The week in activism

LRC helps get a settlement on a land reform matter

On 17 September, the Legal Resource Centre settled a land reform matter on behalf of the Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) and four labour tenants. The settlement has the potential to affect over 18,000 labour tenant land claimants throughout South Africa.

The Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act allows labour tenants to apply to the director-general of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for rights over the land that they occupy, including ownership.

It was because of this act that thousands of labour tenants who reside in Hilton College Estate in KwaZulu Natal made applications before the cutoff date, 31 March 2001.

The LRC approached the Land Claims Court seeking an order to compel the department to process applications under the Act, and to monitor the implementation of that order. The DG has failed to perform the tasks necessary to process labour tenants’ applications, 13 years after the deadline.

The department has not denied that there are thousands of labour tenant claims, but argues it is an inefficient means of land reform and that it prefers to divert labour tenants into its other land reform programmes. It claims that to perform its statutory duty would interfere with the separation of powers and impose intolerable budgetary pressures on the department.

With the help of the LRC, both parties have agreed that the department shall, on or before the 31 March 2015, file a report with the court containing the statistics of the current status of labour tenant applications, show a schedule indicating the status of each individual labour tenant claim, and have a plan for the further processing of all outstanding labour claims.

To read about the case visit the LRC website.

SWEAT dialogue to commemorate Heritage Day

Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) will be hosting a community dialogue in Delft to commemorate Heritage Day.

They will host it with several organisations — Sisonke, Women’s Legal Centre and TB/HIV Care Association. The dialogue will run from 11am to 2pm at the Home of Compassion Ministries in Delft.

The dialogue focuses on health and safety, gender based violence, and the position of sex workers living within the proximity of the Delft and Blikkiesdorp communities.

There will be a number of guest speakers as well as a representative from the South African Police Services (SAPS) in delft.

For more information visit SWEAT.

Sonke Gender Justice calls on government

Sonke Gender Justice has taken its victory in the Sandiswa Mhlawuli case, a woman brutally murdered by her lover last year in Dutya, as a chance to call on government to strengthen the criminal justice system.

Sonke, together with CAT (Community Action Teams) and other partner organisations, followed Mhlawuli’s case which they felt had been ignored by the SAPS.

Nkosinam Xabadiyi was found guilty of murder nine months after he killed Sandiswa Mhlawuli and after only five court appearances.

Sonke’s Executive Director Dean Peacock is quoted in the organisation’s statement: “While the speedy resolution is testimony to the power and potential of community mobilisation and people’s power, it should not be necessary for civil society organisations to spend large amounts of money and staff resources to ensure that the criminal justice system meets its constitutional obligations. This should happen as a matter of course.”

Sonke’s Patrick Godana is quoted in the statement: “The criminal justice system fails far too many victims of domestic and sexual violence in South Africa … We believe the swift and successful conclusion of this case reflects the pressure that community members and ourselves brought to bear, and the close collaboration with key partners including the CGE, Treatment Action Campaign, Dutywa Women’s Support Centre and the Methodist Church in Dutywa.”

More than a thousand women are killed by intimate partners in South Africa each year. All deserve justice. Sonke called on government to implement a fully funded national strategic plan on gender based violence for serious improvements to policing, evidence-gathering and the courts, as well as a commitment to support preventative efforts.

“We have made this call again and again, but the government has repeatedly failed to respond with the appropriate commitment or urgency that is called for,” according to Gondana.

For more information visit Sonke.