Churches across the country have been given three weeks to make their input into the report on the commercialisation of religion‚ the Commission for Promotions and Protection of the Rights of Religious‚ Cultural and Linguistic Communities (CRL) announced on Tuesday.

On Tuesday a preliminary report was presented to religious leaders with very limited findings and the leaders were asked to make inputs.

The CRL will send an official report with definitions and detailed recommendations to church leaders and traditional healers by Friday and they will have three weeks to interrogate it and make contributions.

After contributions have been made‚ another report will be given to the religious and traditional healers for further inputs. A final report will then be written and then submitted to Parliament. The essence of this report will be to make recommendations for a regulatory environment for religious leaders and traditional healers.

The commission also looked at the role of traditional healers in the process of commercialising the healing to “unbelievable levels”. Part of it was advertising.

“Generally the findings are that there is commercialisation of religion in some and not all religious institutions. We want to fast track the legal framework. We are looking at a licensing process and a peer review mechanism so that your peers will determine whether you can still practise or not. If you practise illegally or are found wanting by your own peers...we are proposing that there should be minimum sentences that should be built [into the regulations]‚” said commissioner Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva.

Pastor Ray McCauley of Rhema Bible Church thanked the commission for the work it had done thus far.

“We are very happy about how well they have identified the problems in the country. It has been a crisis. We realise that time is of the essence and we will receive the document in the next three days and we will take it to our denominations and constituencies and will respond to that. I think there is an urgency for this and I think that we are all on the same page about the major issues. We would like to say ‘well done’ to the commission for a thorough work in their research‚” McCauley said.

In August 2015‚ the CRL Rights Commission undertook an investigative study into the commercialisation of religion

and the abuse of peoples’ belief systems‚ said the commission in a statement.

The commission undertook the study following an exposé of a Pretoria church where people were fed snakes.

Among the church leaders who appeared before the commission was “snake pastor” Penuel Mnguni‚ who also fed his followers hair‚ cloths‚ rats‚ ants and carpets.

His close friend‚ Pastor Lesego Daniels‚ who is known for feeding people grass‚ leaves and petrol‚ also appeared.

 The pair told the commission that they were instructed by God to feed people all these things‚ and added that that no one had died.

Mnguni was kicked out of Pretoria and started operating in Siyabuswa‚ Mpumalanga‚ where he took the “demonstration of the power of God” to the extreme and allegedly drove a car over two congregants. He claimed they did not suffer any injuries and were alive.