Human Rights

Jewish security organisation plays fast and loose with law

"He had me around the neck and he was huge so I had very little capacity to do anything much… I fell down and we went down the stairs and then we got into this car park …"

Yael Even Or

News | 17 July 2013

Deaf demand more Sign Language

Sign Language is the primary language used by the deaf community in South Africa, yet to this day it is not officially recognized or well-integrated into everyday life.

Nwabisa Pondoyi

News | 16 July 2013

How the police are failing rape survivors in Khayelitsha

There are severe problems with the way Khayelitsha police are handling rape cases explains Camila Osorio.

Camila Osorio

Feature | 10 July 2013

Making sex safer

It has been a little over a month since Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, announced in his annual National Health budget and policy speech that the South African government will start administering free vaccinations against human papilloma virus (HPV) in schools beginning in February of 2014, but there is still much to discuss about the vaccination roll-out program.

Edirin Okoloko

Feature | 10 July 2013

Sex workers versus organisations against human trafficking

Sex workers have been fighting to enjoy their right to dignity. For this to happen, they say, sex work has to be decriminalised. On the other hand, organisations opposed to human trafficking are also opposed to sex work. We spoke to representatives of both sides.

Nwabisa Pondoyi

Brief | 10 July 2013

Group demands to know party funders

On 27 June 2013 protesters, under the campaign My Vote Counts which is run by activist organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi, gathered outside Parliament to demand that political parties disclose the names of their funders.

Pharie Sefali

News | 3 July 2013

Labelling Israeli injustice

For three long years, activists across the country campaigned to ban Israel’s practice of falsely labelling goods that are made in its illegal settlements as "made in Israel". In April this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued a regulation banning this practice.

Jonathan Dockney

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Egypt’s second revolution

As massive protests swept across Egypt on Sunday, many outside of Egypt were surprised to see the sheer volumes of people that were unhappy with President Mohamed Morsi and his government, so soon after the revolution.

Mary Fawzy

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Dancing and tears greet book treaty for blind

On 22 June a treaty for the blind was heading for disaster as negotiators stalled and refused to budge on hardline positions. Three days later a negotiator stepped out of a boardroom in the Atlas Medina hotel in Marrakesh and announced to a crowd of tense and exhausted observers, "We have a text!" The tears and dancing that followed is hardly what you’d associate with the making of international law.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 3 July 2013

Cameron to African leaders: End stigma against gays

This is an edited transcript of a speech by Judge Edwin Cameron on 28 June at the UNAIDS/LANCET Commissioners Dinner in Malawi. Cameron criticised stigmatising laws that hamper the response to HIV.

Edwin Cameron

Opinion | 2 July 2013

Microchip road to real democracy

The advice of the Italian revolutionary, Antonio Gramsci constantly comes to mind these days: exercise pessimism of the intellect, but optimism of the will. I must admit that it has become a great deal easier over recent months to exercise pessimism of the intellect — and increasingly difficult to exercise optimism of the will to do something about changing things, domestically or globally.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 2 July 2013

Building coalitions against US human rights abuses is hard

On Sunday I helped organise and participated in a small protest against human rights abuses and inadequate action on climate change by the Obama administration during his visit to the University of Cape Town.

Eduard Grebe

Opinion | 2 July 2013

New efforts for a united rural movement

Last Saturday, after three days of discussion, 300 members of multiple social movements marched in Cape Town and delivered a letter to the South African Government about land reform and land tenure.

Camila Osorio

News | 26 June 2013

Sick janitor claims City endangered health

Monica Gotshana, is a single mother of five children from Khayelitsha’s Site B. Today is her last day working as a janitor for the City of Cape Town because her six month contract comes to an end. She talked about her experience working as a toilet cleaner.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 26 June 2013

Petition calls for more time to comment on police green paper

Last Friday, 27 civil society organizations signed a letter directed at Ms Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service. The organisations requested more time to comment on the Green Paper on Policing that Ms Irish-Qhobosheane published last week.

Camila Osorio

News | 25 June 2013

Immigrants accuse cops of abuse as their businesses are destroyed

Immigrants who protested outside Kraaifontein Police station on Thursday 20 June claim that police officers assigned to the Wallacedene area yelled offensive statements at them. They also gave harrowing accounts of how they lost their livelihoods.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 25 June 2013