“Sacred Stuff”: Indigenous Religions in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Christine M. Venter is a teaching professor and an affiliate in the Global Human Rights Clinic at Notre Dame Law School and is an affiliated faculty in the Gender Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame. This post is based on her presentation at the ICLRS 32nd Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2025, at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.
A nation, David Chidester tells us, is “made out of sacred stuff.” Nowhere is that more apparent than when examining the rich religious diversity of South Africa. According to the most recent (2022) South African census figures, approximately 73% of the population identifies as Christian, 14% report affiliation with “unspecified” religions, while affiliates of African Indigenous Religions (AIRs) make up 7% of the population. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Bahá’ís respectively account for 1–2% or less of the population. Although the census has been criticized for its methodology and questionable accuracy, it provides some insight into the myriad religions that comprise the South African population. However, it fails to fully capture the fact that some adherents of AIRs combine indigenous beliefs and practices with those of Christian or other major religions, seeing no incompatibility between the two.
