“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” Nelson Mandela
Monday 19 March
Retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke is set to announce the award following the Life Esidimeni Arbitration at the Emoyeni Conference Centre. This is the culmination of a long process to seek redress and healing for mental health care users and their families. 143 MCHUs died as a result of the Life Esidimeni Marathon Project. SECTION27 represented 63 families of the deceased.
Tuesday 20 March 2018
Community Mobiliser, Patrick Mdletshe is hosting a Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) round table discussion in the eThekwini metro. The meeting aims to interrogate the barriers preventing marginalised communities in accessing healthcare services. This will help to align the district implementation of the National Strategic Plan for HIV /TB and STIs with the activities of non-governmental organisations in the province.
Community Mobiliser Solanga Milambo will visit Tsogang Primary School in the Modjadji area to meet with the School Governing Body concerning the construction of toilets at the school. The school reports that construction started last November and was due to be completed in February 2018 but this has stalled reportedly because of budget constraints.
Wednesday 21 March – Human Rights Day
Thursday 22 March
Patrick Mdletshe will be attending a SANAC civil society meeting in Durban ahead of World TB Day. The meeting will assess the responsiveness of the National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs in carrying the dual epidemic of TB and HIV. KwaZulu Natal is the host of World TB day which will be held at eThekwini on Saturday 24 March.
Solanga Milambo will attend a Provincial Global Funds Consultation Meeting for civil society in Polokwane. Thereafter he will join Patrick Mdletshe for the SANAC Sector Leaders Global Funds Consultation Meeting will take place in Durban.
Friday 23 March
The #Justice4Michael exhibition will open at 18:00 at the Human Rights Festival hosted by Constitution Hill. The exhibition, housed in the Old Fort from 23 – 25 March is based on the Michael Komape case and will track the family’s journey from 5 year old Michael’s tragic death, through to their almost 4 year-long trial process.
Saturday 24 March – World TB Day
Patrick Mdletshe will attend the provincial council of the Treatment Action Campaign in Kwa Zulu Natal. The province will table its new provincial strategy on how the organisation will be responding to health challenges in KZN.
Solanga Milambo will present a workshop on Sexual Violence in Schools at Patametsa Secondary School in Sekhukhune District in Limpopo.
Sunday 25 March
SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will participate in the “We the People” walk which culminates the Human Right Festival hosted by Constitution Hill. In line with the theme “what do you stand for”, we will focus on the issues highlighted in the TAC survey on Tuberculosis in healthcare facilities which include infection control and access for TB medicines. https://tac.org.za/news/red-alert-on-tb-infection-control-in-clinics/
The week that was
The Education team represented Basic Education for All in the Equal Education and another vs Minister of Basic education and other in the case on Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure heard at the Bhisho High Court.
In the same week, we received reports of the tragic death of Lumka Mkhethwa in a pit toilet in a school in Bizana in the Eastern Cape.
See the opinion piece written by Faranaaz Veriava on the state’s stance in this case in the context of this little girl’s preventable death.
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