Attention: Editors and Reporters

Thursday, 28 October 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the South African Police Service (SAPS), in collaboration with the National Department of Health (NDoH), will be hosting the second annual Human Rights and Policing Lecture entitled “The Intersection of Persons with Psychosocial and Intelelctual Disabilities with the Criminal Justice System – The Case of State Patients and MHCUs in Places of Deprivation of Liberty”.

Attention Editors and Reporters

28 October 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC or the Commission) in line with its Constitutional mandate, will host the second of its regular, monthly media briefings, on Friday the 29th October 2021 at 11:00 AM.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

27 October 2021

Since the famous hate speech case of July 2008 by Jonathan Qwelane, a prominent South African journalist, whose article titled, “Call me names – but gay is NOT okay,” wrote “[t]he real problem, as I see it, is the rapid degradation of values and traditions by the so-called liberal influences of nowadays; you regularly see men kissing other men in public, walking holding hands and shamelessly flaunting what have misleadingly termed their ‘lifestyle’ and ‘sexual preferences”. Moreover, to the not so recent cases of Adam Catzavelos posting a video of himself on a Greek beach where he expressed his joy at not seeing a single black person and uses the K-word, and Penny Sparrow whose denunciation about rubbish on a beach compared black revellers to monkeys, many people started to show interest in the Equality matters, especially in big cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. However, in small cities such as Bloemfontein, many people still have to be encouraged to use such courts.  There are sectors of society that still need to be conscientised about matters relating to equality courts.

 

Attention: Editors and Reporters

27 October 2021

Section27(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa determines that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient water. In order to fulfil this right, the Water Services Act of 1997 determines that Water Services Authorities have the responsibility to ensure access to water supply and sanitation services within their respective constituencies. The Act further provides the regulatory framework and financial assistance to Water Services Institutions.  Municipalities who are appointed in terms of this Act as Water Services Authorities thus have a crucial and direct role to play in providing everyone, including vulnerable communities, with access to water supplies.

15 October 2021

MAKHUDUTHAMAGA – The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo has announced that it would submit further evidence to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on systematic violations of basic rights to have access to water in Sekhukhune. The DA said last week that it would write to the SAHRC to submit evidence of systematic violations of the right to access water in Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality.

15 October 2021

The SA Human Rights Commission says there have been “a few advertisements which have been indicative of racism and have evoked much criticism of the industry and their clients”.

18 October 2021

Racist, sexist, tribalist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and ableist advertisements will be under the spotlight. Picture: Wikimedia Commons The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will be convening to look into allegations of racial discrimination within the advertising industry.

18 October 2021

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has announced that it expects to convene an inquiry into allegations of racial discrimination within the advertising industry next year. The inquiry is expected to sit during the last week of February 2022. According to the SAHRC, the inquiry comes on the back of the fighting and publication of advertisements that have caused uproar from within the industry and society because of racist undertones. 

20 October 2021

THE SA Human Rights Commission SAHRC has thrown its weight behind Caster Semenya in her testosterone fight against World Athletics and the Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS , who dismissed her application to have her ban lifted. The World Athletics body barred the Limpopo athlete from participating in 800m and 1500m distances, "unless she lowers her testosterone levels" by taking hormone suppressing medication. The international athletics body is in the process of introducing a testosterone limit of "five nanomoles per litre" for athletes competing in international events.

20 October 2021

Residents complain about noise pollution Unity Fellowship Church in Midway, Soweto THULANI MBELE. Church calls in HRC over decadelong dispute By Tarddso Makhetha A Soweto church embroiled in a longstanding dispute with the City of Johannesburg over noise pollution has approached the SA Human Rights Commission to mediate. Yesterday, the HRC visited Unity Fellowship Church in Midway, Soweto, which has been reported to the city for contravention of bylaws by local residents. The church on the border of an industrial area and a residential area has had runins with the Johannesburg Metro Police Department JMPD due to alleged noncompliance with noise levels.


In February, the church's leaders were arrested after congregants clashed with metro police officers who tried to shut it after neighbours complained about intolerable noise coming from its premises and contravention of lockdown regulations. As a result, a series of court applications have been lodged both by the city and the church over the enforcement of bylaws. Last week, Pastor Mpfariseni Mukhuba and her husband, Dr Theophilus Mukhuba, approached the commission to help mediate their disputes with the city. Mukhuba yesterday told the commission's provincial head Buang Jones of their decadelong struggles with the city. "We took the matter to the commission because we are concerned that since the shootings happened in February, we were violated and have experienced police brutality. We obtained a court order against JMPD in 2015 and they still came and attacked us while we worshipped," Mukhuba told Sowetan. Jones said the commission hoped it could mediate before the matter escalates. "The thing about courts is that the winner takes all and there are no compromises. We received the church's complaint and decided to meet so that we can determine how we can resolve this issue in a manner beneficial to both parties." Residents in the area said they had grown tired of complaining about the unbearable noise from the church. Nkosana Mahlangu said: "After February, the church stopped making a lot of noise but it started again a few months ago. We just want this matter to be resolved so that we can live in peace."

Rhirandzu Maluleke said: "There are many churches that exist in some communities and none of them make life hard for residents around them. This church needs to be relocated because we can't live like this." JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said they have been experiencing a problem with the church for the past decade about noise pollution complaints. "Its hard to sum up the number of times that officers have to go there and request the church to lower their noise because residents in the area are complaining."

Source: Sowetan