Is blasphemy illegal in South Africa?
Criminal offense
South Africa has common law blasphemy offense, though rarely prosecuted since the 20th century.
South Africa is one of 40 countries classified “Criminal offense” for blasphemy — 70% of the 57 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Blasphemy law
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Tanzania
- Criminal offense Tanzania criminalizes acts of sacrilege and wounding religious feelings with imprisonment up to 2 years.
- Seychelles
- Criminal offense Seychelles criminalizes wounding religious feelings with up to one year imprisonment.
- Nigeria
- Criminal offense Nigeria criminalizes blasphemy under its Criminal Code and Sharia law in some states.
- Sudan
- Criminal offense Sudan criminalizes insulting religion with imprisonment, fines, and lashes under Section 125.
- Yemen
- Death penalty possible Blasphemy in Yemen can carry the death penalty under Islamic law, with some interpretations prescribing death for such offenses.
- Saudi Arabia
- Death penalty possible Saudi Arabia prescribes death penalty for blasphemy under Sharia law.
Other laws in South Africa
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Flag Desecration
- Legal / protected speech
- Conversion Therapy
- Partial ban
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.