Latest news with #SouthAfricanHumanRightsCommission
The Citizen
3 days ago
- The Citizen
R42m water storage facility installed, but taps run dry in Xanthia village
The DA in the municipality has called on municipal manager Jasper Ngobeni to investigate why the reservoir was not being used. A R42 million water reservoir tank built in Xanthia Village, Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, 10 years ago has never been used since its completion. This is according to the residents, who confirmed that the construction of the reservoir did not assist in bringing a sustainable water supply to the area. 'It is true we don't regularly get water because it comes out once or twice a week. When the tank was built in our area, we were adamant that our problem was over. Little did we know it would not help,' said a resident who preferred anonymity, fearing reprisal. The issue of the dysfunctional reservoir is not new; it was raised about three years ago, but no action was taken to ensure the facility's operation. SAHRC investigation In 2021, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) investigated why the reservoir was not operational. When responding to the SAHRC questions, the former municipality's technical services manager, Emmanuel Makhavhu, said the water tank was dry due to an illegal water connection where residents connected their pipes to the main line. ALSO READ: Outrage over Limpopo council's R3 million Warmbaths conference The DA in the municipality has called on Municipal Manager Jasper Ngobeni to investigate why the reservoir was not being used. 'Presently, the municipality has a water supply shortfall of around 47 megalitres of water per day. The DA finds it completely unacceptable that the municipality wasted millions of taxpayers' money on something that brought no benefit to the residents of Xanthia,' said DA councillor Canuel Mnisi. Bushbuckridge municipal spokesperson Fhumulani Thovhakale did not say when the tank was going to start operating, but denied that the municipality had spent money on the project. 'The provincial department of human settlements bought the water storage tank in question as part of its municipal support programme, and the Rand Water Board installed it at Xanthia village. 'The department of human settlements requested the municipality to identify areas with bulk and water reticulations but without sufficient storage of water capacity.'
Daily Maverick
28-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Empty promises, empty stomachs — South Africa's hunger emergency
Malnutrition in South Africa, especially in places like the Eastern Cape, is not just a technical or policy problem – it is a national societal failure. The constitutional right to food is being violated daily, and we must demand political accountability, not just community resilience. In a country where more than a quarter of the population faces hunger, and one in four children under five is stunted, we must call this what it is: a national emergency. Malnutrition is not just a poverty indicator; it's a form of violence; slow, preventable and committed against children who have no say in the conditions into which they are born. Nowhere in South Africa is this more evident than in the Eastern Cape, where the crisis has become catastrophic. In recent months, children have died from acute malnutrition in rural clinics and peri-urban settlements while government departments pass the buck. The South African Human Rights Commission has declared that the rights of these children to basic nutrition have been violated, calling for urgent action to address this humanitarian crisis. Constitutionally, every child has the right to basic nutrition. In practice, that right has no teeth. At the Southern Africa Food Lab, we believe this crisis demands urgent, systemic action and that must begin with listening. Our work centres on bringing grassroots voices into dialogue with decision-makers, not for show, but to forge real consensus on how to rebuild local food systems that serve the most vulnerable. Food system governance must be accountable. Rights must translate into meals, not just legal jargon. World Hunger Day (28 May) should shake us from complacency. This cannot be another awareness-raising moment lost in the news cycle. The consequences are real: children too hungry to learn, infants stunted for life, mothers forced to go without so their children might eat. In Worcester, we've seen what's possible. With support from the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership and the Centre for Excellence in Food Security, local actors are linking school nutrition, urban agriculture and early childhood development into a joined-up strategy. This is not a pilot project. It's a working model of how decentralised food governance can create real change, if it's properly supported. In KwaZulu-Natal, newly trained smallholder farmers lost everything in the floods, but didn't give up. With backing from Woza Nami, local organisations and local government, they replanted and adapted, and are producing again. What helped them succeed? Local markets, practical support, community solidarity. Again, this illustrates the impact of community resilience combined with constructive collaboration. But let's be clear: community resilience is not an excuse for government failure. Where is the political will to fix the national school nutrition programme? Why are we still missing the chance to use public procurement to support small-scale farmers? Why do we keep talking about the right to food in abstract terms when children are dying? It's time to move from policy to practice and from statements to systems. The South African Constitution enshrines the right to food. But rights mean nothing without political accountability. We must build a public mandate for food justice; one that elevates the voices of communities and demands urgent, coordinated reform. Professor Thuli Madonsela, Law Trust Chair in Social Justice and a law professor at Stellenbosch University and patron of the Southern Africa Food Lab, recently emphasised that access to food is a matter of justice, not just kindness. She underscored that 'the Constitution is not a statement of intent; it is the law of the land', and that the right to food must be enforced with the same urgency as any other constitutional right. This World Hunger Day, don't just call for awareness. Call for action. The children of the Eastern Cape, and every hungry child in South Africa, deserve more than a promise. They deserve a future. DM
Daily Maverick
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Violent crime and the myth of South Africa's ‘white genocide'
Murder and armed robbery affect everyone living in South Africa – to say otherwise suggests a worrying ideological agenda. The lie of a 'genocide' against white farmers in South Africa took centre stage when presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump met on 21 May. The fact is that there is no 'white genocide' in South Africa, so it was shocking to hear the claim made at a formal diplomatic meeting in the White House. Among the so-called evidence presented by Trump to support the assertion was a video including footage purportedly of a 'mass funeral' for the white victims of farm attacks. The video showed what looked to be kilometres of white crosses lining a road. That footage was actually of a 2020 protest by agricultural groups highlighting concerns about murders on farms. The crosses were a monument to these deaths over two decades – not mass graves. The protest came two weeks after farming couple Glen and Vida Rafferty were shot and killed as they entered their home in KwaZulu-Natal. The trauma suffered by their family, friends and colleagues had a huge impact on their rural community. Three of the four attackers were convicted, the fourth was murdered before the trial finished. Despite being used for Trump's political misinformation campaign, the incident highlights three important realities of violent crime in South Africa, of which farm attacks are one part. First, murder and armed robbery rates are unacceptably high. Second, these crimes affect all South Africans – not mostly white people and not mostly farmers. Third, crime causes discontent across all communities, who frequently hold protests and call for remedial action. Between 2000 and 2015 two independent inquiries examined violent incidents on farms. The first was instituted by then-police minister Steve Tshwete; the second by the South African Human Rights Commission. Both investigated claims that attacks on farms and smallholdings were part of a political campaign to force white farmers off their land. Neither inquiry – nor other credible police or private investigations since then – have found any evidence to support such allegations. Whether genocide has been committed is not a matter of opinion but of international law. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention and 1998 Rome Statute, genocide is defined as murder or other harmful acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic group. If the Trump administration believes genocide is being committed in South Africa, there are legal avenues available to confirm this and take action. None has been pursued. The motive for farm murders in South Africa is almost always robbery – not part of an effort to 'destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic group'. Some cases are driven by labour disputes or domestic violence. While those living in rural areas and on farms may be vulnerable due to their isolation and lack of security and support services, claims that farmers are more at risk of being murdered than the average member of the public have not been proven. Those who allege an orchestrated campaign against white farmers tend to cite low arrest and prosecution rates for such crimes. An AfriForum study of such cases between 2016 and 2021 revealed that only 18% resulted in a conviction. However, this does not indicate the government's lack of concern with crimes against farmers specifically. Overall, the South African Police Service's ability to detect murder nationally dropped by 65% since 2012 and as of 2024 stood at 11%. Over the past five years the conviction rate for murder nationally was just 13% – lower than in the AfriForum report. Serious criminal justice system shortcomings affect everyone, not only those in rural areas or farmers in particular. South Africa has one of the highest murder rates worldwide, along with high numbers of armed robberies. These violent crimes, which also affect farmers, are part of a larger, more complex problem that transcends race and culture. For example, in the 2023-24 financial year, the 49 murders on farms recorded by AfriForum represented 0.2% of the 27,621 murders suffered nationally. And the 296 farm attacks recorded by AfriForum made up 0.7% of the 42,206 robberies recorded by police across the country. While murders increased by 127 cases nationally from the previous year, AfriForum recorded a drop in one case from 50 to 49 for those occurring on farms. Over the same period, farm attacks decreased by 12.7%, while the total number of robberies dropped by 2.1%. These statistics are not just numbers. They reflect shattered lives and traumatised communities across South Africa. Many citizens have taken action, with positive results, as the figures above suggest. Some involved in agriculture have improved relations with neighbouring communities and adopted practical measures to enhance their safety, such as those of the KwaZulu-Natal agricultural association Kwanalu. Of course, the government must improve safety, including in rural areas. This is acknowledged in the National Rural Safety Strategy. However, the strategy has not been fully implemented, with resource and infrastructure shortages among the challenges. South Africa has the knowledge and tools to address high levels of violence. It will take good leadership in the criminal justice system and strengthening the police's ability to detect and investigate cases. But these measures aren't enough to sustainably reduce crime. Concerted efforts are needed across government to tackle inequality and poverty, and invest in violence prevention. The politically motivated, racist claim that white South Africans face a genocide has been circulating among fringe far-right and neo-Nazi groups for years. In the US, the late David Lane – a neo-Nazi and convicted criminal – popularised the theory in his 1988 book White Genocide Manifesto. Lane is seen as one of the most important US ideologues of contemporary white supremacy by those who study and resist the phenomenon in that country. Perhaps this tells us more about the motives of the Trump administration and its approach to domestic politics than any pretence at concern about South African farmers. DM
TimesLIVE
25-05-2025
- TimesLIVE
SAHRC takes legal action against Gqeberha shop owner for displaying anti-LGBTQ+ sign
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has announced it is initiating legal proceedings against a Gqeberha shop owner, Dawood Lagardien, for publicly displaying an anti-LGBTQ+ sign outside his business. The commission alleges the sign constitutes discrimination, hate speech and harassment against the LGBTQ+ community. The sign displayed outside Lagardien's business read: 'LGBTQ not welcome at La Gardi — Save our children.' According to the SAHRC, the signage was intended to exclude members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual+ (LGBTQ+) community from accessing services offered by the business. 'In addition, the respondent established and actively managed a WhatsApp group titled 'Our Rights — anti LGBTQ+', which contains statements and material that appear to incite harm against individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ and related communities. After assessment of the complaint , the commission has concluded that the alleged actions by Mr Dawood Lagardien constitute hate speech and/or harassment as contemplated in terms of sections 10 and 11 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA or Equality Act),' said the commission. The commission emphasised 'the critical importance' of fostering a society rooted in non-discrimination, while actively promoting and safeguarding the right to equality for all individuals, irrespective of their sexual orientation. 'The commission is empowered in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the South African Human Rights Commission Act (SAHRC Act), to bring proceedings in a competent court or tribunal in its own name or on behalf of a person or a group or class of people,' it said. The case is scheduled to be heard in the Equality Court sitting in the East London high court on Monday.
Daily Maverick
20-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Eastern Cape cancer patients face more delays in getting critical chemotherapy
Patients, doctors and medical personnel face more chemotherapy disruptions after the Eastern Cape Department of Health said it would settle outstanding accounts with pharmaceutical companies only on Friday. The struggle for chemotherapy medication in Nelson Mandela Bay's state hospitals and at Frere Hospital in East London is likely to continue until at least the weekend, after the Eastern Cape Department of Health confirmed it would pay pharmaceutical companies that are owed millions of rands, only on Friday. With stock running dangerously low, oncologists, pharmacists and nurses have had to make excruciating decisions about who receives treatment and who does not, with some oncology units left with just one vial of the potentially lifesaving treatment. Medical staff have spent hours phoning across the province in a bid to source the drugs, particularly for children, to avoid cancer patients' treatment being interrupted. Patients' caregivers, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had been turned away when bringing children for chemotherapy. They said they had been told they would have to make a second trip when the chemotherapy drugs became available. On Monday, the Eastern Cape MEC for health, Ntandokazi Capa, promised that outstanding bills would be paid immediately; however, patients have been turned away and treatments halted. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched an investigation into the repeated interruptions of cancer treatment for public healthcare patients in the Eastern Cape due to unpaid accounts. Dr Eileen Carter from the SAHRC said the Democratic Alliance (DA) had laid a complaint with them about the matter. On Monday, Capa's spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said R200-million had been set aside for the procurement of essential specialist medicines, including for cancer treatment. He said R43-million of this would be used to settle debts with pharmaceutical companies. However, on Tuesday he said this payment would probably only be made on Friday. Salomé Meyer from the Cancer Alliance said they were deeply concerned about cancer services in the Eastern Cape. 'Livingstone Hospital (this includes the two cancer units at Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital), now for the third time this year, does not have oncology medicines, and this is barely two months after the start of the new financial year. Should this trend of non-payment of invoices to suppliers continue, the lives of cancer patients will be impacted severely,' she said. Meyer said the head of the Eastern Cape Department of Health, Dr Rolene Wagner, had committed to meeting with them to find workable solutions for cancer care services in the province. The oncology units in Gqeberha previously ran out of chemotherapy medication in January after the Eastern Cape Department of Health's account with a supplier was suspended due to a delayed payment.. At the time, the medicines that were in short supply were Docetexal injection vials and anastrozole tablets. There was a similar shortage in 2023, which was blamed on a stock-out at suppliers. DM
