Siyakholwa – We Believe: A case study on the mediatisation of religion education and religious pluralism

Abstract

Siyakholwa is the first children’s multi-faith programme series to be screened on South African television. The programme foregrounds teaching about “religion, religions, and religious diversity” (Chidester, 2008, p. 278). This paper conceptualises Siyakholwa as a product of the 2003 Religion in Education policy, and consequently examines the extent to which the constitutional ideal of religious pluralism is mediated through the content of the programme. This paper argues that the example of Siyakholwa presents an opportunity to understand the ways in which religion in public education has been defined and redefined through the constitutional, cultural, and transformational aspirations of the post-apartheid state.