Programme News
13 September 2013
(News)
While the Department of Home Affairs compiles the National Population Register, rooting out duplicate or fraudulent ID documents, concerns have arisen that measures to “block” these may leave hundreds of thousands of innocent South Africans stateless.
Khadija Patel spoke to Lawyers for Human Rights about the implications.
Lampposts across the country are being readied for their...
5 August 2013
(News)
Asylum-seekers in Limpopo have accused state organs of having taken away their livelihoods. A year ago, Limpopo police closed down foreign-owned tuckshops in the townships, saying that the asylum-seekers would need to apply for business permits. But the operation was aimed specifically at Ethiopian and Somali spaza shop owners, leaving locally-owned businesses untouched. Most lost everything and...
30 July 2013
(News)
More than three years since it was introduced in Parliament, the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill has received presidential assent - paving the way for a single statute that will address human trafficking holistically and comprehensively, writes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.
According to a media statement issued yesterday, once in force the Act will make...
26 July 2013
(News)
National identity, a sense of belonging and the right to citizenship are fundamental human rights. In South Africa last week, in addition to celebrating the 95th birthday of Africa’s living legend, Nelson Mandela, the government also started rolling out “smart” national identity documents (IDs). These secure, tamper-resistant documents were issued to, among others, senior...
25 July 2013
(Press release)
Judgment has been reserved in the North Gauteng High Court after hearing two days of arguments against the discriminatory targeting of foreign traders in Limpopo by police and the Department of Home Affairs.
LHR is battling a controversial police crackdown called “Operation Hardstick” that has been used to unfairly target foreign traders. The right to trade is a necessity given...
25 July 2013
(Press release)
On Tuesday, the North Gauteng High Court will hear arguments against the discriminatory targeting of foreign traders in Limpopo by police and the Department of Home Affairs.
In the case of Somali Association of South Africa and others v Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism and others, Lawyers for Human Rights is challenging the unlawful practice preventing...
24 July 2013
(News)
Foreign traders from Limpopo turned to the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, claiming that they were being targeted and discriminated against by the police and the local authorities who were forcing them to close their businesses.
In the application by the Somali Association of South Africa, the Ethiopian Community of South Africa and others, against the Limpopo Department of Economic...
24 July 2013
(News)
Foreign traders who run spaza shops in Limpopo on Tuesday asked the North Gauteng High Court for an order enabling them to operate in the province.
The asylum seekers and refugees claimed they were being deliberately prevented from running businesses in Limpopo.
The case concerns the right of refugees and asylum seekers to support themselves by operating businesses in South Africa. It also...
18 July 2013
(Press release)
As part of this year's Public Interest Law Gathering at Wits University, Lawyers for Human Rights hosted a day-long seminar on The future of asylum in South Africa with panel discussions on the recent shifts in asylum policy, local integration and the government's decision to close and relocate urban refugee centres and the protection challenges caused by ongoing xenophobic attacks on...
11 July 2013
(News)
Does South Africa currently receive the “highest annual number of asylum applications worldwide”?
It is a claim that in recent weeks has been picked up and repeated, often verbatim, by various media outlets. For example, an SABC television interview with Home Affairs minister Naledi Pandor prior to World Refugee Day on 20 June was prefaced with an introduction stating that...