The first quarter of 2023 has been busy and challenging with the government still failing the nation on the delivery of basic human rights. What comes to mind first? Pit toilets, protests and political killings as well as gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and, of course, load shedding.
Amnesty International believes that the energy crisis is a human rights crisis since a lack of power affects the realisation of rights like the right to basic education, the right to security of the person, and the right to water – all of which depend on electricity to be realised.
At the end of February, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) once again missed a deadline on the eradication of pit toilets at all schools and, not a week later, a little girl, Langalam Viki, was found dead in a pit toilet at her school in the Eastern Cape.
The police are investigating but we believe the toilet should not have been there in the first place. Pit toilets not only violate the right to sanitation, but also the right to education, health, dignity and privacy whilst in some cases posing a serious risk to the right to life.
Amnesty International South Africa will not stop campaigning on this issue until all pit toilets have been eradicated from all schools across the country.
President Ramaphosa also delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February where he promised, among other things, to strengthen protection for whistleblowers but said nothing about how his government plans to do this.
And people keep dying, despite the right to life and security of the person enshrined in South Africa’s Constitution.
It’s not just whistleblowers and human rights defenders who are affected, South Africa is safe for no-one as the government continues to fail to deliver on a safe environment for all. Amnesty’s Annual Report, published at the end of March, found that murder rates are soaring, with many killed in mass shootings, and the impunity with which killings are carried out is fuelling the flames.
Clearly, South Africa is extremely dangerous for anyone, but especially women and girls.
The most recent quarterly crime statistics showed a 22.1% increase in murders of women with 1,101 women murdered between October and December 2022. Sexual offences increased by 9.6% and reported rape cases by 9.8%. This is despite the government’s promises to tackle gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
South Africa was reviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in November 2022, and appeared before the UNHRC on 28 March to present its response to the outcome of its review. An overwhelming number of recommendations from other countries urged the government to take concrete action on the GBVF.
Amnesty International South Africa made an oral statement during South Africa’s presentation and
reiterated the call-to-action. See the video in this edition of Lesedi.
Protests kicked off in March, Human Rights Month, with students at Wits University protesting against historic debt preventing some from registering, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) residence cap of R45,000, and rules on registering with the Hardship Fund, among other things.
It then became almost a month of protest or strike action in South Africa with the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ (NEHAWU) protest at healthcare facilities, and the EFF’s National Shutdown on 20 March 2023.
Section 17 of the South African Constitution provides that:
Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions. The exercise of such rights shall, however, take place peacefully and with regard to the rights of others.
This quarter has not all been darkness and sorrow, a highlight was the Human Rights Festival at Constitution Hill, and the Digital Disruptors have been interrupting GBVF once again with a striking installation at a GBVF hotspot in Orange Farm, Gauteng.
With the first quarter over, we look forward to our work on barriers to justice for victims and survivors of GBVF, climate justice, and more.
Amnesty also visited each youth and community chapter this quarter, identifying the support they may need and ways of working together, and we look forward to the impactful work they always do.
To stay updated, follow us on social media at @AmnestySAfrica, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team about any questions you may have.
On an administrative side, Amnesty International South Africa became a section at the end of last year. This will give South Africa a vote in the broader Amnesty movement at the Global Assembly, contributing towards giving our continent more of a voice.
As we settle into our status as an Amnesty International section, we are talking to potential donors with fundraising taking a more central strategic role. Please get in touch with the team if you have any fundraising ideas to share or would like to donate.
Thank you to everyone for continuing to take injustice personally.
Amnesty International South Africa is as determined as ever to see human rights triumph, and the team will continue to do what is necessary to contribute to a South Africa where all rights are realised and protected.
Aluta Continua!
Shenilla Mohamed
LET’S DEMAND the immediate eradication of all pit toilets at schools
At the end of February, Department of Basic Education (DBE) once again missed a deadline on the eradication of pit toilets at all schools in South Africa. And, not a week later, little Langalam Viki was found dead in a pit toilet at her school in the Eastern Cape.
Yes, an investigation is ongoing but we believe that the pit toilet should not have been there in the first place.
Pit toilets are not only violating the right to sanitation which is enshrined in the Constitution, but also the right to education, health, dignity, and privacy whilst in some cases posing a serious risk to the right to life.
So, we will not stop calling on the government to eradicate all pit toilets at schools until this is a reality.
DBE continues missing deadlines
On 18 May 2022, the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga told Parliament that the DBE plans to eradicate pit toilets from all schools within the 2022/23 financial year. This message has been repeated several times in the media by DBE representatives. The financial year ended on 28 February 2023.
By continuing to miss deadlines, which the department has done before, the DBE is showing total disregard for the basic human rights of learners.
On 26 March 2023, the DBE announced that it would eradicate pit toilets from schools by 2025. But the DBE has set deadlines like this before and failed to deliver, also on providing clear data.
Unreliable data sets
Furthermore, data sets provided by the DBE regarding progress on the eradication of pit toilets, and overall improved sanitation at schools, is unreliable and inconsistent.
The DBE’s 2021/22 annual report outlines that of the 22,945 public schools in South Africa, 51% use waterborne (municipal and septic), 35% use ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets, 13% use plain pit toilets, and 8% use Enviro Loo, a waterless toilet system. Designs can differ, but generally a VIP toilet has a vent pipe and plain pit toilet does not.
It also acknowledges that the biggest sanitation challenge faced by the government are schools with pit toilets.
According to Amnesty International South Africa’s calculations, 13% amounts to 2,983 schools still using pit toilets. Yet, there is no clarity on how many of those schools use pit toilets only and how many have combined ablution facilities.
The 2021 National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) report captures school infrastructure information, providing a clear breakdown, including by province, of exactly how many schools still use pit toilets or a combination of facilities. According to the 2021 NEIMS report 5,167 schools still had pit toilets.
The 2022 report has still not been published, so it’s impossible to compare the annual report’s figures with that in the NEIMS report.
Having different data sets and ways of reporting make it inherently difficult to track progress and to hold the government to account on their promises.
Amendments to regulations
In addition to missed deadlines and inconsistent data sets, in 2022, the DBE proposed new amendments to the regulations relating to the Minimum Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, first tabled in 2013. The proposed amendments included removing all reference to deadlines, thus effectively removing all further means of legal accountability.
In response, Amnesty International South Africa, alongside partners, called for concrete deadlines to remain in the regulations to aid the planning and budgeting process, thereby ensuring accountability against time-bound targets. The DBE has been silent on the progress of the amendments since.
The DBE’s silence prompted Amnesty International South Africa to write to the department requesting clarity on the status of the proposed amendments as well as progress on the eradication of pit toilets at all schools in South Africa. Even after its media briefing on 26 March 2023, the DBE has not updated its website nor replied with answers to our questions.
By missing deadlines, providing unreliable and inconsistent data, and staying silent on the status of pit toilets and amendments to the regulations, the DBE is evading accountability, thereby further widening the gap of access to quality education in an already unequal school system.
Amnesty International South Africa says enough is enough.
Join us and take action and demand that the DBE eradicates all pit toilets, not by 2025, but immediately.
TAKE ACTION AND DEMAND safe sanitation
at all schools in South Africa
State of the Nation (SONA), the Budget Speech and Human Rights
The first quarter, specifically February, is also when the annual SONA
and the Budget Speech take place.
The SONA is the President’s speech at the annual opening of Parliament. The President uses SONA to talk about the current political and socio-economic state of the nation.
Two weeks later, SONA is followed by the annual Budget Speech. The Budget Speech is a speech by the Minister of Finance and in it he provides details of spending and makes proposals about how the priorities (promises…) outlined in the SONA will be funded.
The SONA and the Budget Speech allows Amnesty International activists to hold the government accountable for the realisation of basic human rights for all.
The Government’s empty promises to protect whistleblowers
and human rights defenders continue
By Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director, Amnesty International South Africa
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime identified a total of 1 971 assassination cases in South Africa between 2000 and 2021. Many of those targeted and killed were whistleblowers and human rights defenders who had exposed corruption and stood up for the human rights of their communities, as well as all people in South Africa.
The killings and threats have not ceased, and President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his State of the Nation (SONA) addresses in 2022 and 2023, correctly pointed out that there was a need for greater protection of whistleblowers in the country. He said the government was working to capacitate its witness protection unit and would introduce amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act and the Witness Protection Act to better protect informers.
But the time for talk is over. Immediate action is needed. Lives depend on it. Whistleblowers and human rights defenders are critical in the fight against corruption and for accountability. They expose acts of criminality and abuse by governments, corporations, organisations and individuals. Without whistleblowers and human rights defenders, evidence of large-scale human rights violations would never surface.
While the country has robust laws designed to protect whistleblowers, including the Protected Disclosures Act and the Witness Protection Act, gaps in the legislative framework, and problems with the practical implementation of these mechanisms, prevent them from being effective.
This was evident in the case of Babita Deokaran, who was shot dead outside her home in 2021. Deokaran was the chief director of financial accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health. Prior to her death, she had exposed corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 personal protective equipment. The government failed to provide her with security, and she was brutally killed.
In January 2022, another whistleblower, Athol Williams, fled the country believing his life was in danger. He had just testified before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State (the Zondo Commission). He claimed he had asked the state for protection, but had not received any.
Patricia Mashale is a suspended senior SAPS administrator in the Free State. She claims her life is under threat after she reported corruption and other crimes taking place within the SAPS. Mashale has since fled the country and remains in hiding.
In 2018, Amnesty International South Africa began looking into reports of an assassination plot against two Amadiba Crisis Committee activists, Nonhle Mbuthuma and Twesha Silangwe, who are fighting for the land, environmental and human rights of their community in the Eastern Cape.
The chairperson of the committee, Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe, was shot dead in 2016. No one has been brought to justice for his murder. Amnesty ran a global campaign calling on the South African government to investigate Rhadebe’s murder. It urged the South African police to take all necessary measures to ensure the members of the committee could carry out their legitimate work of defending human rights in safety, without fear of harassment or attack, and to investigate the death threats against the committee’s leadership.
In 2020, environmental activist and human rights defender Fikile Ntshangase was silenced with six bullets. Ntshangase was part of the Somkhele community, which lives near the Tendele coal mine owned by Tendele Coal Mine (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Petmin.
As vice-chairperson of a subcommittee of the iMfolozi Community Environment Justice Organisation, a community-based organisation advocating for environmental justice in the area, she was a vocal opponent of the open coal mine and its expansion of mining operations
in the area.
Amnesty is fighting for justice for Fikile Ntshangase.
Ntshangase was unprotected and died. Babita Deokaran was unprotected and died. Bazooka Rhadebe was unprotected and died. Nonhle Mbuthuma, Twesha Silangwe, Athol Williams, and Patricia Mashale remain unprotected and fear for their lives.
In 2022, Amnesty’s committee to protect journalists, Media Monitoring Africa, the SA National Editors’ Forum, and the Campaign for Free Expression made a submission to South Africa’s four-yearly universal periodic review at the UN.
In the submission, we called on the government to:
● Review the Protected Disclosures Act to strengthen the protection of whistleblowers, including with respect to reporting mechanisms for these individuals.
● Establish transparent oversight mechanisms to ensure that this protection is properly received, and that the public is reassured that it is received.
● Allocate resources for the protection of whistleblowers and ensure that these are clearly accounted for in line with the Public Finances Management Act.
● Adequately fund the auditor-general and the public protector to ensure they have the capacity to properly fulfil their duties in respecting and protecting whistleblowers.
We stand by these calls. The government is obliged to provide whistleblowers with protection, and Ramaphosa and his government must transparently and without delay outline how they plan to strengthen protection for whistleblowers and human rights defenders. The country, whistleblowers and human rights defenders cannot wait until the next SONA for more talk. Whistleblowers need to be assured that exposing corruption and wrongdoing will not cost them their lives.
This is a life-and-death issue. Ramaphosa made a promise at SONA 2022 and 2023, and he must act on this promise.
This opinion article first appeared in the Independent on Saturday on 25 February 2023.
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO LIFE
The Right to Life is enshrined in Section 11 of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution.
But the government is not doing enough to ensure that everyone is safe.
Each person who died made the ultimate sacrifice. Whether in the past at Sharpeville or the Soweto Uprising,
or, recently, by bringing corruption and injustice to light, or by dying in a pit toilet.
Shenilla Mohamed, Amnesty International South Africa’s Executive Director, wrote a powerful opinion article, which was published in the Daily Maverick on Human Rights Day, 21 March 2023, which marks the day 69 people died at Sharpeville in 1960.
Read the article here.
amnesty’s annual report 2022/23:
Government continues to fail on creating
a safe environment for all
By Mienke Steytler, Media and Communications Officer
(Maternity Cover for Genevieve Quintal), Amnesty International South Africa
Amnesty International published its Amnesty International Report 2022/23: The State of the World’s Human Rights on 28 March, and one of its findings was that the right to life and security of the person is still violated daily in South Africa, 29 years after the fall of the apartheid regime.
Violent crime continues to plague South Africa, and the right to life and security of the person, enshrined in the Constitution as well as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), is violated daily with murder rates soaring, mass shootings, femicides, and assassinations continuing unabated.
Murder rates soared
Murder rates soared with crime statistics for July to September, released in November 2022, showing an increase in murders of 13.6%, compared to the same quarter in 2021. Tragically, there was also an increase of 9.8% in child murders.
This trend continued with the crime statistics for October to December 2022, released in March this year, showing an increase in murders of 10.1%, compared to the same quarter in 2021. Murders of children went down by 9.4% but attempted murder of children rocketed by 23.9%.
Many were killed in mass shootings
The report highlights the killing of 26 people in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town, between March and June 2022, and more than 20 people dying in two tavern shootings in Soweto and in Pietermaritzburg in July of the same year.
Mass shootings have continued into 2023 with at least 30 people reportedly killed in incidents in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provinces since the start of this year.
Gender-based violence and femicide continued unabated
South Africa is clearly extremely dangerous for anyone, especially women and girls.
Murders of women increased by 10.3%, with 989 women killed between July and September 2022. Sexual offences increased by 11%, and rape by 10.8%. The most recent quarterly crime statistics showed a 22.1% increase in murders of women with 1,101 women murdered between October and December 2022. Sexual offences increased by 9.6% and reported rape cases by 9.8%.
Despite the adoption of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP-GBVF) in 2019, a national council, intended to ensure that the plan was implemented, is yet to be established.
Later today (Tuesday), South Africa will appear before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland, where it has been reported that it plans to support all the recommendations from other countries to address GBVF.
This is encouraging but we urge the government not to stop at supporting the recommendations – it must now swiftly implement them, providing adequate financial resources to deliver outcomes of the NSP-GBVF. Simply put – no more time can be lost to protect women and girls.
Abductions increased
Another concerning finding in the report is that, from July to September last year, cases of abduction increased by more than 100% in South Africa, with 4,028 reported cases. Most of these cases related to hijacking, robbery and rape.
Abduction continued to increase by 58.3% between October and December 2022, with ransom demands making up most of the cases.
Police continued to use excessive force
Well-trained police are key in ensuring a safe environment for all, yet the South African police continued to use excessive force resulting in deaths and injuries in 2022. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (IPID) 2021/22 annual report noted 5,295 new cases which included 3,407 cases of assault, 744 of discharge of an official firearm, and 223 reported deaths in police custody. There were 410 reported deaths as a result of police action, an increase from 353 the previous year.
In July 2022, four police officers were acquitted in connection with the death in March 2021 of Mthokozisi Ntumba, killed while passing a student-led protest in Braamfontein in Johannesburg. No one has been held accountable for his death.
In August 2022, four people were killed during a protest about the authorities’ failure to deliver services in Tembisa, a township in the Gauteng province. The IPID’s investigation into two of the killings, for which the police were alleged to be responsible, continued at the end of 2022. We are still awaiting the outcome of that investigation.
Protection of human rights defenders and whistle-blowers still not strengthened
Human rights defenders (HRDs) and whistle-blowers continued to be targeted in 2022 with Abahlali baseMjondolo, a movement advocating for basic services for poor communities, losing four activists to unlawful killings in KZN, allegedly in connection with their work. Twenty-four of the movement’s activists have been killed over the last few years, and its activists remain under threat.
In 2022, Amnesty International South Africa also campaigned for justice for environmental activist and human rights defender Fikile Ntshangase who was silenced with six bullets in 2020. No one has been brought to justice for her murder.
The recent murders of State Capture liquidators Cloete and Thomas Murray have demonstrated once again the disturbing increase in extra judicial killings and high levels of crime in South Africa.
The government is obliged, through the Protected Disclosures Act and the Witness Protection Act, to provide HRDs and whistle-blowers with protection, and it must transparently and without delay outline how it plans to strengthen protection for whistle-blowers and HRDs, as promised by President Ramaphosa in this year’s State of the Nation Address.
Everyone must be assured that exposing corruption and wrongdoing will not cost them their lives.
Continuing impunity for murders
No-one is safe in South Africa, and the impunity with which killings are carried out is fuelling the flames. Urgent action is needed from the government, including the South African Police Service (SAPS), who have a duty to protect everyone who lives in this country.
They must work to reduce persistently high levels of violence in communities, by taking measures to ensure public safety, through effective, human rights compliant, and accountable law enforcement.
It is up to the SAPS to conduct thorough, efficient and transparent investigations into all killings, and ensure that the perpetrators are charged in accordance with the law. We can no longer allow horrendous crimes in South Africa to continue with impunity.
The justice system must begin to act as a deterrent.
If the government continues failing to create a safe environment for all, it is violating the right to life and security of the person and must be held accountable. The buck stops with the government.
South Africa can rise again
The UDHR was created 75 years ago, out of the ashes of the Second World War. At its core is the universal recognition that all people have rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to life and security of the person.
Every single life lost has value and it is crucial that the government fulfil its mandate to protect the human rights of all, preventing further deaths, and allowing all people in South Africa to live their lives fully, freely and without fear of losing their lives. South Africa too can rise from the ashes.
Every single life lost has value and it is crucial that the government fulfil its mandate to protect the human rights of all, preventing further deaths, and allowing all people in South Africa to live their lives fully, freely and without fear of losing their lives. South Africa too can rise from the ashes.
Protests started in March with students at Wits University protesting against historic debt preventing some students from registering, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) residence cap of R45,000, and rules on registering with the Hardship Fund, among other things.
It then became almost a month of protests in South Africa with Nehawu’s protests at healthcare facilities following the student protests, and the EFF Shutdown on 20 March.
Section 17 of the South African Constitution provides that: everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions.
The exercise of such rights shall take place peacefully and with regard to the rights of others.
Amnesty International South Africa will always call on all parties to exercise restraint, also on the South African Police Service (SAPS) and security companies to refrain from using excessive force.
But the right to peaceful protest is under attack.
In recent times in South Africa, the right to peaceful protest, which is enshrined in the Constitution, is constantly threatened by the excessive use of force and the use of rubber bullets by police.
This has resulted in injuries and, in some cases, death.
And governments around the world are also restricting people’s right to protest, because too many people in power fear change. Too many want to maintain the status quo. Too many want to keep people divided.
By coming together and ensuring that everyone – especially the marginalised and discriminated against – can participate in protests, we can create a more just and equal world. Together, we must protect the protest wherever it is restricted, whenever it is at risk.
We must come together to create a world where people can peacefully demand change without persecution.
Amnesty International South Africa at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR)
South Africa appeared before the United National Human Rights Council (UNHCR) on Tuesday, 28 March 2023, and presented its response to the outcome of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR),
a review of its human rights.
Amnesty International South Africa made an oral statement on the day during
South Africa’s presentation.
Watch Amnesty International South Africa campaigner Sibusiso Khasa
deliver our oral statement.
South Africa also started its next tenure as a voting member of the UNHRC
at the beginning of this year.
Amnesty International South Africa’s Campaigner Sibusiso Khasa wrote an opinion piece for Business Day titled SA has the chance to lead on human rights published on 23 March 2023.
Read what he had to say here.
The Digital Disruptors are at it again! Disrupting GBVF in Orange Farm, a township located outside Johannesburg in Gauteng.
This time they built an impactful installation – The Pink Spot – in a GBVF hotspot in
Orange Farm which will act as a safe space and where people can also access
information on how victims and survivors can access legal services and counselling
and their rights in navigating the criminal justice system.
Why? Because women and girls also have a right to life,
and GBVF should be stopped once and for all.
The Pink Spot was activated on Thursday, 6 April 2023.
It started like this…
Our team is making major moves in Drieziek! This week, we had the opportunity to present our proposal to the Counselor and we are so excited for what lies ahead.
— Digital Disruptors (@digidisruptors_) March 4, 2023
We'll keep you updated on the progress of our proposal, and any valuable feedback we get from the Counselor. pic.twitter.com/8rCgn8tXUQ
And turned out like this!!!
Make sure to follow the Digital Disruptors on the below channels and show your support for their vision to decrease the high levels of GBV in their communities.
Your support will go a long way.
We stand with the 30 orgs condemning #OperationDudula’s recent illegal attacks at Jeppe Clinic & Kalafong Hospital. The right to have access to health care is protected for all under the Constitution of South Africa. https://t.co/Y6GzoGK2rf
— @AmnestySAfrica (@AmnestySAfrica) January 20, 2023
We are disturbed by reports of an assassination plot against Amadiba activists Nonhle Mbuthuma & Twesha Silangwe. @GovernmentZA, @SAPoliceService must urgently ensure their protection. https://t.co/fA3nPh5eD7
— @AmnestySAfrica (@AmnestySAfrica) January 30, 2023
We demand #justiceforntokozo who was recently found dead with multiple stab wounds . We call on @SAPoliceService to ensure there is a timely, efficient and sensitive investigation that leads to justice for Ntokozo Xaba and her family. #InterruptGBV pic.twitter.com/XKNffcCDMc
— @AmnestySAfrica (@AmnestySAfrica) February 6, 2023
READ | Although @SAPoliceService announced the DNA backlog has almost been cleared, it is one aspect of a broken justice system. Proactive steps must be taken to deliver true justice to victims, survivors and families of gender-based violence & femicide.https://t.co/VN4YG1qwcf
— @AmnestySAfrica (@AmnestySAfrica) February 21, 2023
The murders of Kiernan “#AKA” Forbes & Tebello Motsoane in Durban this weekend as well as another mass shooting in Gqeberha, once again show a complete disregard for the right to life in SA. @GovernmentZA is failing in its duty to create a safe environment for all. pic.twitter.com/Vk1JaEkm1l
— @AmnestySAfrica (@AmnestySAfrica) February 13, 2023
We are concerned by reports of violent clashes at #WitsShutDown and call for restraint from all involved, including private security, @SAPoliceService and students. @WitsUniversity #ProtectThePeacefulProtest
— @AmnestySAfrica (@AmnestySAfrica) March 3, 2023
In the first quarter of 2023, Amnesty International South Africa carried out 55 interviews, on various topics such as the eradication of pit toilets, the right to peaceful protest, electricity as a human right and the government’s ongoing failure to ensure a safe environment for all in South Africa.
On 10 January 2023, Amnesty International South Africa’s Researcher Marike Keller spoke to Newzroom Afrika about school infrastructure as schools reopened for the year.
Watch the interview here.
On 2 February 2023, Amnesty International South Africa Campaigner Sibusiso Khasa was a panelist on We The Nation on eNCA.
The topic was the right to quality basic education.
Watch the episode here.
On 23 February 2023, Amnesty International South Africa Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed spoke powerfully on SABC Morning Live.
Do not miss this one.
Watch the interview here.
On 4 March 2023, Amnesty International South Africa Media and Communications Officer (Maternity Cover) Mienke Steytler spoke on eNCA regarding the student protests at Wits University.
Watch the interview here.
On 19 March 2023, Amnesty International South Africa Activism Coordinator – Mobilising Alicia Jooste spoke on eNCA on how the government must urgently eradicate pit toilets from schools.
Watch the interview here.
YOUTH ACTIVISM
Amnesty International South Africa’s youth and chapters play an integral part in the organisation achieving its human rights objectives.
This quarter, Amnesty International South Africa visited its chapters at the University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, University of Johannesburg, Witswaterand University, Vaal Community Chapters (Evaton and Savannah City), University of KwaZulu-Natal Chapter, Durban Community Chapter, the University of Fort-Hare Chapter, the Walter Sisulu University Chapter, Soweto Community Chapter, and the Kwa-Maphumulo Chapter.
The primary purpose of these visits was to find out how each chapter is doing, understand the support they require for the year forward, and identify better ways of working.
The visits provided Amnesty International South Africa with a first-hand understanding of the challenges and opportunities unique to each chapter, and we were able to note the necessary support to help each chapter overcome their challenges.
We also used the opportunity to share best practices and to encourage collaboration among the various chapters. Bring on the next three quarters of 2023!
Jaclyn Modise, Activism Coordinator: Organising (Maternity Cover for Rejoyce Makhetha)
ACTIVIST TRAINING
On 17 and 18 February 2023, 22 activists from Amnesty International South Africa’s chapters all over South Africa came together for a day and a half of training, so that the chapters could hit the road running with firecracker activism and campaigns, be it at university or in a community. Each chapter was given time to unpack their year’s campaign plans. The chapters also explored possible collaboration.
Human Rights Festival 2023
Constitution Hill partnered with Daily Maverick to present
the 2023 Human Rights Festival from 24 to 26 March 2023.
This year, the festival’s theme was Seize The Power and took place at a time of growing anger and frustration at human rights violations in South Africa and across the world. But it also took place at a time when people are mobilising, rebuilding communities, and experimenting with alternatives, searching for solidarity.
Amnesty International South Africa partnered with Children of Success on a panel discussion:
South Africa’s Teenage Pregnancy Crisis – What can we do?
Early pregnancy in South Africa is in crisis. In South Africa, between April 2017 and September 2021, the number of births to young and adolescent girls between 10 and 14 years of age increased by 48.7%. The 1, 764 babies born in South Africa on 1 January 2022, 65 were born to adolescent girls. The youngest was a 13-year-old from the Eastern Cape.
The increase in adolescent childbearing is a cause for concern. Many of these girls are forced to drop out of school or fall behind with their schoolwork. They can become trapped in a cycle of poverty, suffering the stigma of being pregnant and giving birth at a young age, or being forced into early marriages.
This is an issue that needs to be addressed by society and the government, but ultimately the government has a responsibility to create an enabling environment for every person to make autonomous and informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health rights.
YOUTH NEWSLETTER
Amnesty International South Africa publishes a monthly youth newsletter, YOU(th) for YOU(th), where you can see more of what our youth activists are doing and get their views on human rights issues.
You can find all our youth newsletters here.
You can read the first two editions of 2023 below.
Matla! Ke a rona! (The power is ours!)
Mozambique: Video showing soldiers burning corpses is latest evidence of atrocities in forgotten war in Cabo Delgado
In response to a video being circulated on social media purportedly showing soldiers throwing dead bodies onto a pile of burning household items in the northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, said:
“The viral video showing soldiers burning corpses is another horrific event that gives a glimpse of what is going on away from the attention of international media in this forgotten war in Cabo Delgado.”
Read the full statement here.
Eswatini: Investigation into Thulani Maseko’s killing must be independent and transparentThe Eswatini authorities must ensure the investigation into the unlawful killing of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko is completely independent, impartial, transparent and effective. “It remains unclear what steps the Eswatini authorities have taken to facilitate an independent investigation to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime. Amnesty International is calling on the authorities to reveal how they intend to ensure the investigation into Maseko’s death will be thorough, impartial and transparent,” said Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa. Read the full statement here.
|
Mozambique/Malawi: Authorities must mobilise resources to aid victims of record-breaking storm
Responding to the devastating impact of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which has claimed more than 60 lives in Mozambique and Malawi and injured almost a hundred people after strengthening into one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Interim Director for East and Southern Africa, said:
“While we are still awaiting details on the full extent of the damage in countries that are currently being ravaged by Cyclone Freddy, it is clear that the official death toll will rise in both Malawi and Mozambique, as will reports of wrecked infrastructure. Our thoughts go out to all the affected people.”
Read the full statement here.
Zimbabwe: Conviction and sentencing of opposition spokesperson shows escalating assault on freedom of expression
Responding to the conviction and sentencing of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) national spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere after she was accused of “publishing falsehoods” for a video she posted on Twitter alleging that a police officer had killed a baby, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, Flavia Mwangovya said:
“The conviction of Fadzayi Mahere is a travesty of justice as it is based on a law that is no longer existent in Zimbabwe and applied to silence dissent. The legal provision that was used to convict Mahere was declared void by the Constitutional Court in 2014. The High Court confirmed this in another case in 2021. The Magistrate Court in this case should have taken note of the decisions of the upper courts and acquitted Mahere.”
Read the full statement here.
One year since the invasion of Ukraine
Thursday, 24 February 2023 marked one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the war still continues. The world must come together and #StopTheWar.
Read the latest Amnesty news on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here.
One year on, the international community must effectively address the need for justice of the victims of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) February 24, 2023
Accountability must triumph over impunity. pic.twitter.com/j3Hos7esWi
Israel/OPT: Horror at Al-Aqsa Mosque
Night-time attacks on Palestinian worshippers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque illustrates the sheer brutality of Israel’s apartheid, Amnesty International said.
Israeli security forces stormed the mosque compound at around 10.30 pm at night, shortly after evening prayers. They fired stun grenades and used rifle butts to beat Palestinians who had gathered at the mosque for Ramadan.
Read the full statement here.
China: Heavy sentences for human rights activists disgraceful
Responding to the lengthy prison sentences handed to Chinese legal scholar Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, Amnesty International’s China Researcher Alkan Akad said:
“The disgraceful sentencing of prominent Chinese human rights defenders Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi is a blatant violation of their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. They should be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Read the full statement here.
Global: Dozens killed and thousands maimed by police misuse of rubber bullets globally
Security forces across the world are routinely misusing rubber and plastic bullets and other law enforcement weapons to violently suppress peaceful protests and cause horrific injuries and deaths, said Amnesty International in a new report , My Eye Exploded, calling for strict controls on their use and a global treaty to regulate their trade.
Read the full statement here.
