Programme News
28 January 2013
(Press release)
Stories of the daily degradation and exploitation of farm workers have burst open since the beginning of the farm worker strike in De Doorns in the Western Cape that many expect to spread to other provinces. The violation of farm workers’ rights is nothing new but the regrettable violence is a sign of growing frustration and an unwillingness to go unheard any longer.
Although farm...
28 January 2013
(News)
Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor plans urgently to talk to ambassadors in a bid to resolve problems of illegal immigrants who are not claimed by their country’s representatives, saying people end up staying at the Lindela repatriation facility in Krugersdorp for months.
There have been incidents where illegal immigrants stayed for more than the legally permitted 120 days at the...
25 January 2013
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights is disappointed by statements made by Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor following today’s visit to the Lindela holding facility for immigration detention.
25 January 2013
(News)
Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor has addressed the media on repeated allegations surrounding unlawful detentions, human rights abuses and access to services for foreign nationals after her visit to the Lindela repatriation centre in Krugersdorp on Friday.
Pandor also spoke on the situation of women being separated from their children once arrested for being in South Africa illegally. A Special...
24 January 2013
(News)
More than 20 refugees' children in Cape Town could not be enrolled in schools early this year due to the lack of asylum documents. The refugees have approached several schools in Western Cape but were turned down.
Williams Phiri stays in Capricorn; he has three children aged six, twelve and sixteen. In 2012 his children were not able to attend school because they lacked permits. Phiri has...
22 January 2013
(News)
The South African Citizenship Amendment Act of 2010 came into effect on 1 January this year.
This was revealed in a proclamation published in Government Gazette 36054.
The bill was adopted by the national assembly in October 2010 and signed into law in December of that year.
The legislation ensures that a child born to a South African parent inside or outside the country is a South African...
18 January 2013
(News)
Trade union federation Cosatu and refugee lobby group People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop) have renewed their call to the Department of Home Affairs to provide amnesty to immigrants caught up in the farmworker strike in the Western Cape.
In a joint statement yesterday the two organisations accused Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor of failing to “respond to our...
15 January 2013
(News)
The Immigration Act of 2002 (amended in 2004) creates the space for the importation of skills, stating that a new system of immigration control should ensure that “economic growth is promoted through the employment of needed foreign labour”.
The act in its current form allows for the use of different work permits to be issued, including a quota work permit for foreigners who fall in a...
9 January 2013
(News)
The situation at Beitbridge remains intolerable, unacceptable and a major obstruction to Zimbabwe ever attracting significant tourists from South Africa, according to Zimbabwe Education Minister David Coltart.
Mr Coltart, reacting to the abnormally long queues at the border over the past few days, suggested that a new border post be considered between the two countries.
Long queues of vehicles...
9 January 2013
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights is urgently calling on the people evicted from Schubart Park in Tshwane in September 2011 to register as former residents next week.
This is the second registration period and the last chance to register. Those that fail to register and are identified as former residents will be unable to access alternative accommodation and return to their homes in the Schubart Park...