All news items
2 October 2014
The Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the 1999 arms deal hit back at its detractors on Thursday, warning that insults against it were “criminal”.
Commission spokesman William Baloyi said in a statement: “The Commission wishes to caution members of the public and interested parties that it is a criminal offence to, inter alia, disparage or insult the Commission or its...
30 September 2014
There is no law to prevent refugees and asylum seekers from getting licences to operate spaza shops in SA, the Supreme Court of Appeal said on Friday.
The proliferation of immigrant-run spaza shops in townships across the country has led to tension with local traders, some of whom have argued that only South African citizens should be entitled to licences. While they appeared to have support from...
30 September 2014
More than 30 pressure groups want the Seriti Commission inquiring into the 1999 arms deal to be scrapped.
Instead the organisations want those accused of corruption to be investigated and prosecuted.
Right2Know spokesman Murray Hunter said: "The arms deal represents up to R70-billion that should have been spent on housing, education, health and South Africa's other pressing social needs...
29 September 2014
Former ANC parliamentarian turned arms activist Andrew Feinstein understands now why President Jacob Zuma kept encouraging him to investigate the arms deal during his time on Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in 2000.
It was the oddest part of the situation for Feinstein, an idealistic MP at the time, who was put in a tough spot with the allegations. While senior ANC figures begged or...
25 September 2014
The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has noted the findings of the South African Human Rights Commission into violation of access to healthcare at the Lindela Repatriation Centre. The findings follow a South Gauteng High Court judgment that the detention practices at the centre were illegal and unconstitutional.
The committee is concerned that the centre is turning into a place of human rights...
23 September 2014
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba must ensure his staff knows the law applying to immigrants and deportations, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled on Tuesday.
Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann referred Gigaba to a previous Constitutional Court ruling involving the deportations of two Botswana nationals.
The court had found it was unlawful for the department to deport or surrender a...
19 September 2014
The South African Human Rights Commission has released its findings of an investigation into violations of access to health for detainees at the Lindela Repatriation Centre. The Commission’s investigation was in response to a complaint from non-governmental organisations, Medecins Sans Frontiers, Section 27, Lawyers for Human Rights, People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty, raising...
16 September 2014
Arms deal critics Hennie Van Vuuren, Andrew Feinstein and Paul Holden, who withdrew in protest from appearing as witnesses are being subpoenaed to appear before the Arms Procurement Commission.
The three activists announced they were withdrawing their participation in August, as they said the commission was failing to fully investigate the arms deal “without fear and favour.”
A...
11 September 2014
Our Home Affairs department has recently been in the news for its valiant attempts to keep people out of South Africa. Now, it’s suddenly in the news for throwing them out illegally. That may not matter to many South Africans: if someone gets deported home, good riddance, they may say. But in the case of Edwin Samotse, it’s literally a matter of life and death. He was...
10 September 2014
Botswana citizen Edwin Samotse - now possibly languishing in jail in that country - is the subject of frantic cross-border diplomatic efforts to save him from execution if he is convicted of murder.
The Botswana government sought Samotse's extradition after learning he had slipped into South Africa. South Africa refused to repatriate him when Botswana would not give assurances that he...