All Press Releases
17 November 2016
The right to a name and nationality is one of the most fundamental human right, however, a lot of children in South Africa spend much of their lives without this legal identity and the benefits and protections it affords. Children who are not registered do not officially exist.
Njabulo** was only two years old, when he was found abandoned in Moroka, Soweto. A foster mother, Ms...
7 November 2016
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) will appear in the Constitutional Court tomorrow (Tuesday 8 November 2016) to challenge the constitutionality of the provisions of the Immigration Act relating to detention.
Currently, the Immigration Act provides that someone found to be an “illegal foreigner” without documentation to remain in South Africa may be detained for 30 days by an...
21 October 2016
21 Oct 2016
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has noted reports that the Government of South Africa has filed a note verbale to the United Nations of its intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. LHR is concerned that this action has not complied with the Constitution and domestic legislation relating to our obligations toward international criminal...
20 October 2016
On the 6th of October 2016, the Ngquza Hill Local Municipality, in the Province of the Eastern Cape demolished 36 homes on the property known as the New Rest Community, situated on a portion of Erf 49 Lusikisiki.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) approached the the Grahamstown High Court to seek urgent relief for these families and to further argue that the actions of the Municipality be...
18 October 2016
The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division Pretoria today handed down its judgement in the matter between Pule Molefe and Residents of the Blyvooruitzicht Mine Village versus Merafong Local Municipality and 10 others. The High Court ordered that the Municipality be prevented from disconnecting the piped water supply to the Blyvooruitzicht Mine Village, mandating that the water must...
14 October 2016
In a front page exposé in the Pretoria News on 13 October 2016, Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, asked for forgiveness from “ordinary citizens” at the Centurion Home Affairs office for lengthy queues, poor communication and lack of professionalism. While this photo opportunity no doubt revealed real problems at one particular office, Minister Gigaba has so much...
11 October 2016
Lawyers for human Rights will appear in the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria on Today (11 October 2016) at 2pm to argue the case of Mantshabelle Mary Rahube, a sixty-eight (68) year old women facing an application for her eviction from the family home in which she has lived for more than thirty-seven (37) years
The case will seek to have Mary declared the owner of the...
10 October 2016
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is pleased that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is investigating a policy aimed at bringing more women to the Bench. The policy will regulate the appointment of acting judges, such positions being one of the biggest stepping stones to being appointed as a full-time judge.
Gender parity on the Bench is part and parcel of the post-apartheid transformation of the...
23 September 2016
The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division Pretoria has handed down its judgment in the matter between the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) versus the Student Representative Councils and All students residing in the student residences of TUT’s Pretoria West and Ga-Rankuwa campuses.
The matter concerns the unlawful eviction of the residence students on all of TUT’s campuses...
9 September 2016
The Constitutional Court handed down a judgement in the application for leave to appeal against a judgement and order of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division Pretoria (High Court). The High Court had set aside a rule nisi granted against the applicants for the removal of some 200 families from a tract of municipal land, but proceeded to order ordinary eviction proceedings in terms of...