The Week Ahead (17- 21 October 2016)

In our pursuit to making rights real, we bring to you our plans and activities for the week. This is done, in so that the public, media and our partners are always aware of our cases and advocacy activities. We hope that this is not only informative but encourages everyone to contribute towards our goal, which is making rights real.

 

18 October 2016

The Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme (RMRP) in Durban will be facilitating the Employment Discrimination Law Seminar titled Refugee, Asylum-seekers, foreign migrants, xenophobia and the SA workplace. The seminar is for Master students at the University of KwaZulu Natal- UKZN, Howard College.

 

RMRP in Pretoria will make an urgent High Court application to stop deportation proceedings and to release a Rwandese national from detention so that he can have the opportunity to apply for asylum.

 

Land and Housing programme will also be applying for urgent relief for the residents of Ingquza Hill Local Municipality. The Municipality demolished 35 homes in Lusikisiki, without a court order. For updates on this case follow #LandRights or @LHR_SA   

 

The team will also make an urgent application in Gauteng for 9 goats to be returned to our clients, after they were impounded under the old Transvaal ordinance, which we believe is invalid and unconstitutional.  

 

Our David vs Goliath case will be heard at the North West High Court:

The Lesetlheng Village Community court battle with Pilanesberg Platinum Mine (PPM) which has since brought an eviction application against it will be heard at the North West High Court on the 18th of October 2016. The mine bases its application to evict on the claim that the informal land rights (if any) held by the community over the farm were extinguished when the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela tribe in 2008 resolved to enter into a surface lease agreement with IBMR. The mine argues that in any case, its rights as the mining right holder take precedence over the informal land right holder. The community, on the other hand, challenges the validity of the mining right that was granted over the farm in the first instance and subsequently ceded to PPM on the basis that the community members whose forefathers actually bought the farm were not consulted as the owners. The community declares that they are the true owners of the farm and therefore cannot be evicted by the mine. Read more on the case here: http://bit.ly/2dVN3ot

 

19 October 2016

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) together with Corruption Watch will host a meeting between key partners (Peace Action, CorMSA, Probono.org, Wits University Law Centre, and the Legal Resources Centre) to discuss what role if any the partner organisations can play using the opportunity of this report to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the crisis of corruption and poor service delivery for refugees and asylum seekers going forward. Highlights of this meeting will be shared on @LHR_SA   and our Facebook Page

 

20 October 2016

Refugee and Migrants Programme in Durban will be at the Umlazi Magistrate’s Court (to represent detained undocumented asylum seeker from Burundi [to appear in court for being illegal migrant])

 

The RMRP programme with its partner UNHCR, will be hosting the ‘Age, Gender and Diversity’-(AGD) Workshop. LHR will be going to Soshanguve with the UNHCR & other stakeholders to consult with different members of the refugee community on what their lived experiences in SA are.  The theme for this year’s AGD workshop is Emergency Response & Social Cohesion

 

The AGD workshop is a Strategy to promote gender equality and the right of all POCs regardless of age or background to participate in decisions affecting their lives. The strategy calls for meaningful participation of displaced girls, boys, women, men and persons with diverse backgrounds/ specific needs in all UNHCR programmes and policies.

 

21 October 2016

LHR along with Doctors without Borders (MSF) will be meeting with the Director General of Home Affairs- Mr Modiri Matthews to discuss the situation in Lindela Repatriation Center and find a way forward specifically with respect to the quality of health care and procedures followed by the center.

 

Our Statelessness project manager, Liesl Muller, will be training the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on statelessness. The aim for the training is to build capacity for SAHRC in order for them to be able to take on stateless complaints, particularly with regard to children.

 

Closing remarks:

Support our Campaign for the Department of Home Affairs to #SaySorry4 the collapse of South Africa’s refugee system 

 

Sign our petition here: bit.ly/2eyzDAU