10th Annual Public Interest Law Gathering Started in 2011, the Public Interest Law Gathering (PILG) is an annual convening of people and organisations who use law as a tool to advance social justice in South Africa. It provides a platform for public interest law practitioners, community activists, law students, academics and donors to reflect on their strategies; learn from each other; strengthen...

Covid-19 triggered a plan to move families from overcrowded Dunoon informal settlements, but more than a year later, they’re still there By Peter Luhanga The Racing Park Developers’ Association wants to overturn the sale of industrial land to the Western Cape Human Settlements Department. The association has already unsuccessfully appealed against the rezoning of the land for mixed-use housing of 1,500...

City of Cape Town says national government slow to release “well-located” land for affordable housing By Marecia Damons Land and housing legal support organisations Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) and Reclaim the City (RTC) say the City of Cape Town is moving too slowly on its promises to create affordable housing. In July 2017, the City announced that 11 pieces of public land in the...

Treating occupiers as criminals fails to recognise that the vast majority of people are forced to take land, says Ndifuna Ukwazi By Mary-Anne Gontsana Over 8,000 people have signed a petition to extend the City of Cape Town’s public comment period on a draft by-law. Public comments closed on 31 July. Housing activists believe the by-law will criminalise the occupation of...

Activists question legality of confiscating food from poor households By Masego Mafata Police are going door-to-door in townships to reclaim goods believed to be looted during the unrest in Gauteng. Many people we spoke to say food items were removed from their homes and furniture damaged during the raids. Civil society groups have said that not all of the confiscations are...

The bill would establish two new courts: a Land Court and Land Court of Appeal By Geoffrey Allsop A new Land Court Bill aims to speed up land reform by addressing the slow processing of land claims by the Land Claims Court. The new bill seeks to give effect to recommendations of the 2019 Report by the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and...

Minister Motshekga and eight provincial education MECs in contempt of court, says NGO By Tania Broughton Millions of children depend on the national school feeding scheme for a daily meal, but a significant number of them are not getting fed. Last year, the court ordered the education authorities to develop practical plans to rectify this situation and to report back to...

“It is untenable that the poorest and most vulnerable children should have to foot the bill for budget reallocations” says Katharine Hall By Liezl Human Children’s Institute is asking Parliament to increase the Child Support Grant by at least R10 in October. The organisation says the current grant amount of R460 is too little to cover the cost of minimum basic...

Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill stalled since 2018 By Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik Even as Pride Month comes to a close, gay people still find themselves the victims of bigoted speech and hate crimes. Gay rights advocates suspect that gay people murdered in Cape Town’s townships over the past few months were victims of hate crimes. Phelokazi Mqathana, from Khayelitsha...

Farmer says in court papers he may have suffered “economic harm” because of the activist By Liezl Human An activist with the Rural Legal Centre in Robertson has apologised to two farmers on social media as part of a settlement agreement after the farmers took him to court for harassment. The parties came to a settlement on Friday 4 June, agreeing that if...