Week Ahead
7 – 12 May
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela
Monday 7 May
SECTION27 will host a screening of the film Vaya Untold Stories of Johannesburg at our offices. The film has received much acclaim including being selected for the Toronto Film Festival, and has won numerous awards. The film is based on a compilation of stories that emerged out of workshops run by the Homeless Writers Project in Johannesburg, and describes what it’s like to be living on the streets of Johannesburg.
Monday 7 – Friday 11 May
Field Researchers Solanga Milambo and Tebogo Sephakgamela will be visiting schools in the Sekhukhune, Capricorn and Waterberg districts to conduct Sanitation Audits.
Tuesday 8- Wednesday 9 May
Executive Director Mark Heywood, Deputy Director Umunyana Rugege, Senior Communications Officer Ngqabutho Mpofu and Head of Fundraising Elinor Kern will be attending the Trialogue Business in Society conference at the Wanderer’s Club in Illovo. Mark Heywood will be part of a panel discussion with Cathy Duff and Axolile Notywala on “Does activism have real impact?” SECTION27 has a stall at the conference and we invite anyone attending the conference to visit us at the stand.
Mark Heywood will be a key note speaker at the Public Service Reform Roundtable discussion titled: Through the Lens of Life Esidimeni: What leads to inefficiency in the Public Sector and what can the Ramaphosa administration do? Using the case of Life Esidimeni as a study, the discussion will focus on identifying the shortcomings in governance at provincial level and identify measures that should be taken to prevent a tragedy such as this from happening again — including not only internal institutional reforms but also what civil society can do to prevent this. The discussion, part of a series, will be hosted at WITS University.
Wednesday 9 May
Field Researchers Patrick Mdletshe and Solanga Milambo and Advocacy Officer Vuyokazi Gonyela will be attending a South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) quarterly civil society meeting in Boksburg which includes 18 sectors of SANAC and provincial representatives. The objective of the meeting is to review and monitor progress on South African response to HIV, TB and STI’s plan 20 16 -2022. The meeting will have an open session for general members of the public and NGOs who work in the field of HIV from 9am to 1pm. To be discussed amongst other things are;
- Sexual harassment at UNAIDS
- The crumbling public health system in South Africa,
- Intergenerational relationships in the era of HIV based on the National Strategic Plan (NSP)
Wednesday 9 – Friday 11 May
Budget Analyst Daniel McLaren will be at the National Treasury Public Finance Management (PFM) Conference, presenting a Masterclass on ‘Using data for evidence-based decision making’ along with two colleagues from National Treasury, from the vulekamali.gov.za project. The PFM Conference 2018 forms part of National Treasury’s drive to capacitate PFM officials by providing a platform for sharing local and international good practice, experience and knowledge. The latest developments within the PFM space will be communicated and delegates will be inspired to shift their paradigm from a problem focus to a solutions focus. Attendees will be shown how to use the data tools in vulekamali – SA’s Online Budget Data Portal – to analyse government budget allocations and spending.
Thursday 10 May
Daniel McLaren will be attending a brown-bag discussion on the World Bank Inequality Report titled Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: an assessment of drivers, constraints and opportunities. The report will be presented by Doctor Precious Zikhali, Poverty Economist at the World Bank at WITS. The report is an analysis of South Africa’s progress in reducing poverty and inequality since 1994, with 2006 to 2015 as a reference period. Its aim is to understand the dynamics of poverty and inequality in the country, to identify the drivers of progress for the purpose of further policy actions in this area.
Mark Heywood will be participating in a panel discussion with Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts Themba Godi and Business Leadership South Africa CEO Bonang Mohale at the Treasury Public Finance Management (PFM) Conference.
Saturday 12 May
Mark Heywood will be a panellist on the Send Me! Panel at the Kingsmead Book festival along with Glynnis Breytenbach and Jacques Pauw amongst others
Week past
On Tuesday last week, SECTION27 represented Ndlovu Care Group in the Limpopo High Court, Polokwane. The matter concerned the Limpopo Department of Health’s termination of a contract with Ndlovu Care Group, the cancellation of which means the termination of services to 3800 health care users. The termination of the contract will require the absorption of these health service users into the public health facilities in the Mouse area. The application was brought by health service users seeking an assurance of and plans for the continuation of quality health services, whether by Ndlovu Care Group or through public health facilities. The parties agreed to a court order postponing the matter and requiring that they participate in a mediation facilitated by the South African Human Rights Commission between the Department and Ndlovu Care Group, which is due to take place on 7 May 2018; and that they agree to a process for the continuation of care and transfer or decanting only to facilities inspected and approved by the Office of Health Standards Compliance, among others.
SECTION27 will on Monday 7 May assist Ndlovu Care Group in this mediation process with a view to ensuring continued access to services by people currently treated by Ndlovu Care Group.
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