20 July 2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission has partnered with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies and the Nelson Mandela Foundation to host a day of dialogue, memory and nation-building, reckoning with the “July Unrest” by invoking the legacies of Sanusi Credo Mutwa and Chief Albert Luthuli. The convening will take place on the 21st of July 2023 - Sanusi Credo Mutwa's birthday and the anniversary of the passing on of Chief Luthuli.

17 July 2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is mandated in terms of section 184(1) to promote respect for human rights and a culture of human rights, to promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights, as well as to monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic of South Africa. This mandate provides the Commission with an opportunity to ensure redress, and to ensure that the culture of human rights is upheld in the country.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

14 July 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission has partnered with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies and the Nelson Mandela Foundation to host a day of dialogue, memory and nation-building, reckoning with the “July Unrest” by drawing on the legacies of Sanusi Credo Mutwa and Chief Albert Luthuli. The convening will take place on the 21st of July, 2023 - Sanusi Credo Mutwa's birthday and the anniversary of the passing on of Chief Luthuli.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

11 July 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission’s (“the Commission”) in Northern Cape will be conducting various monitoring activities in Pixely Ka Seme District Municipality District. Section 184 (1) (c) of the Constitution states that, the Commission must monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic.  The role of monitoring and assessing potential and actual human right violations provides the Commission with an opportunity to ensure redress and to ensure that human rights are upheld in the Republic.

11 July 2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

On 11 October 2021, the South African Human Rights Commission (Commission) filed its submission as Third-Party Intervener before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the matter of Semenya v Switzerland (application no. 10934/21). This is the first time for the Commission to be involved in human rights litigation in an international forum. Its engagement thus marks a significant milestone in its work regarding gender equality.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

5 July 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission in Limpopo will hold meetings with the Lephalale Local Municipality and the Matimba Power Station Management.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

4 July 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission Gauteng Provincial Office (GPO) will meet with the City of Johannesburg to receive feedback on complaints where the City of Johannesburg is involved. The SAHRC will in particular solicit feedback on the City’s implementation of the Commission’s recommendations in the Alexandra Report.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

28 JUNE 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is a state institution established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 to support constitutional democracy. The Commission is mandated in terms of Section 184 of the Constitution to promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights and to monitor the observance of such rights within the Republic of South Africa.

01 July 2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) has written to the office of the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa to seek the intervention of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster on the plight of the members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement (AbM).

Attention: Editors and Reporters

Friday, 30 June 2023

July 2023 will mark two years since the catastrophic events of the 2021 civil unrest that occurred mainly in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. During July 2023, the South African Human Rights Commission (Commission / SAHRC), together with multiple partners, will host a series of programmes which address the social issues and problems invoked by the July Unrest. The overarching theme guiding the July 2023 calendar is informed by the Commission’s Social Harmony National Initiative (SHiNE) and will focus on the inter-related themes of ‘poverty’, ‘inequality’ and ‘dignity’.

27 June 2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission with Department of Health and Civil Society Organisations will be conducting a stakeholder engagement on teenage pregnancy in Paul Roux. Every year in the month of June, South Africans commemorate the events of 16 June 1976. The uprising began in Soweto and spread across the country, radically changing South Africa's socio-political landscape. The rise of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and the formation of the South African Students' Organization (SASO) sparked political interest in many students, while others joined the wave of anti-apartheid sentiment within the student community.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

27 June 2023

The right to basic education is an immediate right in the Republic of South Africa and therefore, there should be no barriers in accessing and enjoying this right. The 2019 Phakamisa High School case confirmed that clauses 15 and 21 of the Admission Policy for Ordinary Public Schools was invalid and unconstitutional. The Court further declared that the Eastern Cape Education Department Circular 6 of 2016 was invalid as it caused a barrier for learners to access school nutrition due to the lack of documentation.

26 June 2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

Today, 26 June 2023, is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. On this day, the global community unites in solidarity and acknowledges the challenges faced by victims of torture. This day marks the coming into force of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) on 26 June 1987. The UNCAT is the binding international instrument prohibiting torture – a prohibition that section 12 of our Bill of Rights also entrenches.