Week Ahead
9 July – 13 July
“A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberal education is the act of teaching.”– A. Bartlett Giamatti
Sunday 8 July – Thursday 12 July
SECTION27 Legal researcher, Tendai Mafuma will be attending the Abortion & Reproductive Justice: The Unfinished Revolution III conference at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. The conference aims to bring together researchers, activists, policy makers, health professionals, artists and performers, from various disciplines including criminology, sociology, law and policy, women’s health and rights and medicine, psychology who are working for safe abortion from around the world. The conference will provide a platform for delegates to explore, identify, share and pursue learning and research opportunities on a range of issues relating to abortion and reproductive justice in context, including access to abortion, activism and abortion politics. The conference will significantly contribute to the vision of unfettered and universal access to safe abortion and reproductive justice for women the world over. Tendai will also be participating in discussion on the effects of the Global Gag Rule on access to abortion services and sexual and reproductive health care services in general. Follow this link to see the conference programme http://www.repjusticeconference3.co.za/about/about-the-conference
Tuesday 10 July
A delegation from SECTION27 and the AIDS Foundation South Africa (AFSA), will be meeting with chairperson of the house of the traditional leaders in KZN, iNkosi Chiliza of eMadungeni, South Coast. The delegation will be introducing a Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights programme to him and his council, exploring how civil society can support the council’s fight against the cultural phenomenon of ‘ukuthwala’ (a form of abduction that involves kidnapping a girl or a young woman by a man and his friends or peers with the intention of compelling the girl or her family to agree to marriage.) It has been identified that this cultural practice forces young girls to drop out of school, perpetuates teenage pregnancy as well as contributes to the sharp rise in sexually transmitted diseases. The meeting will be held at eMadungeni tribal court eMzumbe.
Wednesday 11 July
Legal Counsel Nikki Stein will be on a panel presenting to a group of optometrists on issues regarding developments in eye care. The panel topic is “Will independent optometry survive into 2020?” and the discussion will focus on developments in technology, government regulation and the growth of large retail groups, and the effect that these will have on independent optometrists. She will also be presenting on the National Health Insurance Bill and the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill and how these are expected to affect access to optometric services.
Field Researcher Patrick Mdletshe, in his capacity as Deputy Chair of the Kwa Zulu Natal Provincial AIDS Council will be attending a quarterly KZN Provincial AIDS Council meeting, the objective of which is to track the provincial implementation plan using district reports as well as listen to civil society inputs. The meeting will be held at Pietermaritzburg Grey’s Hospital.
Attorney Sheniece Linderboom, Senior Legal Researcher Thabang Pooe, Legal Researcher Pamela Choga and Researcher Thuthukile Mbatha will be conducting training on the Bill of Rights at the Katlehong winter school hosted by the Leratong Advice desk. They will also be monitoring the trainers in the Sexual Violence workshops.
Thursday 12 July
Limpopo Field Researcher Solanga Milambo will be visiting Secondary Schools in Sekgosese located in the Mopani district in Limpopo with regards to textbook and infrastructure challenges faced by the schools.
Executive Director Mark Heywood has been invited by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Department of Family Medicine to conduct a lecture on the Life Esidimeni Tragedy and the implications thereof for healthcare professionals.
Following months of training and raising awareness of the importance of menstrual hygiene to #keepingagirlchildinschool, SECTION27 Head of Communications, Ntsiki Mpulo will depart from OR Tambo International along with 40 trekkers who hope to summit Mount Kilimanjaro on 18 July 2018, Nelson Mandela’s Birthday. The Centenary Summit aims to raise enough money to provide sanitary pads to 500 000 girls and ensure that they remain in school. SECTION27 joined the charity hike as part of its work to ensure that Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights are realised. There will be a send-off event at the airport from 06:30 to 08:00. For more information contact Nkateko Mabale on 066 214 2520.
Friday 13 July
SECTION27 will be hosting key players in the HIV and Sexual Reproductive and Health Rights (SRHR) movement in Southern Africa for a one-day meeting to interrogate, amongst other things, the release in May 2018 of the Guttmacher–Lancet Commission report. In addition, stakeholders will discuss the adoption by Southern African Developing Community (SADC) of a new “Regional Strategy for HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights among Key Populations”.
Friday 13 -14 Saturday July
National Strategic Plan Review Advocacy Officer Vuyokazi Gonyela and Patrick Mdletshe, in their capacities as TACleadership, will be attending the People Living with HIV (PLHIV) sector consultative meeting in the Free State. The meeting will deliberate on the effectiveness of the country’s National Strategic Plan on HIV and STI’s with the view of making recommendations to South African National AIDS Council (SANAC).
The week that was
SECTION27 has filed the Komape Appeal papers in the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal, papers attached for ease of reference.
The Competition Commission released the provisional report of the Health Market Inquiry (HMI) following four years of investigation into the private health care sector. In relation to the hospital market, the (HMI) found three groups dominated the private health care sector, Netcare, Mediclinic, and Life Healthcare and in relation to medical schemes, Discovery Health was dominant. Former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo observed that “Competition in the funders market is neither as vigorous nor as effective as it could, or should, be.” Read his remarks here.