Transforming Society
Securing Rights
Restoring Dignity
20 September 2021
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) in partnership with the Health IQ Consulting will be hosting a dialogue on ‘Dignified Rights’ which seeks to raise awareness about the vulnerability of Mental Health Care Users.
ATT: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or the SAHRC) will hold a National Investigative Hearing into the July 2021 unrest, which affected especially the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the causes of the unrest as well as the impact of the unrest on human rights. The Hearing 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
On 18 September 2021, the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) North West Provincial Office will host the oral round of the National Schools Moot Court Competition (NSMCC). The NSMCC is a collaboration between the National Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) and the SAHRC.
16 September 2021
As part of the 2021 Schools Moot Court Competition and following the success of Mpumalanga learners who participated in the essay writing phase of the competition, the Mpumalanga provincial office of the South African Human Rights Commission in collaboration with Department of Basic Education and the Department of Justice in Mpumalanga will be hosting the learners as they now take part in the provincial oral round of the competition.
ATTENTION: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) North West Provincial Office, working with the Department of Justice and Community Advice Office South Africa, will conduct capacity building workshops on the right to equality.
13 September 2021
ATT: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) launched its Position Paper and campaign on the Right to Read and Write on 8th September at the Constitutional Court (Braamfontein). The Position Paper was prepared by the Section 11 Committee on the Right to Read and Write, a formally constituted sub-committee of the South African Human Rights Commission. The Section Eleven Committee is comprised of esteemed members of academia, organisations and individuals dedicated to the advancement of education, children’s rights, education, literacy, language, disability, economic and constitutional law. The Committee’s work was ably coordinated by Prof Nic Spaull from Stellenbosch University. The project was sponsored by the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and the Zenex Foundation.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission will be hosting a virtual Moot Court preparatory workshop aimed at preparing learners from the ten participating schools, for their provincial moot court oral rounds.
09 September 2021
The South African Human Rights Commission working in partnership with the Eastern Cape Education Department, Walter Sisulu University and Fort Hare University, will host the provincial rounds of the moot court competition.
MEDIA STATEMENT: SAHRC Launches the Right to Read and Write Campaign on Wednesday 8th September 2021
ATT: Editors and Reporters
7 September 2021
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission) will launch a position paper and campaign on the Right to Read and Write on 8th September at the Constitutional Court (Braamfontein). This paper defines the core necessary conditions as well as the required outcomes or minimum standards of the right to read and write, and outlines what it means to read for meaning.
05 September 2021
The unprecedented conflicts, violence, looting and the destruction of infrastructure witnessed in the month of July 2021 and the resultant deaths in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal necessitated the two Commissions, namely, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to facilitate interventions in line with their respective mandates. Also, these interventions are in line with the President’s clarion call for all structures and organizations to do everything within their powers and mandates to contribute towards the rebuilding, reconstruction, stabilizing and normalizing of communities through partnerships and collaborative efforts that can facilitate peace, stability and community integration.
03 September 2021
The South African Human Rights Commission working in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department, Legal Aid South Africa and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development will host the provincial rounds of the moot court competition.Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (Commission) welcomes the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to grant the Commission leave to intervene as a third party in the matter of Semenya v Switzerland (application no. 10934/21). This is the first time that the Commission is involved in human rights litigation in an international forum, and also the first known occasion that the ECtHR has granted leave to intervene to an African human rights institution.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or the SAHRC) is hosting an urgent media briefing today, the 2nd September 2021 at 12:00 PM at its Western Cape Provincial Office, in Cape Town, 7th Floor ABSA building, 132 Adderley Street. The briefing will also be live streamed, the link follows below and can be viewed on our website and social media pages. All members of the media are invited to join the briefing.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission, Gauteng Provincial Office will conduct a fact-finding visit as part of its monitoring mandate at Temba Water Purification Plant and Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works, after it was reported recently that the quality of water produced at the plant has severely deteriorated leaving the City of Tshwane with no choice but to temporarily shut down the plant.
30 August 2021
The South African Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) working in collaboration with the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) will be hosting a dialogue on homelessness. This dialogue is aimed towards a human rights-based approach when dealing with homeless people living on the streets and the need to combine efforts between all stakeholders to assist with inculcating a culture of human rights.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission, Gauteng Provincial Office will be hosting a Stakeholder Engagement on the Vaal River System Intervention Implementation Plan.
ATT: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC or the Commission), is aware of messages which circulated via social media calling for a #NationalShutdown, intended for Monday the 23rd August 2021.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission, Western Cape Provincial Office will be hosting a Stakeholder Engagement on Access to Health with focus on Arthritis. This stakeholder engagement is aimed at influencing and changing policy on access to health care for persons living with or suffering from this chronic illness.
16 August 2021
The South African Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) working in collaboration with the Kuyasa Community Horizon will be hosting a capacity building workshop to amplify basic human rights awareness with specific focus on Equality aimed at popularizing the Equality Legislation and the Toolkit that was developed by the Commission.
ATT: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC or the Commission), is disappointed to see a xenophobic video, circulating on social media, of a person stating that non-nationals (“foreigners”) will not be allowed to open and / or run their “spaza” shop businesses in Soweto.
The South African Human Rights Commission.
About us
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.
Braampark Forum 3, 33 Hoofd Street, Braamfontein
011 877 3600 (Switchboard)
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