All news items
21 May 2010
African civil society groups, in a statement released today, called on Malawian authorities to repeal discriminatory laws criminalizing private sexual behavior, and release Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. Monjeza and Chimbalanga were convicted of carnal knowledge against the order of nature and sentenced today to 14 years—the maximum penalty—in prison. Gift...
17 May 2010
NIC DAWES | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - May 14 2010 16:26
The office of the presidency is claiming an unprecedented degree of executive privilege in an effort to prevent the Mail & Guardian from gaining access to a report commissioned by former president Thabo Mbeki.
The North Gauteng High Court will on Monday 24 May hear argument in the M&G's court bid to obtain the report by Deputy...
15 February 2010
NINE-year-old Pule Mahese and his family have been sleeping under the stars in Bremmer Street, Claremont, for the past two weeks since their shack was demolished by a service provider of the Tshwane Metro Council, but they may soon have a roof over their head again. In spite of sleeping out in the open, little Pule has not missed a single day of school at Tuinerand Primary, which he...
8 February 2010
DESPONDENT parents will turn to the Pretoria High Court in a bid to force the Limpopo MEC for education to reopen a farm school which was forced to close its doors after 47 years. The parents are all farm workers and parents of children who, up until the end of last year, attended the Seribane Primary School on the farm Marakeli in Limpopo. The farm belongs to South African National Parks....
25 January 2010
The South African History Archive and the Southern African Centre for the Survivors of Torture will ask the Pretoria High Court to force the government to release an explosive report on post-election violence in Zimbabwe.
The two bodies, with the support of the Southern African Litigation Centre, last week filed papers in court in which they ask that the presidency be compelled to release the...
15 January 2010
Johannesburg - Thirty-nine foreign nationals, including mothers with young children, were arrested for loitering in the Johannesburg inner city, police said on Thursday. Inspector Gordon Billing said the people, mostly from Malawi and Zimbabwe, were arrested near the Johannesburg Central Methodist Church and the High Court on Wednesday.
"The Johannesburg central crime prevention made...
7 January 2010
The government has agreed to let an independent curator assess the circumstances of each unaccompanied minor at the Central Methodist Church before they can be relocated. Since September, when allegations surfaced about the sexual abuse of children at the church, the government has been trying to have the children removed from the church premises, which housed more than 2,000 mostly...
25 November 2009
The level of crime in South Africa has evidently sent government into emotional bewilderment. This is more so as a result of the violent crimes whose perpetrators are apparently merciless and recognise no boundary. Everyone, excluding the perpetrators and those with whom they act in cahoots, is under siege. Obviously any responsible government would want to do something to curb or rid its...
16 November 2009
Mamelodi hostel residents woke up to municipal contractors removing the roofs over their heads as their long drawn-out standoff with the Tshwane Metro Council took another turn yesterday.
According to the residents, they were not warned beforehand that the contractors would be removing the roofs, and all of them still had their possessions inside the unit.
The remaining Mamelodi hostels are in...
1 November 2009
What will follow the Minister’s visit to Lindela?
The Minister’s recent visit to the Lindela Repatriation Centre (“Immigrants at Lindela on the Decrease”, The Star, 18th November)—where foreign nationals are detained pending deportation—was a welcome step in her commitment to reform the Department of Home Affairs. The Minister highlighted...