Programme News
25 May 2009
(News)
Lawyers for Human Rights Stellenbosch office seeks two candidate attorneys
Requirements A LLB graduate – seeking Articles of Clerkship, for duration of 1 year;· Preferably a candidate who has completed his/her School for Legal Practice;· Will be legible to register his/her articles with the Cape Law Society· English and Afrikaans speaking;· A...
19 May 2009
(Press release)
In a strongly worded judgment, the North Gauteng High Court has ordered the permanent closure of the detention facility for undocumented foreign nationals on the military grounds near Musina, commonly known as "SMG".
In February 2009, LHR launched an urgent High Court application seeking an order for the closure of the facility due to a number of factors, including the extreme...
14 May 2009
(Press release)
On 10 May 2009, the day the Department of Home Affairs welcomed its new Minister, Home Affairs illegally deported an asylum seeker to the Democratic Republic of Congo-returning him to face the same persecution and grave risk that caused him to flee his home and seek refuge in South Africa.
The deportation is a blatant violation of South Africa's domestic and international legal obligations,...
13 May 2009
(Press release)
On 8 May 2009, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the appeal of the Mkhondeni community in Pietermaritzburg and thereby prevented their eviction.
The court further ordered that the Msunduzi Municipality to be joined to future proceedings. The Municipality was also directed to file a report by the 30 June 2009, on what steps it has taken to provide alternative land or emergency accommodation...
13 May 2009
(News)
A year after xenophobic violence spread across South Africa like wildfire, refugees continue to face threats of violence and authorities have done little to address the root cause of the attacks, says the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa.
The attacks that began on May 11, 2008, in Alexandra, Gauteng, spread across the country, and resulted in 62 deaths and the displacement of...
13 May 2009
(News)
MUSINA, South Africa - It's easy to miss the two girls. They are so small they seem to disappear amid the dozen Zimbabwean boys crowded around them along the trash-choked drain. Sofia Chimhangwa, a 14-year-old in a denim skirt, lies on the concrete under a filthy blanket. Her 15-year-old friend sits next to her, braiding a legless Barbie's hair. Sofia says she survives because the other girl'...
9 May 2009
(Press release)
One year after residents of Alexandra turned on their neigbours unleashing a chain of violence across the country, foreigners in South Africa face continued threats of violence. little has been done by the South African authorities to address the root causes of the violence and as a result the threats of violence against foreigners remain real.
6 May 2009
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights welcomes the announcement by the Department of Home Affairs that a new temporary 90 day temporary visa has been introduced for migrants from Zimbabwe. This visa regime will encourage Zimbabweans to travel by regular means between SA and Zimbabwe.
In recent years travel between SA and Zimbabwe has been difficult due to the strict visa conditions which South Africa...
6 May 2009
(News)
Durban - The case against eight people who allegedly killed two foreign nationals by forcing them to jump off a high rise building was postponed by the Durban Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Durban's Albert Park councillor Vusi Khoza appeared in court briefly along with seven other people accused of murder, attempted murder and assault. The case was postponed to June 4 to give the State time to...
6 May 2009
(News)
Vrese dat verslapte visumvereistes vir Zimbabwiërs die sluise vir duisende meer immigrante sal ooptrek is ongegrond, het kenners gister gesê. Die departement van binnelandse sake se besluit om visums onnodig te maak vir Zimbabwiërs wat Suid-Afrika vir minder as 90 dae besoek, sal eerder help om misdadige bendes vas te vat wat jag maak op desperate Zimbabwiërs wat die grens onwettig probeer...