Latest news with #SAHumanRightsCommission
The Citizen
11-07-2025
- General
- The Citizen
Deteriorating conditions inside Helen Joseph Women's Hostel in Alexandra
Women living inside the Helen Joseph Women's Hostel in Alexandra endure uninhabitable conditions: Collapsing ceilings, persistent sewage flooding, flooded laundry rooms, relentless fear, and overcrowding. Residents say these challenges can be attributed to years of neglect by the city. Among the affected residents is Lena Sebotsane, who has been living in the hostel for 38 years. What was once a place of refuge for Sebotsane, and other residents, has deteriorated into a space of hardship. 'Most of us are from rural places, and we had a good life here, but now, we don't know what to say or where to go. We don't even have water in the bathrooms. When you go to the toilet, you have to use buckets of water to flush.' Some of the laundry rooms are flooded with water, and one of the old kitchens is flooded with raw sewage, which is exuding a foul stench. On one floor, residents say raw sewage once flooded the entire laundry room. To keep it out of their rooms, they had to stack sacks of sand at the entrance of the corridor. It has since subsided, but the stench remains. Also read: Public Protector confirms receipt of Helen Joseph Hostel complaint The issue of sanitation and sewage has plagued the residents for over a decade. It appears in a report by the SA Human Rights Commission, which addresses a complaint about the state of the hostel lodged by a resident in 2012. The report noted that irregular water supply and the poor state of plumbing in the hostel impacts sanitation. Furthermore, it notes that leaking water pipes from upper floors are causing damage to the ceilings below. Still to date, similar challenges persist. Inside the hostel, there are leaking and collapsed rooves. Some taps function, while others are broken, spilling water beneath sinks. Also read: ActionSA complains about the misuse of funds at Helen Joseph Hostel For DA councillor Bea Campbell-Cloete, the living conditions are shocking and disheartening. 'Our jails look better than what our women and children are expected to live in,' she stressed, following her oversight visit to the hostel on July 10. 'There is raw sewage running everywhere. Some of the sewers have been leaking for years. The stairs are just about ready to collapse. In some areas you can see from one floor to the next.' Campbell-Cloete has vowed to escalate the matter beyond local government, to provincial and national levels. 'We need to ensure that, if we make accommodation available for our women and children, we must also keep them safe.' Alex News reached out to the city's Human Settlement Department for comment. Further updates will be provided once given. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
eNCA
05-07-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
Former bar owner responds to 'politician urinals'
JOHANNESBURG - The former owner of a bar that had pictures of politicians in urinals says the images were removed almost immediately. He says he doesn't know why the video has resurfaced. The video, captured in 2021, shows two men seemingly urinating on the faces of politicians. They're laughing as they point to urinals plastered with images of President Cyril Ramaphosa, former President Jacob Zuma, EFF leader Julius Malema and former cabinet minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The previous proprietor of the No Name Bar and Restaurant in Sasolburg now faces a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission. A former employee appeared before the Equality Court just on Friday, citing racism and unfair working conditions. The previous owner denies this was the case and says the employee was fired for manipulating the point-of-sales system.
The Citizen
03-07-2025
- The Citizen
Fixing SA's water crisis starts with accountability
Sabotage, failing infrastructure and poor municipal oversight are pushing South Africa towards a full-blown water disaster. Blairgowrie residents collect water from a water tanker, 12 March 2024, across the road from the Blairgowrie Plaza, as large parts of Johannesburg struggle with no water for a number of days. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen In a country where access to water is a constitutional right, South Africans are increasingly finding themselves at the mercy of dry taps, leaking and bursting pipes and failing infrastructure. Behind localised water crisis lies a story of growing deliberate sabotage, entrenched corruption and systemic neglect. The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), in its recent policy brief, paints a grim picture of how 'water mafias,' vandalism and institutional failures have combined to erode the water systems and public trust. According to the latest statistics, 77.1% of households have access to an improved water source (2024) – down from 80.4% in 2023. For many communities, even this access is unreliable or nonexistent for months due to theft, nonfunctioning infrastructure and even failure to deliver water tanks. Some in the City of Joburg have gone without water for weeks with poor communication regarding the location of stationary or roaming water tankers. Compounding the issue is high water demands and non-revenue water – treated water lost to leaks, illegal connections and poor revenue collection. Estimates suggest that 40%-50% – or more – of water is lost before reaching consumers, a staggering inefficiency. ALSO READ: Joburg's water woes continue with some reservoirs at critical levels The Presidential Water And Sanitation Indaba and the recent SAHRC report highlight a troubling trend: the deliberate destruction and manipulation of water infrastructure by criminal syndicates for profit. These 'water mafias' exploit infrastructure failures for profit. In parts of Gauteng, syndicates are reportedly closing valves, damaging pipelines and disrupting pump stations – only to resell water through tankers at inflated prices. Residents are forced to pay these informal suppliers while municipal systems remain crippled by the very sabotage that created the demand. Vulnerable, poor and rural communities bear the brunt of these disruptions, often going days or weeks without safe, potable water. Public health risks are rising, hygiene suffers and frustration mounts. The effects are not theoretical – they can be deadly. In 2023, a cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal led to at least 20 deaths, traced to contaminated and poorly treated water. In a nation where water infrastructure is failing, with poor oversight at municipal level, the chance for such outbreaks become more likely. Economically, the water crisis undermines productivity, business continuity and investor confidence. ALSO READ: Bottled water demand spikes amid outages, here's how much it costs at 6 stockists When water is scarce or unpredictable, industry slows, agriculture suffers and job security weakens. For a developing economy already facing instabilities, the water crisis adds yet another layer of systemic risk. The SAHRC report rightly identifies persistent dysfunction with 105 water service authorities, legally tasked with ensuring affordable, efficient and sustainable access to basic water and sanitation services. Yet many municipalities' procurement processes remain vulnerable to manipulation and political interference. Maintenance budgets are often cut or diverted and few face consequences for project failures. Sabotage of water systems can be considered as an attack on public safety and human rights, but prosecutions remain low. While the picture is bleak, it is not beyond repair. The SAHRC outlines recommendations that deserve swift and decisive implementation to protect the whole water value chain from threats: Critical infrastructure should be secured and monitored with real-time technology community-based surveillance programmes, The department of water and sanitation and National Treasury, in collaboration with the cooperative governance and traditional affairs department, are implementing the ring-fencing of revenue collected for water, to ensure that funds collected for water and sanitation services are reinvested into infrastructure; Build municipalities' capacity with skilled staff, regular audits and clear consequence management for non-performance; Protect whistle-blowers and investigate major cases through the Special Investigating Unit and the National Prosecuting Authority; and Treat sabotage as organised crime, not petty vandalism, requiring strengthened inter-agency collaboration. ALSO READ: Water outages continue in Gauteng due to maintenance As in all solutions or strategies to be implemented, civil society has a major role to play. Continued public pressure, good quality investigative journalism and legal activism are essential to hold officials and contractors accountable. Greater transparency is needed, particularly around multimillion-rand water tanker tenders. Communities must be engaged, not just as recipients of services, but made to reduce their water use and be co-stewards of public infrastructure. Rebuilding this partnership, however, will be difficult in the face of growing mistrust, driven by frequent and long water outages with little warning or explanation. South Africa's water crisis is a reflection of broader governance failures. Broken pipes are seen as broken promises. Infrastructure can be repaired and legislation amended, but public trust is harder to restore.
IOL News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
SA Human Rights Commission urges clarity on land expropriation policy
Deputy President Paul Mashatile's recent promise to return the land to the people and take it from the banks has resulted in the SA Human Rights Commission raising concerns over lack of legal and legislative frameworks to ensure equitable redistribution of land. Image: Bongiwe Mchunu / Independent Newspapers The SA Human Rights Commission has called on government to distinguish between acceptable legal instruments that enable administrative procedures and those that substantively achieve constitutional obligation following the recent enactment of the country's Land Expropriation policy. The Commission has accused government of pushing a concerning public discourse both nationally and globally over this policy with no clear legislative framework to achieve equitable land redistribution. "The South African Human Rights Commission (Commission/SAHRC) has observed, with concern, public discourse at national and global platforms, whereby, the Expropriation Act is portrayed as a key component of South Africa's land reform agenda. The position of the SAHRC is that the Expropriation Act does not clarify the conditions for equitable redistribution of land. Neither does it represent a compensation framework that is historically sensitive. It merely delineates the procedures and conditions under which the State may acquire privately owned land. The Commission emphasises the importance of distinguishing between legal instruments that enable administrative procedures and those that substantively achieve constitutional obligation," the Commission said on Tuesday. The Commission's statement of concern comes just a week after deputy president Paul Mashatile promised the return of land to black people saying this will be done without the interference of banking institutions. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading IOL reports that Mashatile made this commitment during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly on Thursday with Mashatile saying the government was determined to protect land reform beneficiaries from being trapped by commercial debt. 'Our role as a new government is to return the land to the people and do it in such a way that we protect them from the commercial don't want a situation where they lose land again because of loans," he said. Last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill allowing land seizures by the state without compensation - a move that put him at odds with some members of his government within the GNU. While speaking during a recent National Assembly debate, DA MP, Willie Aucamp indicated that the DA will continue to oppose 'Expropriation Without Compensation" as it "threatens investor confidence, destabilises the agricultural sector, and ultimately jeopardises jobs and food security." It is these sentiments that the SAHRC said it is concerned about with the Commission having called on the government to take the necessary steps in ensuring reasonable legislative steps to safeguard the rights of landowners. "Section 25 of the Constitution mandates the State to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its reasonable resources, to foster conditions that enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis. Since the enactment, of the Constitution, no legislative measures have been taken by the State to give effect to Section 25 (5) of the Constitution. The State's continued failure to enact specific legislation to give effect to Section 25 (5) of the Constitution enables prevailing context of policy incoherence regarding land rights," the Commission stated. The National Department of Agriculture and Land Reform referred the matter to Department of Public Works who are the custodians for the Expropriation Act. "The Expropriation Act is the law that is administered by the Department of Public Works. Your questions should be directed there, as indicated the Expropriation Act is currently legislation/law in the country. It should also be indicated that South Africa has had an Expropriation Act which was enacted in 1975," the department said.
eNCA
14-06-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
More unclaimed bodies of Stilfontein illegal miners given pauper's burials
File: This aerial view shows an open mine shaft where artisanal miners get access to the mine in Stilfontein. AFP STILFONTEIN - The people of Khuma, activists and civil organisations are calling for accountability for the deaths of illegal miners in Stillfontein shafts. Scores of unidentified Zama-Zamas have been buried as paupers. More are expected to meet the same fate later this month. Reporter Bafedile Moerane was there when residents held a memorial service and cleansing ceremony at the shafts. Seventy-eight bodies were pulled out of these shafts in January, following court battles. Organisations went to court to try to get aid to miners underground, and to force government to speed up their evacuation. Twenty-five bodies were positively identified and buried. Thirty others so far have been buried without anyone identifying them. The SA Human Rights Commission has established an inquiry into the deaths at Stilfontein. The commission will be sitting soon to hear stakeholders' stories.
