2007-12-19 23:00:58 - The ruling by the South African Revenue Services (SARS), South Africa is the latest in a series of important recognitions for the Scientology religion in 2007.

In announcing that the Revenue Services issued the Church a certificate approving its status as a 'Public Benefit Organization' the president of the Church in South Africa, Ryan Hogarth, said, "We are ecstatic. This is a memorable and historic day for us as it provides us with an even better opportunity to serve our community and Scientologists."

Scientology first came to

South Africa in the 1950s. In 1960, Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard traveled to South Africa to personally direct the fledgling church that was established in Johannesburg.

Scientologists exposed human rights abuses in the 1970s, when Freedom Magazine (www.freedommag.org) learned that 10,000 natives had been labeled as mental patients and were being held as virtual prisoners in nine facilities where they were being hired out as an involuntary slave labor force. When the magazine published reports exposing these human rights crimes, the racist government reacted by enacting measures making it a crime for news media to report on conditions in any psychiatric facility.

Freedom took its information to the United Nations, which directed the World Health Organisation (WHO) to investigate, resulting in the conclusion that the misery and exploitation in the camps was tantamount to "the ownership and trading of slaves." Through its work in this field Freedom was eventually instrumental in the enacting of a charter for the protection of patients' rights in South Africa.

At the grand opening of the new Church of Scientology of Johannesburg in 2003, Dr. Ben Ngubane, South Africa's Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology said, "I think it is highly appropriate that I thank the Church of Scientology ... for exposing the most horrendous practices of the apartheid system of mental treatment of people."

Scientologists have continued working to improve conditions in their country with education programs, human rights activities, drug prevention programs and by providing one-on-one help as Volunteer Ministers. For more information visit www.scientology.org.za