Keynote Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Michelle Bachelet,
Ambassador of the European Union to South Africa, Mr Marcus Cornaro,
Members of the diplomatic community,
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Advocate Michael Masutha,
Justices, Ministers and MECs,
5 June 2017
Good afternoon Commissioners, Good afternoon colleagues. We have come together to welcome among us the new (but not so new) Chief Executive Officer of the Commission Mr Tseliso Thipanyane. I think many of you know Tseliso very well as he is an old hand at the Commission. Tseliso can be correctly described as part of the history of this Commission and we appreciate the fact that he has remained interested in the work that we do and has the wellbeing of this institution at heart.
Presentation by Commissioner Mohamed Ameermia, SAHRC Chairperson (Acting)
The UNFCCC refers to climate change as ‘[a] change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. Read more
THE Constitution of South Africa is lauded worldwide because of its uniqueness and progressiveness.
Our judiciary in numerous judgments has reinforced the fact that South Africa is indeed a rainbow nation. In a seminal judgment, justice Albie Sachs said: “South Africans come in all shapes and sizes.” This is an affirmation of the fact that diversity and difference ought to be celebrated and cherished as it is the very thing that gives South Africa its uniqueness and nationhood among other nations.
05 October 2015
By Commissioner Lindiwe Mokate, SAHRC Commissioner responsible for Children’s Rights and Basic Education
SAHRC, its role in SA society and mandate with reference to children
The SAHRC is an independent state institution established by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Constitution) and operating within the framework of the Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (Paris Principles) adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 48/134 in 1993.
12 November 2016
By Advocate Shafie Ameermia, SAHRC Commissioner responsible for Access to Justice and Housing.
It is now trite principle that it is only just and equitable to evict unlawful occupiers if alternative accommodation is provided where an eviction would otherwise result in homelessness. The duty to provide alternative accommodation applies not only when an organ of state evicts people from their land, but also when a private landowner applies for the eviction of unlawful occupier/occupiers.
12 November 2016
By Commissioner Bokankatla Malatji, SAHRC Commissioner responsible to Disability & Older Persons
In his address to the delegates at the First Meeting between NHRIs, National Independent Monitoring Mechanisms designated under article 33.2 of the UNCRPD and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, held in Geneva on 25 September 2014, Adv Malatji called on governments to do more to promote rights of people with disability
27 November 2013
By Chairperson Lourence Mushwana, Commissioner responsible for Migration & Equality
I am honoured to address the opening gathering of the conference on business and human rights convened by the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI). I acknowledge with appreciation our host country Ghana for welcoming us to Accra and to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice for their invaluable contribution to the planning and support of this conference.
13 September 2013
By Chairperson Lourence Mushwana, Chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee for National Institutions promoting and protecting human rights (ICC)
I am honoured to address you today in my capacity as the Chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee for National Institutions promoting and protecting human rights (ICC).
13 September 2013
By Chairperson Lourence Mushwana, Commissioner responsible for Migration & Equality
Lecture delivered at the Kacheon University, South Korea
It is a great pleasure to be here with you today. I would like to thank the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and the authorities of the Gachon University for inviting me to share with you my little experience as a human rights defender/activist.
27 June 2013
By Deputy Chairperson Pregs Govender, SAHRC Deputy Chairperson responsible for Basic Services & Health Care
I would like to thank each of you, for the time you have taken to share your expertise, insights and experience with the Human Rights Commission. This conference is an important step in effecting our Constitutional-legislative mandate in relation to the right to information. Section 50 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act provides that ‘A requester must be given access to any record of a private body if (a) that record is required for the exercise or protection of any right.’ This conference will feed into the Commission’s broader mandate in relation to business accountability for human rights, as articulated in our Constitution, in international law and in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“Protect, Respect and Remedy”).
03 October 2012
By Deputy Chairperson Pregs Govender, Commissioner responsible for Basic Services & Health Care
The 2nd Annual Public Lecture held on Wednesday 03rd October 2012, at the University of Witwatersrand.
Today, human rights in South Africa, is defined by the Lonmin-Marikana massacre. The images of human beings killed in a hail of bullets ripped through our awareness...raising consciousness about the hard truth that the right to life and other Constitutional rights are still denied to many who are Black, poor and working class.
Statement by Pregs Govender, Deputy Chair of the South African Human Rights Commission
28 August 2012
The tragic killing of over 30 Lonmin workers at Marikana has re-focused the spotlight on the living and working conditions of those who died and bring an added urgency to the South African Human Rights Commission’s provincial hearings on ‘Water is life; Sanitation is dignity’. These hearings also honour the memory of Commissioner Sandi Baai, who passed away on the 15 August, who strongly believed that those in positions of power must listen closely to people who are poor, especially when they make and implement policy.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
By Commissioner Sandile Baai, SAHRC Commissioner responsible for the right to housing
On behalf of the Commission, I would like to thank you for responding to our invitation to attend this media briefing.
On the 08th of February 2010, the Commission received a complaint from Agri-SA against the Minister of Human Settlements, Mr Tokyo Sexwale, for the remarks he made during an interview on the SABC - Morning Live Programme, on the 03rd of November 2009.
28th April to 12th May 2011 Banjul, The Gambia
By Chairperson Lourence Mushwana, Commissioner responsible for Migration & Equality
Your Excellency Representative of the Government of the Gambia,Your Excellency Representative of the African Union,
Your Excellency Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
Dear Commissioners members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
Your Excellencies Diplomats accredited to the Gambia,State delegates and Participants
Invited guests,
28th April to 12th MAY 2011 BANJUL, THE GAMBIA
SAHRC statement
Chairperson, Commissioners of the African Commission, Distinguished guests, States delegates, Friends and delegates from NHRIs Friends and Delegates from Non-governmental organisations, all protocol observed
21 March 2011
By Chairperson Lourence Mushwana, Commissioner responsible for Migration & Equality
Ladies and Gentlemen, today is Human Rights Day, a day in which we take stock of the progress we are making in our efforts to promote, develop and protect human rights in our country since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
On this day we commemorate in particular the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, in which more than 60 unarmed black people were shot and killed by the apartheid police during a peaceful protest march organized by PAC against the oppressive and undignified pass laws that were enforced against the will of black people in this country.
25 February 2011
By Pregs Govender, SAHRC Deputy Chairperson, responsible for Basic Services & Health Care
“Transforming society, Securing rights, Restoring dignity”
My address on the purpose of today’s event, is entitled ‘Transforming society, securing rights, restoring dignity’ – the mission of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). The South Africa Human Rights Commission is mandated by our Constitution to promote and monitor the development, attainment and protection of human rights in our country. It is also mandated to help build a culture that respects human rights.