Programme News
10 June 2015
(News)
A severe water crisis is leaving the small town of Blyvooruitzicht in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, high and dry.
The local mining community has been without running water for close to a month because the mine, which is currently being liquidated, owes the municipality close to R200 million in arrears. The matter is now destined for the courts.
One of the residents, Sithembile Sithole'...
9 June 2015
(News)
Many of South Africa’s correctional facilities, and most acutely its remand detention facilities, are overcrowded, creating dehumanising and dangerous conditions.
Detainees are frequently compelled to remain in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. There are even incidences of detainees being permitted to exercise for only one hour in an entire month. Overcrowding, poorly trained employees...
9 June 2015
(Press release)
The 25th session of the African Union Summit will be held in South Africa on 07-15 June 2015. With the backdrop of the recent xenophobic attacks and responses (outcry) from countries across the continent and globally, including regional mechanisms, Amnesty International and partners will host a high-level parallel event looking into the history of xenophobic attacks in South Africa and the...
9 June 2015
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has launched an urgent high court application on behalf of the Blyvooruitzicht community to have their water supply reconnected.
As reported in recent weeks, water supply was disconnected by the Merafong City Local Municipality and Rand Water last month.
Most members of the community worked for the now-defunct Blyvooruitzicht Mine which was placed under provisional...
5 June 2015
(News)
AFTER a spate of murderous attacks in Durban and Johannesburg on migrant workers from neighbouring countries, South Africa badly needs to improve its image on the continent. And at the level of gestures and rhetoric, it is trying to do exactly that. On a visit to Mozambique last month President Jacob Zuma apologised for the violence by a “small minority” of his compatriots which had...
5 June 2015
(News)
Many of South Africa’s correctional facilities, and most acutely its remand detention facilities, are overcrowded, creating dehumanising and dangerous conditions.
Detainees are frequently compelled to remain in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. There are even incidences of detainees being permitted to exercise for only one hour in an entire month. Overcrowding, poorly trained employees...
29 May 2015
(News)
The Constitutional Court heard a case on Thursday which will determine how a valuable area of land in the North West province — which covers a portion of the Pilanesburg game reserve and, according to community leaders, sits on rich platinum deposits — will be administered.
The case has wider implications for the future of communal property associations — one of the legal...
29 May 2015
(Press release)
The newly revamped and launched Kutlwanong Democracy Centre (KDC) has undergone a transformation. The KDC, owned by Lawyers for Human Rights, provides a unique hub for civil society in Pretoria, bringing together a range of organisations working in the areas of human rights, social assistance and development.
The opening and revamp of the historically significant KDC was addressed by FIDH...
28 May 2015
(Press release)
For the first time in its history, FIDH has opened an office in Pretoria, South Africa. This office, located in the headquarters of its member organisation in South Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), at the Kutlwanong Democracy Centre (KDC) in Pretoria, will be officially launched on May 29.
“The decision to open an office in South Africa was motivated by the inspirational human rights...
28 May 2015
(News)
A dispute between a community and their chief over who should own their land has brought into sharp focus the tensions between traditional governance structures and constitutional law.
The Bakgatla-Ba-Khafela community in the North West—comprising 32 villages—is at loggerheads with their chief over who should hold the rights to the land they were granted following a successful land...