In a monumental ruling at the Makhanda high court, judges found it was unconstitutional to bar learners without birth certificates from receiving basic schooling. By Tania Broughton Thirty-seven children have changed the law for themselves and an estimated one million others in South Africa who have been deprived of an education because they are undocumented. In a ruling penned by Judge President...

International Commission of Jurists - Africa The ICJ collaborated with Studio Bolland to produce this animation which sets out the international standards and protection of rights contained within the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) adopted by the United Nations and ratified by South Africa. The animation explains South Africa's obligations in terms of the ICESCR relating...

“This is the time for you to act”, Creecy told By Madison Yauger Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has asked Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy to declare a climate emergency in South Africa at the 2019 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) conference in Madrid, Spain. The group wants the government to reverse all policies inconsistent with addressing climate...

Parliament given 24 months to correct Criminal Procedure Act By Tania Broughton Child offenders, child victims and child witnesses may not be named - even in adulthood, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday. To sum up their majority ruling, the judges quoted Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who during a TED talk in 2009 said: “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to...

Controversial Australian company applies for further prospecting rights By John Yeld The future of one of South Africa’s most important biodiversity areas – the Olifants River estuary on the West Coast near Lutzville – could be decided at a crucial meeting on Wednesday 4 December. This is when various government departments and conservation agencies come together at a meeting hosted by CapeNature to...

School’s action directly contradicts instructions of ministers of Home Affairs and of Basic Education By Tariro Washinyira An immigrant child has been out of school for a year after Bodibe Intermediate Public School near Mahikeng refused to enrol him because he lacks documents. The parents received a letter from the school on 8 January stating: “This communique serves to confirm that the school...

“The legislature may well have wanted to regulate hate speech as broadly as possible, but it has not done so with the necessary precision” explains Judge Navsa  By Tania Broughton The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment in the Jon Qwelane case removes the concept of “hurt” from South Africa’s hate speech laws. It affirms freedom of expression. Espousing and fostering hatred is the antithesis...

Security company wants report to be redacted if it is to be released By Elna Schütz Judgment has been reserved in an application for access to a report investigating claims of torture at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein. The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) made a request for the information to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in 2014, following media...

No social housing has been built in the inner city, says judge By Madison Yauger Judges in the Tafelberg case questioned arguments by the Western Cape government on Wednesday about the decision to sell the valuable property to a private school instead of building social housing on the site. The case, being heard in the Western Cape High Court, will determine whether the...

Alem Bazabe Ereselo was deemed ineligible for a kidney transplant because of her refugee status By Muchengeti Hwacha On 11 October the Johannesburg High Court handed down a judgment upholding a decision by Helen Joseph Hospital to discontinue life-saving dialysis treatment for an asylum seeker. Lawyers for the asylum seeker are preparing an appeal. Alem Bazabe Ereselo arrived in South Africa in 2010, fleeing political...