Attention: Editors and Reporters
11 SEPTEMBER 2022
The South African Human Rights Commission in Gauteng will visit Bheki Mlangeni District Hospital on 11 September 2023.
The visit follows the Commission’s investigation in 2021 following media reports that shed light on a number of incidents that brought the safety of patients and staff into question. There were further allegations of maladministration and the ill-treatment of staff at the hospital.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
11 SEPTEMBER 2023
The Gauteng Provincial Office is celebrating International Literacy Day by donating books and human rights materials to a Seitsing Primary School and Mohaung Primary School in Tokoza.
International Literacy Day (ILD) celebrations take place worldwide annually to remind the public of the importance of literacy and to advance the literacy agenda towards a more literate and sustainable society. South Africa ranked last out of 57 countries assessed in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which tested the reading ability of 400,000 students globally in 2021.
08 September 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission in KwaZulu Natal (the Commission) in partnership with the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education (DoE), and other stakeholders, will conduct workshops in preparation for the Provincial Oral Rounds of the National Schools Moot Court Programme (NSMCP). The Commission and DoE following the workshops, will host the Provincial Oral Rounds at the Durban Magistrate Court.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
8 September 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission working in partnership with the Eastern Cape Education Department, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and University of Fort Hare will host the provincial rounds of the National Schools Moot Court Programme (NSMCP) this weekend. The provincial oral rounds consist of ten (10) participating schools with the aim of selecting a provincial team of four (4) successful schools to represent the Eastern Cape at the national rounds to be held in Gauteng at the Constitutional Court later this year.
06 September 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC/ Commission) welcomes the Western Cape Equality Court’s Judgement which was handed down on Monday, 21 August 2023, in the matter of South African Human Rights Commission v Oscar Peter Bougardt.
In 2013, the SAHRC instituted proceedings against Oscar Peter Bougardt (Rev Bougardt) regarding discriminatory statements he made against gay and lesbian people between the period October 2011 and November 2012.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
06 September 2023
The SAHRC Western Cape provincial office working in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and Legal Aid South Africa hosted the provincial oral rounds of the National Schools Moot Court Programme, at the Paarl Magistrates Courts on 26 August 2023. The oral round was a platform used to gauge the participating schools with the aim of selecting a provincial team to represent the Western Cape at the national rounds to be held in Gauteng later this year.
Monday, 04 September 2023
The National Development Plan (NDP) envisions the transformation of human settlements and the spatial economy to create a functionally integrated, balanced, and vibrant urban settlement by 2030. The NDP, however, only refers homeless people once, when stating that the relocation of homeless people should be the responsibility of the Department of Social Development and not the police.
THEME- "GOOD GOVERNANCE STARTS AT HOME’
Attention: Editors and Reporters
04 September 2023
Through an extensive consultation process, the South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) has conceptualised an intervention targeted at modifying the country's current direction, which appears to be at odds with the values of the democratic state, united in its diversity, as the Constitution envisions. A good and harmonious family system is more than just and legacy. Sustainable families and communities adhere to guiding principles that promote trust, accountable power, the advancement of rights, the protection of the vulnerable and open communication. The Social Harmony Through National Effort (SHiNE) project, speaks to good change from the ground up, such as having family meetings to explore minimising sources of disharmony in the home, increasing communal engagement, locating platforms with meaningful connections and ubuntu.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
01 September 2023
The provincial oral rounds of the School Moot Court competition will be hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission in collaboration with the Free State Education Department, the University of the Free State, and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
1 September 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) in Limpopo Provincial Office will be conducting monitoring in places of detention and stakeholder engagements aimed at curbing tribalism in Limpopo, Vhembe District Municipality.
01 September 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The Northern Cape Provincial Office of the South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) will participate in the Provincial Finals of the 2023 National Schools Moot Court Programme in Kimberley. The programme will be held in conjunction with the Northern Cape Provincial Department of Education and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. The programme brings together selected school learners across the province to engage in mock trial scenarios that test their advocacy skills and legal knowledge.
31 August 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or SAHRC) has learned with grief and sadness of the fire that has engulfed the five storey Usindiso building on the corner of Delvers and Alberts Streets in Marshalltown, Johannesburg. The Commission wishes to convey its condolences to those who lost their relatives and friends in this tragedy and to wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured. At the time of writing this statement, reports indicated that more than 70 fatalities and more than 50 injuries had been recorded.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
29 August 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) in Mpumalanga will be conducting a capacity building workshop aimed at empowering Emakhosikati Structure (Wives to Traditional Leaders) on human rights and gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). The Commission has identified the Emakhosikati Structure in the province as a strategic stakeholder to be equipped on the subject to empower communities that are confronted by issues of human rights violations daily.
25 August 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
2023 marks 110 years since the enactment of the Natives Land Act of 1913 (Act). The Act enforced a legal limit to African land ownership situated in reserves and homelands to seven percent (7%). The Act further prohibited Africans from entering into any agreement or transaction for the purchase, hire, or other acquisition from a person other than a native.
In an effort to provide redress of this unjust act, Section 25 of the Constitution affirms that a person or community dispossessed of property after 19 June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws is entitled to either restitution of the property or to equitable redress.
22 August 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The Northern Cape Provincial Office will be conducting a community human rights champions workshop in Douglas. The workshop is dedicated to empowering individuals and organisations who are at the forefront of advocating for human rights and social justice within their communities.
22 August 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
Then South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC) in Free State together with Legal Aid South Africa will be embarking on the legal clinics across Letsemeng Local Municipality, in Xhariep district between 21 – 25 August 2023. The purpose of these clinics among others, is to educate citizens about their rights as enshrined in chapter two of the Constitution.
21 August 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
In an ongoing effort to champion human rights and foster a more equal, inclusive, tolerant and diverse society in South Africa different stakeholders and role-players will be coming together for a crucial dialogue on equality, inclusivity, tolerance, and diversity. By bringing together a wide spectrum of perspectives and expertise, the dialogue seeks to explore strategies that will lead to a meaningful change at individual, societal and systemic levels. The dialogue will serve as a platform for open discussions on the progress made and challenges faced in the pursuit of equal rights for all citizens of South Africa. It recognizes the collective responsibility to build a nation where equality, inclusivity, tolerance and diversity are not only celebrated but also embraced as a source of strength.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
18 AUGUST 2023
The SAHRC in Eastern Cape will be embarking on various monitoring activities in Sarah Baartman District Municipality and Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. Section 184 (1) (c) of the South African Constitution states that the Commission must monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic.
Understanding PAIA
The Human Rights Commission is the national institution established to support constitutional democracy. It is committed to promote respect for, observance of and protection of human rights for everyone without fear or favour.
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