All Press Releases
14 March 2011
From the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Laws criminalizing same-sex relations between consenting adults remain on the statute books in more than 70 countries. They are an affront to principles of equality and non-discrimination and fuel hatred and violence—in effect giving homophobia a State-sanctioned seal of approval. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay,...
9 March 2011
After a long absence from Court, the matter of the Moutse Demarcation Forum and others v. President of the Republic of South Africa and others (case number: CCT 40 / 2008) will be heard before the Constitutional Court tomorrow, Thursday 10 March 2011.
Moutse is located near the present-day borders of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. During the negotiations for province...
3 March 2011
LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PRESS RELEASE
3 MARCH 2011
Lawyers for Human Rights (“LHR”) wishes to express its shock at media reports that members of SAPS’ Crime Intelligence Unit have raided the Office of the Public Protector in Pretoria. This raid appears to have been an attempt by police officers to gain access to documents related to the recent report condemning...
11 February 2011
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria handed down judgment today in which it criticised the Department of Home Affairs’ practice of arresting and detaining asylum seekers without verifying their status or allowing access to the refugee system.
The court held that “(i)t is simply untenable in a constitutional democracy that someone should have to give up their liberty...
28 January 2011
The Immigration Amendment Bill has been introduced to streamline the procedures of the Department of Home Affairs. The Bill seeks to encourage legal immigration by inter alia rationalising the permitting system, revising the requirements for a business visa and introducing a new critical skills category.
The objects of the Bill include the amendment of the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act...
28 January 2011
The Bill is, at best, a partial response to the need to address informal settlement conditions in Limpopo. In focussing on “elimination” and “control” at the expense of upgrading, rapid release of appropriately located land and positive measures to cater for new migrants to urban centres, the Bill does little to address the needs of people currently living in informal...
20 January 2011
Home Affairs Office, Monday 17 January 2011, Comments by Director-General Mkuseli Apleni
Good afternoon colleagues: You will recall that we are really committed as a Department to ensuring we brief you regularly regarding the Zimbabwean documentation project. You will also recall that we are co-dependent upon the Zimbabwean government to meet our deadline of 30 June 2011 to conclude this...
13 January 2011
At a stakeholders meeting on the 12th January, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Director General Mkuseli Apleni confirmed that DHA will be extending the moratorium on deportations until the end of July 2011. The moratorium will be lifted on 1 August 2011. The moratorium remains in place until this time and applies to all Zimbabweans.
DHA responded to the continued arrests and harassment...
29 December 2010
Lawyers for Human Rights is disappointed that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) refuses to extend the deadline for the process that aims to regularise the status of thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa. As civil society we accept that the process will not achieve its objective to reach a significant number of Zimbabweans residing in the country. The current roll out of the process will...
15 December 2010
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) jointly and on behalf of a collective of civil society organisations, last week submitted a complaint to the Office of the Public Protector over the refusal by the Department of Home Affairs to extend the deadline for new applications to the Zimbabwe Documentation Project.
The Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela has responded by raising these concerns with...