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9 March 2023
Following from media reports and previous complaints, it has been noted that community members are turned away from receiving highly specialised services due to a lack of sufficient equipment and staff to provide such services. These services include oncology services, renal/dialysis services and orthopaedic services. As a result, people with resources use private services due to the incapacity of the public health sector to provide the services.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
8 March 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) KZN provincial office will be hosting a roundtable discussion on “Balancing the right to basic education and the best interest of the child in Independent Schools”.
06 March 2023
The objective of the stakeholder engagements is to engage with government departments, civil society organisations and community members with the view to heightening awareness about human rights and institutions that can help with redress for human rights violations, with a specific focus on the role of the Commission in promoting, monitoring and protecting human rights. The engagements are to further reflect on the issues that have been observed and communicated to the Commission by some community members in the Garden Route district.
06 March 2023
Since 2009, there has been a United Nations (UN) observance known as “World Day of Social Justice”. The purpose of the day focuses on the plight of social injustice in the world and recognizes the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as exclusion, poverty, (un)employment, social well-being, gender equity and justice for all.
03 March 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (the Commission or SAHRC), as an institution supporting constitutional democracy, wishes to assure the public that it does not condone racism or any other violation of the rights entrenched in the Constitution. It greatly regrets the incident of Thursday, 23 February 2023 in which its then Acting Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Chantal Kisoon, was alleged by the staff of the Commission as having used a racial slur against them. It will leave no stone unturned in investigating the incident and dealing with the perpetrator should it be found, in an independent process, that she indeed used a racial slur and violated the dignity of her colleagues. The Commission has tirelessly fought against racism and will continue to do so even within its own ranks.
01 March 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC/Commission) on 31 August and 1 September 2022 hosted a National Conference on Local Government Accountability, Service Delivery and Human Rights. The conference was undertaken in the wake of negative reports of poor governance, weak institutional capacity, poor financial management, corruption and political instability in municipalities, and mounting protests against the provision of services in the sphere of local government. The SAHRC has finalised the report which documents the conference deliberations and proposes some recommendations.
27 February 2023
Having adopted the National Development Plan (“NDP”) Vision 2030 to address poverty eradication especially amongst vulnerable groups, the government has further committed itself to providing efficient social services. The Department of Social Development (“the Department”) is at the centre of improving living conditions and lives of people.
Written by Lillian Artz, Veronica Filippeschi and Nokwanda Nzimande
The global female prison population has grown by a staggering 53% over the past decade. Yet little has been done to improve the system so that it supports those whom it incarcerates. South Africa is no different.
The little information we have about women in South African prisons speaks of intolerable overcrowding, unhygienic sleeping conditions, and minimal health and mental health care services, including ‘medical neglect’.
Date: 27 February 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission (Commission) is a Constitutional body, established to support constitutional democracy in terms of Section 181 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Constitution). Section 184(1) (b) of the Constitution obliges the Commission to promote the protection of human rights and monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic of South Africa.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
27 February 2023
The SAHRC Eastern Cape provincial office will be embarking on various monitoring activities in Ingquza Hill Local Municipality and O R Tambo District Municipalities. Section 184 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states that the Commission must monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic.
Media Invite: SAHRC Mpumalanga Provincial Office hosts a workshop on the rights of unmarried fathers
Attention: Editors and Reporters
23 February 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) Mpumalanga Provincial Office is conducting a workshop to popularise and raise awareness about the Constitutional Court judgement which declared Section 10 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 invalid and inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (“the Constitution”) the extent that it prohibits an unmarried father from giving notice of the birth of his child under his surname, the absence of the child’s mother or without consent.
22 February 2023
Over the years, the Commission in the North West has received many complaints about unfinished and inadequate RDP houses in the North West. The complaints of unfinished houses include those that were not built beyond the foundation stage, those whose walls were built up to the halfway point, and those which were built to almost completion but are left without the roof. These houses make it impossible for the owners thereof to take occupation. As a result, these houses are vandalized. The complaints of inadequate houses relate to buildings that are inaccessible to persons with disabilities. They also relate to the use of inferior building materials and poor workmanship, and, as a result, this poses safety threats/risks to the livelihoods of the occupiers.
22 February 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
Government must respect, protect, and promote human rights. It must play a vital role in determining how to allocate and spend fiscus. If government has to deliver specific services, then this must clearly be reflected in the budget. The work on human rights budgeting also allows us to ask who participates in budgeting and how different social groups are affected. This means that priority must be given to critical areas such as education, social security, access to healthcare, housing, and employment. It also means focusing not only on who has access to goods and services, but also on continually improving the quality, availability, and affordability of those goods and services.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
21 February 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission in Gauteng Province is conducting a monitoring roadshow from the 20th of February 2023 to the 24th of February 2023.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
20 February 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in Mpumalanga will be conducting a human rights capacity building workshop for faith-based organisations as strategic stakeholders on Mental Health – Promoting and Protecting Human Rights.
20 February 2023
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in Western Cape will be conducting outreach work in the Central Karoo District including stakeholder engagements and human rights champions workshop.
The objective of the stakeholder engagements is to engage with government departments, civil society organisations and communities with the view to heightening awareness about human rights and institutions that can help with redress for human rights violations, with a specific focus on the role of the Commission in promoting, monitoring and protecting human rights.
Attention: Editors and Reporters
20 February 2023
The SAHRC Eastern Cape provincial office will be embarking on various monitoring activities in Sarah Baartman District and Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality this week. Section 184 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states that the Commission must monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic.
17 February 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) recognises equality as a value which informs basic rights, and it also protects the right to equality as enshrined in section 9. Section 9 prohibits discrimination on the basis of amongst others, gender, sex, and sexual orientation. In line with section 9(4) of the Constitution, the State has promulgated a legislation which promote equality and prevent unfair discrimination, namely, the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act No. 4 of 2000 (Equality Act). The Equality Act makes it unlawful to unfairly discriminate against anyone on the prohibited grounds of gender, sex, and sexual orientation. The Act also prohibits harassment, hate speech, and the dissemination and publication of unfair discriminatory information on the basis of these discriminatory grounds.
15 February 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) provides that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water. Section 27(2) of the Constitution further states that the State must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of the right of access to water. In order to give effect to the right of access to water, the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (the Parliament) enacted the Water Services Act No. 108 of 1997 (the Water Services Act, 1997).
14 February 2023
Attention: Editors and Reporters
In the past year, the Free State Health Department has recorded an alarming number of hundred and fifty (150) births in just four months for girls aged between ten and fourteen in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District. This has been recorded the highest number of teenage pregnancies in the Free State province.
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)