15 November 2017

press release

The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or SAHRC) will host a National Investigative Hearing on the Status of Mental Health Care in South Africa, on Tuesday, 14 November 2017 until Wednesday, 15 November 2017 at the SAHRC Head Office in Johannesburg. In handing down his report into the Esidimeni debacle, the Health Ombud, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, recommended that the Commission be requested to undertake, nationally, a systematic and systemic review of human rights compliance and possible violations nationally related to mental health in South Africa. The National Investigative Hearing (the Hearing) is therefore a direct response to that recommendation and aims at looking at the national picture on mental health care.

15 November 2017

Government departments, regulatory bodies, civil society organisations, and researchers are among those taking part in the two day hearings.

The Human Rights Commission will on Tuesday morning begin its national investigative hearings into the status of mental healthcare in the country.

15 November 2017

The hearings are aimed at addressing any violations of mental healthcare in the country following the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

JOHANNESBURG - The Department of Health says it doesn’t have a policy of deinstitutionalisation of mental health care in South Africa.

15 November 2017

The commission has concluded its first day of hearings looking at mental healthcare in South Africa.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it’s become apparent that psychiatric patients need to be heard.

16 November 2017

Until 2016‚ the Mpumalanga health department had always depended on Gauteng to take in its patients in need of mental healthcare, as it does not have a psychiatric hospital of its own.

17 November 2017

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi requested the commission to investigate the sector after the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

17 November 2017

Still determined to deal with Joburg Illegal migrants the city mayor Herman Mashaba has once again given the Home Affairs department an ultimatum to strategize plans to deal with the situation. The Mayor who has been uptight with his plans to totally rid the city off illegal immigrants has once again resounded a note of warning to the immigration department to do something before he does. The Home Affairs department has until Friday next week to advise what specific measures‚ plans and interventions it will take to deal with Joburg Illegal migrants

It seems unlikely that the Zimbabwe situation – even though seeming to satisfy the elements of a coup, albeit in slow motion – will be defined as such. By MARTIN NSIBIRWA and PEACEMORE MHODI.

he phenomenon of unconstitutional changes of government within the African context is one that is supposedly regarded as a serious matter. Views abound that it was actually intended to safeguard unconstitutional change of governments that were in power even against the will of the people. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor to the African Union (AU), has given much attention to the issue of unconstitutional change of government. At least three policy instruments at a continental level address the issue of unconstitutional change of government. These are, first, the Declaration on the Framework for an OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes of Government (Lomé Declaration), second, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (Addis Charter), and third, the Constitutive Act of the AU (Constitutive Act).

21 November 2017

Every year the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance assesses the performance of all 54 African countries in categories such as human rights, the rule of law, sustainable economic opportunities and human development.

21 November 2017

Dispute on Eastern Cape farm after video shows farmer pulling down family's home extension.

On 1 November Marissa Human watched part of her home being dismantled by the owner of the farm where she stays. The incident was caught on video and circulated on the Baviaanskloof Land Claims Committee Whatsapp chat group.