21 November 2023

ATTENTION: Editors and Reporters

On 05 September 2023, the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) North West Provincial Office conducted a law clinic in the village of Madinyane, an area that has prevalent issues relating to statelessness in the North West province. The law clinic included a collection of information through surveys to assess the impact of statelessness. A number of community members remain without Identity Documents and Birth certificates and this inevitably affects other human rights, including, among others, the rights to education, access to health, and access to social security.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

17 November 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission’s Eastern Cape Office has received numerous complaints highlighting human rights violations caused by subpar road infrastructure in the province. The diverse landscape of the Eastern Cape brings about challenges in many areas, with roads posing limitations to residents' accessibility.

20 October 2023

The Human Rights Commission in the Eastern Cape has found that school uniform and appearance policies infringe on pupils' dignity, including the regulation of hair length, enforcing gender-stereotypical uniforms, and treating appearance violations as disciplinary issues.

Binary school uniforms, according to the commission’s report, oppressed individuality and limited self-expression, with the cost of school uniforms being prohibitive and possibly leading to discrimination.

17 November  2023

Attention: Editors and Reporters

The South African Human Rights Commission (‘the Commission’) Gauteng Provincial Office is initiating an inquiry into the accessibility of public transport for people with disabilities in Gauteng.

In May 2023, the Gauteng Provincial Office (GPO) received a referral complaint in terms of section 3 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) from the High Court (Johannesburg), sitting as an Equality Court. The complaint alleged that the current environment at railway stations, bus stations, and taxi ranks poses a danger to and is not accessible to commuters with disabilities. The Complainant views the current state of affairs within the public transport system as a form of unfair discrimination on the basis of disability.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

16 NOVEMBER 2023

The North West Provincial Office (NWPO) seeks to commemorate World Toilet Day to deepen and strengthen levels of awareness and to highlight the state of sanitation in the province and the need for urgent action to ensure the delivery of safe sanitation solutions to ensure public health, human dignity and personal safety.

7 Oct 2023

Traumatised children now able to 'feel safe' in court after massive changes to testifying room Candice Bezuidenhout The waiting room at the Gqeberha High Court has undergone a renovation to make it a safer space for children who have to testify. Leon Hugo The children's witness and testifying rooms in the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha was recently renovated.The facelift aims to create a conducive environment for children who are already traumatised.Children's rights groups have welcomed this initiative. Being the victim of a crime - especially a sexual crime - is already traumatising enough, but attending court and having to testify while looking the perpetrator in the eye, is another enormous challenge. This task becomes even more daunting for children.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

10 November 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC / Commission) has noted concerns expressed by Mr Reuben Madadzhe, the Limpopo Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress (ANC) during a media briefing on 07 November 2023.

27 Oct 2023

Ten Limpopo municipalities have three months to show detailed plans of how they’re going to provide residents with water, or face court action. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says failure by municipalities to provide basic services can no longer go unchecked. In a report published this month, the council says the issue of poor and/or insufficient access to water remains a significant challenge for many communities in Limpopo Province. The four district municipalities and six local municipalities are not in compliance with the Water Services Act and do not meet compulsory standards of a ‘minimum quantity of potable water of 25 litres per person per day and where no consumer is without a supply of water for more than 7 days in any year.’

The households in the Worcester informal settlement must be relocated, says the South African Human Rights Commission

31 October 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating conditions at Spoekiesdorp informal settlement in Worcester, after receiving a complaint in November 2022 that residents have been without access to basic services for years.

04 Oct 2023

The SAHRC delegation and ActionSA members inspect the filing system at Shongwe Hospital. SAHRC happy with hospital * 4, 4 , t t 't `'‘, .6 4, 4 t The SAHRC and ActionSA members inspect the dispensary room. Photos: Sesane Mabuza 1 Sesane Mabuza SCHOEMANSDAL The South African Human Rights Commission SAHRC says it is happy with the progress that was made at Shongwe Hospital and mostly impressed with its cleanliness, filing department and pharmacy. This was after the commission's recent visit to inspect the hospital after ActionSA had laid a formal complaint regarding a number of issues about it in October 2022.