The possibility of shechita–Jewish ritual slaughter–being outlawed in the Union of South Africa has been raised by a private bill introduced by Dr. V. L. Shearer, Conservative, in the House of Assembly, the lower house of the national legislature.
During debate on the bill, Dr. Shearer attacked shechita because it did not provide for stunning the animal before slaughter and deplored the “cruelty” practiced in kosher abbatoirs. Dr. Shearer asked for the appointment of a commission to study shechita. He was followed in the debate by Nationalist deputy J. Scholtz who demanded that the “dreadful barbarity” of ritual slaughter be halted.
A spokesman for the government, however, said he would prefer to have a memorandum from the Animal Welfare Organization on the type of legislation it would prefer. Then this memorandum could be brought before the House and studied by a special commission, he added.
Earlier this session, when the government introduced a measure designed to curb certain practices in slaughter, Dr. Henry Gluckman asked for assurance that this bill would not interfere with Jewish religious practices. He was told by a government spokesman that the exemption for religious practices contained in the original slaughter bill would be retained in the new version. Before the current session, even Dr. Shearer assured a Jewish delegation that he did not contemplate interference with shechita.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
