Programme News
12 May 2011
(News)
South African and Zimbabwean immigration officials met in Beit Bridge on Friday and agreed to deal jointly with irregular migration between the two countries amid revelations that 64 Somali refugees were rounded up in the border town as they attempted to cross the border into South Africa illegally. The emergency meeting followed growing concerns by immigration authorities from the two countries...
12 April 2011
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) wishes to add its voice to the growing calls for an end to rampant political oppression and violence in Swaziland. The events of today which has seen the mass arrests of hundreds of protesters and the detention of journalists have brought the political crisis in Swaziland into light.
Mass action has long been a tradition in Southern Africa against...
8 April 2011
(News)
Excerpt from allafrica.com:
[Question posed to Minister Zuma] Minister, what are you going to do about the Refugee Reception Centre in Crown Mines after the South Gauteng High Court decision saying it should close down? What arrangements will be made to move the centre?
[Response from Minister Zuma] We have to accept the law. Yes, I am aware of the court order. If the law says...
7 April 2011
(News)
Environmental and rights groups said yesterday that separate and unequal environmental rules for mines were “no longer defensible”. The organisations complained that they were being sidelined from early efforts to overhaul mining laws.
The 13 groups, including Lawyers for Human Rights, WWF South Africa and the Endangered Wildlife Trust, said the existing rules gave inadequate...
30 March 2011
(Press release)
The North Gauteng High Court has issued an interim order today returning two children to their father pending the outcome of a final decision on the matter. The children had been removed from their father’s custody and care by the police because he had not yet paid lobola to his deceased life partner’s family.
LHR is encouraged by the court’s decision as...
29 March 2011
(News)
Pretoria News I Zelda Venter I
A father from Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, will on Tuesday turn to the Pretoria High Court for an urgent order to have his two small children returned to him after claims that social services removed the children after his wife died, because he had not yet paid all his lobola. The man, who cannot be identified to protect his children, filed papers against the...
24 March 2011
(Press release)
The Department of Home Affairs has begun implementing one of the most controversial elements of the Immigration Amendment Bill—the use of pre-screening procedures for asylum seekers at the border. While members of the Department have issued conflicting statements over what this provision will mean in practice, the Minister has stated that asylum seekers will be subject to the ‘first...
18 March 2011
(News)
Financial Mail I Zweli Mokgata I Sex workers are protected by one law but can be prosecuted under another.
After a recent court ruling, sex workers now enjoy protection under the Labour Relations Act. However, they can still be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act for plying their trade.
The case that brought about this situation is related to a 2006 incident involving a sex worker referred...
17 March 2011
(Press release)
South Africa commits to take “a leading role” on a “broad vision to take the issue of sexual orientation forward” within the African Group at the United Nations
The South African delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council publicly affirmed its support for ending violence against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This statement issued...
17 March 2011
(News)
URGENT CALL FOR SOUTH AFRICAN ENDORSEMENT OF THE “JOINT STATEMENT ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY” AT THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL BY AFRICAN ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
Department of International Relations and Cooperation
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
Republic of South Africa
16 March 2011
Dear...