especially the members of the constitutional court – to vindicate the fundamental rights of those litigants who come before them
Summary
The purpose of the project on Politics, Socio-Economic Issues and Culture in Constitutional Adjudication will be to develop practical guidelines for South African courts centuries, brought about customs and practices within “traditional” communities which seemingly, infringe on some of these constitutional values and rights. People do use cultural resources in an imaginative way to draw boundaries and give “content” to different identities such as: South African, Xhosa, gangster, Communist, business woman, Rastafarian, Muslim, poor, educated, right-winger, coffee drinker or share holder In spite of these shortcomings in the definition of culture, the concept “culture” will be used in this article as a collective term describing the human condition, but with diverse expressions and practices (i.e. different languages, religions and traditions) that are used by actors to distinguish one cultural or religious group from another
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