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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:
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”).
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.
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.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.
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.
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
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”.
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.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
27 October 2021
Section27(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa determines that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient water. In order to fulfil this right, the Water Services Act of 1997 determines that Water Services Authorities have the responsibility to ensure access to water supply and sanitation services within their respective constituencies. The Act further provides the regulatory framework and financial assistance to Water Services Institutions. Municipalities who are appointed in terms of this Act as Water Services Authorities thus have a crucial and direct role to play in providing everyone, including vulnerable communities, with access to water supplies.
Date: 25 October 2021
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The Free State Provincial Office (FSPO), of South African Human Rights Commission will be conducting a workshop on the functionality of the Equality Courts on the 25th of October 2021. The Equality Courts’ purpose is to decide matters precisely relating to violations of the right to equality, hate speech and unfair discrimination, and this is towards eliminating the effects of apartheid which essentially divided the country along gender, racial and economic class.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
25 October 2021
On Tuesday, 26 October 2021, the South African Human Rights Commission will host a launch of its report into the sewage pollution of the City of Tshwane’s rivers and the Roodeplaat Dam.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights celebrates 40 years since its adoption on 27 June 1981. The Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA), the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (CHR), are jointly hosting a virtual celebratory event.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The SAHRC KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Office will conduct Human Rights Champions’ Training with Community Advice Offices located in the UMgungundlovu and EThekwini Municipalities.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in partnership with the Hennenman Victim Empowerment Centre will be hosting a Human Rights Calendar day event on the right to food. The human rights calendar event has been a recurring event, forming a part of the Commission’s strategic focus in 2021-2022 again, with the objective of deepening the understanding of human rights so as to entrench a culture of human rights.
19 October 2021
The scourge of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has been and remains a grave pandemic which has a disproportionate impact on women and girl children within South Africa. The plight and suffering of women and children have untold and telling negative impacts on communities and the country as a whole. According to Statistics South Africa’s 2020 report to Parliament on crimes against women in South Africa, approximately one in five women have experienced physical violence by a partner. This translates to 21% of the total female population, which means that every woman has either experienced GBV or knows of someone who has.
About us
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.
Sentinel House, Sunnyside Office Park, 32 Princess of Wales Terrace, Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa
011 877 3600 (Switchboard)