Human Rights

The week in political activism - March 26, 2014

This week we cover the TAC’s march on Khayelitsha Hospital and an alert put out by Lawyers for Human Rights on the unconstitutionality of draft immigration regulations.

Brent Meersman

News | 26 March 2014

SAPS in Harare, Khayelitsha: setup to fail?

Advocate Nazreen Bawa continued to lead evidence today with Colonel Gert Nel, former station commander of Harare police station, and Colonel Tshotleho Raboliba, current station commander at Harare.

Adam Armstrong

News | 18 March 2014

High ranking SAPS officers to appear before the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into policing

Public hearings of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency and a breakdown in relations between the community and the police restarted on 17 March with a number of high ranking SAPS officers in attendance.

Adam Armstrong

News | 18 March 2014

Government slams HRC water report - and lawyer slams government

On Tuesday 11 March, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) officially launched their 2014 report on water and sanitation. But the Department of Water Affairs has called the report “outdated, baseless and misleading”.

Martha Sithole and Jacques van Heerden

News | 14 March 2014

The week in political activism

This week we cover the campaign to fix our patent laws, concern over changes to the new Public Administration Bill that may make it easier for corrupt officials, and the Israeli Apartheid week.

Brent Meersman

News | 12 March 2014

Rumours: an extract from Mongane Wally Serote’s latest novel

Prolific and acclaimed South African poet and writer Mongane Wally Serote, one of only two African writers (the other being Leopold Sedar Senghor) to be honoured with the Golden Wreath Award for a lifetime achievement in poetry, focuses his attention on 21st century South Africa in his latest novel, Rumours.

Mongane Wally Serote

News | 12 March 2014

Cry the beloved Congo

Mpho Mabhena writes about her distressing experience of the plight of women in the Congo.

Mpho Mabhena

Opinion | 12 March 2014

Marikana: a wake-up call

Four days after the bloodletting that has become known as the Marikana massacre, my Inside Labour column supported the call for a comprehensive and independent inquiry. And it noted, reflecting a widespread view within the labour movement: “The Lonmin tragedy is a wake-up call that South Africa will ignore at its peril.” Now, 19 months later and with the strike on the platinum belt having gone on for nearly two months, that warning seems even more appropriate. Below is an updated commentary that first appeared on the first anniversary of Marikana.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 10 March 2014

Alleged discrimination against foreign children in the Techno Girl programme

A Zimbabwean woman, Sandra Chinyanga, is unhappy because her daughter was dropped from the Techno Girl Programme after three years of consistent participation. Now she has been told that her daughter should never have been allowed to join the programme, because she is an immigrant.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 5 March 2014