OP-ED | Justice for Cwecwe: How child survivors should be protected

On Friday, 28 March 2025, the public were justifiably up in arms on social media in response to a story published by Drum magazine, of the rape of 7-year-old Cwecwe at Bergview College in Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape. Cwecwe’s mum relays the nightmare of when she realised that her daughter was violated.

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 Secures R38,000 Maintenance Order for a learner impregnated by educator

SECTION27 successfully represented a learner who was sexually assaulted by an educator, securing a future maintenance order at the Nkomazi Magistrates Court on 3 April 2025. The Court ordered the educator to pay R38,000 in maintenance over the next two years.

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance welcome Court judgment on the provision of radiation oncology treatment for cancer patients

SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance, welcome the judgment handed down by the Johannesburg High Court in the matter of Cancer Alliance v MEC for Health and others declaring the failure of the Gauteng Department of Health to provide radiation oncology services to patients on the backlog list unconstitutional.

PRESS STATEMENT | Limpopo Education Department must eradicate pit toilets by 31 March deadline

SECTION27 is closely monitoring whether the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) will meet its own 31 March 2025 deadline to eradicate and replace all pit toilets at so-called “Priority 1” schools in the province. The department missed their initial 31 March 2023 deadline to do so and has repeatedly extended this deadline.

OP-ED | Court victory for corporal punishment victims — why this ruling on sanctions against teachers is significant

Rehabilitative sanctions imposed on two teachers goes some way to vindicating the applicants and their children, underscoring the importance of child participation in disciplinary processes and the need to ensure a holistic approach that prioritises the rights and best interests of the child.

S27 STORIES | A Six-Year old’s Struggle in Accessing Cancer Treatment in South Africa

Any parent would be left powerless at the sight of their child suffering from an unexplained illness. Hassan Tesfaye* and his wife, Aida*, Ethiopian asylum seekers who have been living in Pretoria, South Africa, for 16 years, were all too familiar with this sense of powerlessness.

OP-ED | Budget 2025: The true state of the nation

The state of the nation address (Sona) attempted to paint a hopeful vision for South Africa, but promises alone will not build our nation. The upcoming budget speech is the true test of the commitment of the government of national unity (GNU) to nation-building and human rights realisation, revealing whether its pledges will be backed by real investment or remain empty rhetoric.

OPEN LETTER | Urgent Action Needed: Coordinated Emergency Plan and increased healthcare budget to support hundreds of thousands of vulnerable South Africans

Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in South Africa are dependant on immediate action. We are a coalition of organisations committed to ensuring access to healthcare services and human rights for all patients and communities in South Africa.

OP-ED | How education and support can break the cycle and combat teenage pregnancy in South Africa by Zeenat Sujee

Child and teenage pregnancy has a ripple effect on young girls and their futures within society. Some of these girls are forced to drop out of school, which in turn increases the cycle of poverty as well as the stigmatisation that comes with it.

PUBLICATION | Basic Education Rights Handbook

The Basic Education Rights Handbook is a legal literacy tool that serves to empower communities, school governing bodies, principals, teachers and learners to understand education law and policy, to know when learners’ rights have been violated and what steps are required to protect learners’ rights.

REPORT | SECTION27 report shows how climate change affects children’s access to healthcare and basic education

SECTION27 released a new report titled, “Climate Change as a Human Rights Risk: A Resource for Health and Education Rights Activists in South Africa.” The report focuses on the impact of climate change on children’s access to healthcare and basic education.

PRESS STATEMENT | Civil society organisations condemn Gauteng health facilities’ defiance of laws and recent court order on free access to health care for pregnant women.

In April 2023, the Gauteng High Court upheld the right of all pregnant and lactating women, and children under 6, irrespective of nationality and documentation status, to access free health services at all public health establishments, including hospitals.

SECTION27 uses the law through litigation, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilisation to advance socio-economic rights, in particular the right to access health care services and the right to basic education.

April 25, 2025

The Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) welcomes the withdrawal of the proposed increase in VAT to 15.5, while raising concerns about…
April 8, 2025

SECTION27 successfully represented a learner who was sexually assaulted by an educator, securing a future maintenance order at the Nkomazi…
March 27, 2025

SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance, welcome the judgment handed down today by the Johannesburg High Court in the matter of Cancer…

Publications

2024 Year in Review

Effective Remedies in Socio-Economic Rights Litigation

Contraceptive Supply Chain: Stockouts and their Causes

Climate Change As a Human Rights Risk

2023 Year in Review

The state of abortion services in the Eastern Cape

WDA

OP-ED | How much of a say do South Africans have in the budget?

OP-ED | Poor infrastructure imperils KZN pupils’ right to education amid climate catastrophes

OP-ED | Justice for Cwecwe: How child survivors should be protected

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 Secures R38,000 Maintenance Order for a learner impregnated by educator

PUBLICATION | Someone Hurt Me

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance welcome Court judgment on the provision of radiation oncology treatment for cancer patients

PRESS STATEMENT | Limpopo Education Department must eradicate pit toilets by 31 March deadline

PRESS STATEMENT | A Budget That Gives With One Hand and Takes With the Other

ARTICLE | Africa’s defining moment: the time to lead the HIV response is now

OP-ED | Court victory for corporal punishment victims — why this ruling on sanctions against teachers is significant

S27 STORIES | A Six-Year old’s Struggle in Accessing Cancer Treatment in South Africa

OP-ED | Budget 2025: The true state of the nation

PRESS STATEMENT | The African-led HIV Control Working Group response to abrupt cuts in HIV support

OPEN LETTER | Urgent Action Needed: Coordinated Emergency Plan and increased healthcare budget to support hundreds of thousands of vulnerable South Africans

JOINT STATEMENT | Upholding womxn’s rights to access abortifacients: Clarifying pharmacists’ role in reproductive healthcare

OP-ED | How education and support can break the cycle and combat teenage pregnancy in South Africa by Zeenat Sujee

S27 STORIES | A Refugee’s Long Journey to Access Healthcare in South Africa

S27 STORIES | Suspended for asserting her right against Corporal Punishment

PUBLICATION | Basic Education Rights Handbook

PRESS STATEMENT | ConCourt interim order favours the blind and visually impaired in Copyright matter

LIFE ESIDIMENI | Ms Mahlangu and Dr Manamela “both created the circumstances in which the deaths were inevitable”

REPORT | SECTION27 report shows how climate change affects children’s access to healthcare and basic education

PRESS STATEMENT | Civil society organisations condemn Gauteng health facilities’ defiance of laws and recent court order on free access to health care for pregnant women.

Focus Areas

SECTION27 uses the law through litigation, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilisation to advance socio-economic rights, in particular the right to access health care services and the right to basic education.

Press Room

Publications

2024 Year in Review

Effective Remedies in Socio-Economic Rights Litigation

Contraceptive Supply Chain: Stockouts and their Causes

Climate Change As a Human Rights Risk

2023 Year in Review

The state of abortion services in the Eastern Cape

OP-ED | How much of a say do South Africans have in the budget?

OP-ED | Poor infrastructure imperils KZN pupils’ right to education amid climate catastrophes

OP-ED | Justice for Cwecwe: How child survivors should be protected

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 Secures R38,000 Maintenance Order for a learner impregnated by educator

PUBLICATION | Someone Hurt Me

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance welcome Court judgment on the provision of radiation oncology treatment for cancer patients

PRESS STATEMENT | Limpopo Education Department must eradicate pit toilets by 31 March deadline

PRESS STATEMENT | A Budget That Gives With One Hand and Takes With the Other

ARTICLE | Africa’s defining moment: the time to lead the HIV response is now

OP-ED | Court victory for corporal punishment victims — why this ruling on sanctions against teachers is significant

S27 STORIES | A Six-Year old’s Struggle in Accessing Cancer Treatment in South Africa

OP-ED | Budget 2025: The true state of the nation

PRESS STATEMENT | The African-led HIV Control Working Group response to abrupt cuts in HIV support

OPEN LETTER | Urgent Action Needed: Coordinated Emergency Plan and increased healthcare budget to support hundreds of thousands of vulnerable South Africans

JOINT STATEMENT | Upholding womxn’s rights to access abortifacients: Clarifying pharmacists’ role in reproductive healthcare

OP-ED | How education and support can break the cycle and combat teenage pregnancy in South Africa by Zeenat Sujee

S27 STORIES | A Refugee’s Long Journey to Access Healthcare in South Africa

S27 STORIES | Suspended for asserting her right against Corporal Punishment

PUBLICATION | Basic Education Rights Handbook

PRESS STATEMENT | ConCourt interim order favours the blind and visually impaired in Copyright matter

LIFE ESIDIMENI | Ms Mahlangu and Dr Manamela “both created the circumstances in which the deaths were inevitable”

REPORT | SECTION27 report shows how climate change affects children’s access to healthcare and basic education

PRESS STATEMENT | Civil society organisations condemn Gauteng health facilities’ defiance of laws and recent court order on free access to health care for pregnant women.

Focus Areas

SECTION27 uses the law through litigation, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilisation to advance socio-economic rights, in particular the right to access health care services and the right to basic education.

Press Room

Publications

2024 Year in Review

Effective Remedies in Socio-Economic Rights Litigation

Contraceptive Supply Chain: Stockouts and their Causes

Climate Change As a Human Rights Risk

2023 Year in Review

The state of abortion services in the Eastern Cape

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