SAHRC Archives - Voice of the Cape

SAHRC finds against Stellenbosch University regarding only-English policy

Stellenbosch University violated the rights of Afrikaans-speaking students when it said they could only speak English in certain residences during their welcoming period in 2021. This was the South African Human Rights Commission's (SAHRC) finding after a complaint by DA leader John Steenhuisen and the party's constituency head for Stellenbosch, Leon Schreiber. Schreiber said in response to confirmation of the finding by the SAHRC that it was “an enormous victory”. […]

15 March 2023

Local

SAHRC describes racist rant by Benoni woman as ‘horrific and deplorable’

LOCAL The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has described as horrific and deplorable, utterances made by a Benoni woman about black people, calling them rapists and thieves and that they should be banned and killed. Belinda Magor, whose voice note went viral on social media, made the comments while supposedly defending pitbulls. It comes amid escalating calls for the dog breed to be banned as domestic animals following a […]

29 November 2022

Local

SAHRC resumes hearings on complaints of law enforcement brutality during evictions in Western Cape

LOCAL he South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has kicked off its second round of sittings on allegations of law enforcement brutality during land evictions in the Western Cape. Commissioner Chris Nissen says they have received several complaints in the Southern Cape and Cape Town on allegations of excessive force being used by law enforcement agencies during removals and demolishing of shacks. The first hearings were in Knysna earlier this year. The […]

19 October 2022

Local

SAHRC shocked by allegations that correctional services workers are compelled to strip naked

LOCAL The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the Free State says it is shocked about the alleged reports at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein that workers are compelled to strip naked in front of their colleagues. The alleged disgusting gestures include everyone, even the opposite gender, as part of a search procedure to prevent contraband smuggling. The maximum security facility is privately run by British security firm G4S, […]

12 October 2022

Local

SAHRC investigating demolition of over 150 homes in North West

LOCAL The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it is investigating the demolition of over 150 homes in Mahobieskraal, near Sun City in the North West. Families were evicted and their houses demolished following a court order that the Bapolomiti Communal Property Association had obtained. The SAHRC says this is an infringement of the homeowners’ right to shelter. Zama Luthutli of the commission in the North West explains. “We […]

5 August 2022

Local

SAHRC hearing into July unrest hears how social cohesion should start at school level

Academics, entrepreneurs, religious and civil society formations say social cohesion and nation-building should form part of the school curriculum. They say without it there is a serious threat to the country’s economic stability. The Social Cohesion Group was the last organisation to give oral evidence at the Human Rights Commission’s national investigative hearings into the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. More than 350 people were killed and infrastructure […]

22 June 2022

Local

Court battle over illegal land invasions in WC continues

The court battle over illegal land invasion in the Western Cape is ongoing. The Human Rights Commission and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have taken the City of Cape Town to court over evictions, following the controversial eviction of Khayelitsha resident Bulelani Qolani in June last year. The provincial government has however thrown its weight behind the City, arguing for the rights of landowners to protect their land from illegal […]

9 November 2021

News

Human Rights Commission to probe violence, looting in KZN and Gauteng

NATIONAL The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will launch an investigation into the violence that swept across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July. Among other things, the commission said on Friday it would examine the effectiveness of the state, particularly the police and security cluster as a whole, in maintaining public order, including the provision of adequate protection for the safety and security of people and property. The commission said it […]

7 August 2021

Local

SAHRC requests meeting with WCED over alleged racism at Brakenfell High

The Human Rights Commission says it has served the Western Cape Education Department with an allegations notice over the racism claims at Brackenfell High School in Cape Town. Violent clashes erupted outside the school last Friday as hundreds of EFF supporters protested against alleged racism at the school. Police used stun grenades, teargas and a water canon to control the crowd. Human Rights Commissioner Andre Gaum says the school has […]

25 November 2020

SAHRC

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