Programme News
13 August 2015
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights has appeared in the Pretoria High Court on behalf of a female-headed family, who are being evicted from their family home.
On 14 May 2013, the magistrates’ court in Soshanguve granted an eviction order against the family, holding that registration of the property into the name of a third party rendered the family members living in the home unlawful occupiers in...
18 July 2015
(News)
By relocating the so-called Plastic View informal settlement to a new plot alongside Garsfontein Road, east of the Woodlands Boulevard, the City of Tshwane will simply create another undesirable element for residents to put up with.
This is according to residents of the Pretoria east suburbs of Woodlands, Garsfontein, Moreleta Park and Mooikloof, who expressed concerns about the proposed...
30 June 2015
(News)
The Kutlwanong Democracy Centre was launched at the end of May. The centre is located at 357 Visagie Street in Pretoria.
The national director of Lawyers for Human Rights, Jacob van Garderen told De Rebus that the centre is a unique hub for civil society in Pretoria. He said it brings together a range of organisations working in human rights, social assistance and development.
Services offered at...
18 June 2015
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) welcomes the Constitutional Court’s scathing judgment lashing out at officials who willfully disregard its orders – this time in the case of the Bapsfontein community.
In August last year, the court called the Ekurhuleni Municipality and its attorney to answer why it had failed to enforce two previous orders on the evicted community.
In its judgment, the...
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...
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...
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)
You would imagine, wouldn’t you, that once the court battles over a land claim were sorted out and an award was made returning the land to the people who originally lived on it, their legal troubles would be over.
Surely this would start a constructive new era for the community concerned and they could build a new life for themselves and their families? It turns out, however, that this is a...
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...
21 May 2015
(News)
Municipal Mayors and even Provincial Premier's could face jail time if their departments fail to comply with court orders. This is in terms of a ground-breaking decision by the Constitutional Court which paves the way for state functionaries to be held personally liable for the enforcement of court orders.