Programme News
7 April 2009
(News)
Victory is in sight for residents of the troubled Moutse district which was incorporated into Limpopo by the Municipal Demarcation Board four years ago. An agreement was reached with ANC general secretary Gwede Mantashe at a meeting this weekend in Bronkhorstspruit - about 90km away from the affected area.
According to one of three proposals presented by Mantashe at Saturday's meeting, the...
31 March 2009
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights welcomes the judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Ulde v Minister of Home Affairs which was delivered today, 31 March 2009. The SCA unanimously upheld the appeal against the decision of the Johannesburg High Court to dismiss an application by a Pakistani immigrant to declare his detention unlawful.Lawyers for Human Rights, acting as amicus curiae in this...
23 March 2009
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights will approach the High Court in Pretoria tomorrow, Tuesday 24 March 2009, for an urgent order declaring the immigration detention centre located on the military grounds in Musina, unlawful.
Every month, approximately 15 000 Zimbabwean nationals are deported from a detention centre located on a military base outside of the town of Musina close to the Zimbabwean border...
5 March 2009
(News)
Judgment was reserved today after the Constitutional Court heard argument on a family of Kenyan origin's challenge to the loss of their permanent citizenship. The court was hearing the case of asking for leave to appeal a Pretoria High Court decision. Wycliffe Simiyu Koyabe and his family
Koyabe arrived in South Africa in 1994 and was granted a work permit, but he and the others were arrested...
26 February 2009
(News)
The Minister of Home Affairs has been ordered by thePretoria High Court to immediately release an asylum seeker from of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo who is being held at the Lindela HoldingFacility in Krugersdorp.
Max Boziss, 28, desperately tried to renew hisasylum seeker temporary permit, but long queues at the department prevented himfrom doing so in time. It was stated in court...
10 February 2009
(News)
Lawyers fight to improve refugee facility
By Zelda Venter
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are to approach the Pretoria High Court in a bid to force the government to improve conditions at a holding facility for refugees in Musina, or have it closed down. This follows the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe, which has since spread to Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It is claimed conditions at the...
9 February 2009
(Press release)
MEDIA RELEASE - 9 FEBRUARY 2009
LHR has lodged an urgent High Court application challenging the legality and conditions of the Soutpansberg Military Grounds detention centre in Musina. Further, the application challenges the blatant violation of the constitutional provision against the detention of children.
In contravention of the Immigration Act, the detention centre, commonly known as...
18 November 2008
(News)
JOHANNESBURG - Threats to boycott next year's general election followed the ConstitutionalCourt's postponement of the Moutse demarcation row on Tuesday."We won't vote," said a frustrated Abraham Mahlangu, echoing similar calls by Khutsongresidents ahead of the last election over their own incorporation into theNorth West from Gauteng.Mahlangu,the chairman of the Sehlakwane Demarcation...
18 November 2008
(Press release)
20 November 2008 Lawyers for Human Rights welcomes the decision of theConstitutional Court today to postpone the hearing of the Moutse demarcationdispute in order to allow the Minister of Provincial and Local Government anopportunity to address the concerns of the Moutse community regarding theirtransfer from Mpumalanga and to Limpopo. The Minister's request to court follows his recent...
29 October 2008
(Press release)
PRESS RELEASE - 29 October 2008
On 16 October 2008 three Zimbabweans detained in immigration detention in Musina were subjected to cruel and inhumane assaults at the hands of a number of police officers. The detention facility, commonly referred to as SMG, is controlled by the South African Police Service in Musina.
The police officers tightly handcuffed one of the detainees with his hands...