Attention: Editors and Reporters

11 December 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission’s (Commission) Western Cape Provincial Office (WCPO) will be having an engagement with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to understand the quintiling of schools, the process of review of these designations and to discuss challenges experienced at certain schools relating to the quintile they have been assigned. These challenges had been identified through the Commission’s monitoring programme where it was noted that schools which are placed in quintiles 4 and 5 sometimes experience challenges due to receiving lesser financial resources per learner, per year. These challenges include the issue of quintile 4 and 5 schools not being included in school nutrition programmes.  

Attention: Editors and Reporters

11 December 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission (Commission) has issued its final report on its investigation into the challenges of school infrastructure in the North West. The investigation was prompted by complaints received by the Commission regarding challenges with school infrastructure in specific schools in the North West, as well as the Commission’s own observations during its monitoring work which, amongst others, assesses the state of infrastructure at public schools in the province.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

9 December 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission’s (Commission) Western Cape Provincial Office (WCPO) will, in collaboration with the office of the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, launch its Social Harmony National Effort (SHiNE) programme in the Western Cape under the theme of Positive Role Models for Children”. To launch the SHiNE programme, the WCPO invited learners from schools to attend the SHiNE Event at the Castle of Good Hope with the Cape Town Arts Festival.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

9 December 2023

International Human Rights Day, celebrated annually on the 10^th of December, commemorates the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  The UDHR was adopted in 1948, in the aftermath of the devastation caused by World War II. It encompasses 30 articles which set out fundamental human rights to be universally protected and continues to serve as the basis for international human rights law.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

08 December 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC or Commission) is aware of the letter prepared by Solidarity in respect of the SAHRC's National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) parallel report under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Convention or ICERD).  The SAHRC’s NHRI parallel report, submitted in November 2023, was prepared following a request from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Committee or CERD), and in anticipation of the South African government’s review of its 9th to 11th periodic report under the ICERD.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

8 December 2023

Today, on Friday, 8 December 2023, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC/Commission) releases the report of its National Conference: Marking 110 years of the Natives Land Act: Reflecting on measures taken towards redistribution of land in South Africa.

Attention: Editors and Reporters

07 December 2023

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC/Commission) has noted the release of the 2023  Blue, Green, and No Drop Reports by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) on 05 December 2023. The three reports are regulatory tools aimed at providing credible information and data on the state of water and sanitation services in the country.

The Blue Drop report assesses the state of all drinking water systems in the country. The Green Drop report assesses the state of all wastewater treatment systems in South Africa. The No Drop report is an assessment of the degree to which the drinking water distribution systems of municipalities supply water efficiently, without wasting water. Both the Blue and Green Drop reports include assessments of the condition of the infrastructure.

24 Nov 2023

The SA Human Rights Commission SAHRC has launched an investigation into alleged abuse and neglect of patients at dozens of state hospitals, described in harrowing detail in a report released by the Freedom Front Plus FF+ on Wednesday. The FF+ submitted the report to the commission's Gauteng office in October. "It details various allegations, some within the ambit of the SAHRC and others within the ambit of other entities. We are assessing the issues that fall within the ambit of the SAHRC and looking at the relief sought.

20 Nov 2023

The shacks that the City of Joburg has built for the Marshalltown fire victims are accommodating families whose homes were destroyed during the Booysens informal settlement inferno over two years ago. The shacks in Denver were erected recently to accommodate about 30 people from the Marshalltown fire who were previously placed at Hofland Park Recreation Centre in Bez Valley. They were relocated on Tuesday. When Sowetan visited the new settlement on Thursday, more shacks were being erected while others were empty. However, by Friday the city had moved new residents who were victims of the Booysens fire in January 2021. Officials from the SA Human Rights Commission visited the site, which the city terms a temporary relocation area, on Friday.

17 Nov 2023

Fire victims relocated to 'unsafe' industrial area Shacks made of zinc sheets and doors do not lock By Koena Mashale The City of Johannesburg has defended its decision to relocate victims of the Marshalltown fire to a tin shack settlement that has no electricity and where residents are forced to share a single communal tap and toilets. The small shiny shacks are on an open ground meant to keep impounded cars. The families were relocated by city officials, including the police, from the Hofland Park Recreation Centre in Bez Valley on Tuesday and were trucked to an industrial area in Denver, where they were put in shacks recently built to accommodate them. About 50 shacks were lined up in rows close to one another and more were being erected.