21 February 2017

South African continues to be characterised by deep and growing inequalities‚ says the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

The human rights watchdog was presenting its Human Rights Budget Speech in Johannesburg‚ which was delivered by Daniel McLaren‚ senior researcher at the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII).

21 February 2017

The South African Human Rights Commission has voiced its "strong condemnation" for acts of violence directed at foreign nationals.

Commenting on community violence in Pretoria West over the weekend and on Monday and in Rosettenville‚ Johannesburg‚ in the preceding week‚ the commission said in a statement: "We understand that the police are still investigating the facts relating to the two incidents and would wait until the investigation yields more information. The Commission is against and condemns any violent attacks on persons on the basis that they are foreign nationals and any destruction of property as both violate human rights of people‚ despite the reason."

20 February 2017

The SAHRC has been asked to investigate whether more patients died outside of Gauteng.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will investigate whether more psychiatric patients have died in provinces besides Gauteng as a result of being moved from Life Esidimeni centres in the country to NGOs, according to The Star.

17 February 2017

Racist and inflammatory comments on social media against people of Chinese descent will not be tolerated‚ said the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

The Chinese Commission in Braamfontein‚ Johannesburg‚ laid a complaint with the SAHRC on Friday in connection with comment posted on social media‚ saying they incited violence and harm against Chinese people and their children.

16 February 2017

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has concluded its national hearing on racism and social media in South Africa and says a report will be out in two months.

The two day event was a response to the overwhelming amount of complaints the commission receives that are related to race or racism.

16 February 2017

JOHANNESBURG – An investigative hearing into racism and social media kicked off in Braamfontein, Johannesburg on Wednesday at the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC’s) offices.

The SAHRC engaged with key stakeholders, including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the SA Police Service (SAPS), and Helen Suzman Foundation on their submissions of what measures can be used to punish racial hate speech on the social media platforms.

15 February 2017

Johannesburg - Social media platforms should not be used as a scapegoat for the rise in hate speech online because they only mirror what society already feels, a Facebook representative said on Wednesday.

Blaming social media platforms for this would be unfair, as their main purpose was to encourage freedom of expression, director of public policy for Facebook’s Africa division Ebele Okobi said.

15 February 2017

Former Constitutional Judge Justice Albie Sachs says there is no silver bullet to cure racism on social media.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is hosting a two day national hearing on the scourge.

15 February 2017

Johannesburg - Once the draft Prevention of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill has been finalised and written into law, it will increase the workload of the NPA, the prosecuting authority says.

The NPA will be tasked with prosecuting all the matters. The Director of Public Prosecutions in Pretoria, Sibongile Mzinyathi, was speaking to reporters at the SA Human Rights Commission on Wednesday during a two-day public hearing into racism and social media.

06 February 2017

Durban - The FW de Klerk Foundation has made its submissions to the South African Human Rights Commission on racism and social media in South Africa.

The foundations spokesperson, Dr Theuns Eloff, said hearings were scheduled to take place on February 15 and 16, this year.