
Aboriginal-led inquiry calls for redress for genocide of Indigenous Australians
Within 20 years the population was reduced by three quarters due to violence and disease - from 60,000 to just 15,000.
This was uncovered in an Aboriginal-led inquiry, the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which is investigating systemic injustices again Indigenous Australians.
The report declared that this was a genocide after two months of public hearings, and put forward recommendations for redress.

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eNCA
2 days ago
- eNCA
Designer says regrets Adidas 'appropriated' Mexican footwear
USA - US fashion designer Willy Chavarria said Saturday he regrets that sandals he created together with Adidas "appropriated" a traditional design from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Local authorities had complained that the Oaxaca Slip-On sandals were a "reinterpreted" model of huarache sandals, particularly one found uniquely in the area, which has one of the highest Indigenous populations in the country. Mexico's government said Friday it was seeking compensation from Adidas. "I deeply regret that this design has appropriated the name and was not developed in direct and meaningful partnership with the Oaxacan community," Chavarria, who is of Mexican heritage, said in a statement sent to AFP. Chavarria acknowledged that the sandals "did not live up to the respect and collaborative approach" deserved by the community of Villa Hidalgo Yalalag, from where the original design is said to have come. The Mexican government said Friday that Adidas had agreed to meet with Oaxaca authorities. "It's collective intellectual property. There must be compensation. The heritage law must be complied with," President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her regular morning press conference Friday. The controversy is the latest instance of Mexican officials denouncing major brands or designers using unauthorized Indigenous art or designs from the region, with previous complaints raised about fast fashion juggernaut Shein, Spain's Zara and high-end label Carolina Herrera.


The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
ANC and DA trade barbs over City of Tshwane's cleaning levy
The DA accused the City of Tshwane of wasting taxpayers' money. The City of Tshwane (CoT) used three advocates and hundreds of papers to argue, and lose, the cleaning levy case in the Pretoria High Court last Thursday. The court ruled that the fee was illegal and invalid. AfriForum approached the court to set aside the metro's decision to impose a new mandatory monthly levy of R194.37 (excluding VAT) on approximately 260 000 households and businesses within the metro. AfriForum argued that the levy amounted to illegal and unfair double taxation, especially in cases where residents do not benefit from the metro's refuse removal service and are forced to use private service providers, she said. ALSO READ: Tshwane and Joburg squeeze residents for cash Tshwane MMC accuses DA of introducing cleaning levy However, the MMC for Environment and Agriculture Management, Obakeng Ramabodu, clapped back and said the City of Tshwane will appeal this judgment as it believes a cleaning levy, aimed at improving the maintenance of landfills, is necessary. He also accused the DA of introducing the levy while it was running the city. 'Much has been made of this cleansing levy, and it must be noted that a cleansing levy is not unique to the City of Tshwane. A cleansing levy was introduced in Tshwane between 2016 and 2021 by the erstwhile government, which now claims to take exception to it,' he said. DA accuses Tshwane of wasting taxpayers' money DA Tshwane caucus leader, Cilliers Brink, said his party will write to the city manager to investigate the handling of the cleaning fee. Brink said the judgment in the Pretoria High Court setting aside the cleaning levy revealed the extent to which Tshwane's ANC-led coalition is wasting taxpayers' money. 'AfriForum took the levy on review, and the judge was scoffing at the city's conduct of the case. Not only did the court point to the failure of the city to produce policy documents on which its defence was based, but [it] also criticised the overreach of the city in employing three advocates to argue the case and producing hundreds of pages of socially irrelevant documents,' he said. Brink stated that the cost of every page and billable hour for the advocates was at the expense of the residents of Tshwane. 'The irony is that this money is spent to justify a levy which the city cannot even explain. 'In the paragraph, the judge even issues a warning to the city's legal representatives of the professional, ethical implications of pulling up such a bad case,' he added. ALSO READ: Levy court battle far from over Brink said when the levy was debated in council, the DA rejected the idea of such a levy as a way of filling the city's coffers. 'The same budget which raised the levy did not increase the allocation for city cleanings. The ANC-coalition didn't actually plan to spend the money on city cleansing,' he said. Brink questioned the City of Tshwane's decision to appeal the court judgment on the cleaning levy. 'If the city's legal team could not even produce documents that the city relied on to defend the levy in court, it's unclear how they would sustain an appeal.'

The Star
3 days ago
- The Star
‘Don't give us ridiculous conditions': EFF and MK party invited to join GNU
Jonisayi Maromo | Published 8 hours ago African National Congress (ANC) NEC member Mzwandile Masina said his party is moving ahead with plans to include more political parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU), and discussions are ongoing with political parties, including the Jacob-Zuma-led uMkontho weSizwe party. Earlier this week, IOL reported that as the ANC intensifies work to expand the size and reach of the GNU by adding more parties to the coalition currently governing South Africa, opposition party ActionSA insists it is not interested in joining the ruling arrangement. Leader of ActionSA, Herman Mashaba said so far, he has only heard from media reports that the ANC wants to approach ActionSA for negotiations around GNU inclusion, but his party has not heard a word from Luthuli House. One of the main political parties in the GNU, the Democratic Alliance (DA), strongly opposes expanding the ruling coalition. However, Masina said the ANC insists that, as the leader of the pact, the time has come to press the reset button. 'This GNU is led by ourselves. The DA will have to accept that we are resetting the button. We are bringing others who will be prepared to subscribe. What we will not accept are conditions, because previously we were given ridiculous conditions which we could not accept, which is why other parties are not necessarily part of the GNU,' the former mayor of Ekurhuleni spoke to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika. He said the ANC has directed the leadership led by President Cyril Ramaphosa to open discussions with other political parties represented in the National Assembly. Masina said the ANC is not expelling the DA from the Government of National Unity, but the decision to stay or leave the coalition lies with the blue party. 'We do not have a permanent relationship with them, because even ideologically we are two different parties, and it has been proven that we have to consolidate and ensure that this government remains stable,' he said. On the EFF and MK party, Masina said invitations have been extended to the opposition political parties and the ANC hopes they will not come with 'ridiculous conditions'. 'South Africa as a country is critical. We have spoken to those parties. We have spoken to EFF, we have spoken to MK, and MK is quite ridiculous. On one hand, they dispute the results (of the 2024 general elections) and on the other hand, they are in Parliament. There is a lot of confusion taking place there. 'With the EFF, there have been engagements, and I hope that this time around, they will not put demands that are ridiculous, that will make the ANC not consider. So I hope that throughout these engagements, they will allow us to ensure that we are firmer in terms of the statement and the principles that have been set up for this GNU, which is not permanent,' said Masina. On Tuesday, IOL reported that ANC veteran and National Executive Committee (NEC) member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has emphasised the need for the ANC to rebuild its structures on the ground and focus on local government to restore trust with the people. With the upcoming local government elections, Dlamini-Zuma stressed that the ANC should prioritise strengthening its branches and delivering services to communities. Service delivery remains a challenge in South Africa. This includes inadequate infrastructure, insufficient resources, and issues of maintenance and accountability. Dlamini-Zuma highlighted the importance of building strong branches. "Our branches must be built properly because the strength of the branch is what they do in the community… We are going to the local government elections, and we should be concentrating on that right now." In 2017, Dlamini-Zuma lost the battle to become the ANC president to Cyril Ramaphosa, who won with 2,440 votes. Dlamini-Zuma got 2,261. However, under Ramaphosa, the party lost its parliamentary majority in a historic election result that put South Africa on a new political path, in which the ANC was forced to form the Government of National Unity (GNU) with the DA and other small parties. [email protected] IOL News Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.