Attention: Editors and Reporters

06 December 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission will conduct various monitoring of schools, places of older persons, persons living with disabilities detention centres, equality courts and vaccination sites will be conducted.

02 DECEMBER 2021

Attention: Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) will celebrate the launch of the new offices of the Gauteng Provincial Office and the Head Office. The GPO and Head Office have relocated from Forum 3, 33 Hoofd Street, Braamfontein to JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein Johannesburg.

25 November 2021

Attention:  Editors and Reporters

Last week Monday, 15 November 2021, the South African Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”), commenced its National Investigative Hearing into the July 2021 Unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces. Throughout the week, the Hearing Panel heard testimony from survivors, various community members as well as industry players in commerce and private security. Following an application by the Evidence Leaders, the Panel granted a ruling for an inspection in loco in Pietermaritzburg, Phoenix and surrounding areas and such inspection took place on Friday, 19 November 2021.

Attention: Editors and Reporters
24 November 2021


On 25 November 2021, the North West Provincial Office of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women under the theme: enhancing the effectiveness of the crime prevention and criminal justice measures to eliminate violence against women

Attention: Editors and Reporters

24 November 2021

On 24 November 2021, the North West Provincial Office of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will host a Dialogue under the theme: Enhancing awareness about mental health issues and mobilizing efforts in support of mental healthcare services in the North West Province

Attention: Editors and Reporters

22 November 2021

The Mpumalanga Provincial Office will be visiting 10 magistrate courts and 10 police stations in Gert Sibande District Municipality. The visits are aimed at rolling out the equality toolkit and to raise awareness on the functionality of the equality courts among the court and South African Police Services (SAPS) officials. 

22 November 2021

Attention:  Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC or the Commission) has noted with concern, messages circulating on social media which claim that the possible contamination of popular children’s food item (colloquially known as ‘2 minute noodles’) is the result of tampering with the products by foreign nationals, described as illegal immigrants.

Attention: Editors and Reporters
18 November 2021

The Commission will hold an intervention in the form of a dialogue on the standard of living conditions of farm dwellers living on site in the Eastern Cape Province. The dialogue will be held on:

Attention: Editors and Reporters

17 NOVEMBER 2021

The Mpumalanga Provincial Office (MPO) will be hosting an information session to raise awareness on the right to healthcare in the context of COVID-19 with a specific focus on mental health under the theme: “Mental Healthcare is a Human Right”. The session is aimed at empowering men about their mental healthcare as it is severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (“the pandemic”).

16th November 2021

Attention:  Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or the SAHRC) continues its National Investigative Hearing into the July 2021 Unrest which largely affected wa-Zula Natal and Gauteng Provinces has commenced on the 15th November 2021 and will continue until the 3rd December 2021.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

16 November 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission will be conducting a human rights champions workshops from 16 to 19 November 2021. The identified human rights champions will be empowered on the mandate of the South African Human Rights Commission.

11 October 2021

ATT: Editors and Reporters

The National Investigative Hearing into the July 2021 unrest, initiated by the South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or the SAHRC), will commence on the 15th November 2021 and is planned to be heard over a three week period until the 3rd December 2021.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

8 November 2021

Notwithstanding the advice of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 (MAC), the South African Human Rights Commission has information that large numbers of primary schools around the country are continuing on rotational timetables and applied to rotate in 2022 as well.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

4 November 2021

The purpose of the engagement is to unpack the High Court judgement in the matter between the SAHRC vs Msunduzi Local Municipality and others (Case No 8407/20P), and to discuss developments relating thereto. Further to provide a platform for the relevant interested and affected stakeholders to engage on the court process, developments and canvass possible strategies that may be applicable/ relevant to the process / developments thus far

 Attention: Editors and Reporters

4 November 2021

From 27 September 2021 to 1 October 2021, the Commission in Mpumalanga conducted an investigative inquiry into service delivery challenges within local municipalities in Mpumalanga. The inquiry followed service delivery complaints against various local municipalities in Mpumalanga over the years. The issues raised in the various complaints included the failure by municipalities to provide water and housing, sewage spillages, sewage treatment challenges, electricity outages, non-collection of refuse and potholes on the roads.

29 October 2021

Welcome to this, the second monthly media briefing by the South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission).
The mandate of the Commission is the broadest of all Chapter 9 institutions. In terms of its mandate it is thus responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights as well as monitoring and assessing the observance of all the rights in the Bill of Rights.  

Attention: Editors and Reporters

29 October 2021

Worldwide adherents to the Hindu faith celebrate the festival of Diwali, also known as Deepavali – the “row of lights” - to commemorate the triumph of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. In Hindu culture, light is a powerful metaphor for knowledge and consciousness and also a reminder of the preciousness of education, self-inquiry and improvement.

 

Attention: Editors and Reporters

Thursday, 28 October 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the South African Police Service (SAPS), in collaboration with the National Department of Health (NDoH), will be hosting the second annual Human Rights and Policing Lecture entitled “The Intersection of Persons with Psychosocial and Intelelctual Disabilities with the Criminal Justice System – The Case of State Patients and MHCUs in Places of Deprivation of Liberty”.

Attention Editors and Reporters

28 October 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC or the Commission) in line with its Constitutional mandate, will host the second of its regular, monthly media briefings, on Friday the 29th October 2021 at 11:00 AM.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

27 October 2021

Since the famous hate speech case of July 2008 by Jonathan Qwelane, a prominent South African journalist, whose article titled, “Call me names – but gay is NOT okay,” wrote “[t]he real problem, as I see it, is the rapid degradation of values and traditions by the so-called liberal influences of nowadays; you regularly see men kissing other men in public, walking holding hands and shamelessly flaunting what have misleadingly termed their ‘lifestyle’ and ‘sexual preferences”. Moreover, to the not so recent cases of Adam Catzavelos posting a video of himself on a Greek beach where he expressed his joy at not seeing a single black person and uses the K-word, and Penny Sparrow whose denunciation about rubbish on a beach compared black revellers to monkeys, many people started to show interest in the Equality matters, especially in big cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. However, in small cities such as Bloemfontein, many people still have to be encouraged to use such courts.  There are sectors of society that still need to be conscientised about matters relating to equality courts.