Week Ahead 8 – 12 October
“There must exist a paradigm, a practical model for social change that includes an understanding of ways to transform consciousness that are linked to efforts to transform structures.”- Bell Hooks, American author, feminist, and social activist.
Monday, 8 October
Today SECTION27 releases the second video of a learner giving an account of the deplorable sanitation conditions in Lamdzanvho Secondary School in the Sekhukhune district, Limpopo as part of our sanitation campaign. You can read more about our campaign here
Tuesday, 9 October
Executive Director Mark Heywood, Field Researcher Patrick Mdletshe and Attorney Ektaa Deochand will attend a Free State Community Health Workers (CHWs) consultation meeting in Bloemfontein to discuss the issues around CHWs and the development of the national policy on CHWs. SECTION27 has had a long standing relationship with CHWs, you can read more about our work here
Head of Health Sasha Stevenson will be attending a Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP) board meeting at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies in Johannesburg.
Tuesday, 9 October – 12 October
Members of the SECTION27 team will be conducting Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and Sexual Violence (SV) Workshops with learners in the Capricorn District in Limpopo.
Wednesday, 10 October
NSP Advocacy Officer Vuyokazi Gonyela will be representing SECTION27 at a regional Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) meeting to be convened by the Swedish International Development Agency. The aim is to flag where there are opportunities for collaboration or synergy with already ongoing evidence generation/research activities; identification of national partners and sharing of existing scopes of work from other Sida grantees. Clarify what the already identified evidence gaps are that are presenting bottlenecks or obstacles in order to inform smarter decision-making or policy domestication at the regional and national levels, so that the research agenda is responsive to those needs, engage on how SRHR can be cemented as a cornerstone of UHC and identify the type of institutional arrangements that are needed to ensure that programmatic harmony is supported by protocol and process.
Thursday, 11 October
Mark Heywood will be participating in a panel discussion at the Black Management Forum (BMF) conference in Sandton. The panel is titled ‘What has been the Impact of Leadership on Corporates and SOC’s Governance and Corruption?’ and will include former Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni, COO of Business Leadership South Africa, Busi Mavuso and CEO of Standard Bank South Africa, Lungisa Fuzile.
Field Researcher Patrick Mdletshe will facilitate a KwaZulu-Natal civil society consultation meeting at Addington Hospital in Durban on the policy regarding High Transmission Areas (HTA). The meeting will have a special focus on sex workers, LGBTIAQ+ people, men having sex with men and young women in the sector. This policy aims to create an enabling environment for key populations to access healthcare services.
Saturday 13 – 14 October
Vuyokazi Gonyela and Patrick Mdletshe in their capacities as national leaders of TAC will be participating in a national council meeting that will include its provincial and national governance leaders and management to reflect on the organizational mandate as of the last council meeting. It will also be discussing health (National Health Insurance, Medical Aid Schemes, Health Market Inquiry), corruption and social justice issues that continues to affect our societies. The aim is to agree on an organizational mandate to take to the national health summit, create awareness and lead advocacy programs that challenge the collapse of the public health sector. This will be followed by a national leadership and management training.
The week that was
Last week SECTION27 released the first in a series of sanitation videos highlighting the plight of learners in Limpopo forced to use dangerous and inadequate sanitation in their schools.
Senior Legal Researcher Thabang Pooe spoke at the launch of the South African Labour Bulletin’s special issue at WITS University. She contributed an article focusing on the gendered impact of Silicosis. SECTION27 represented the Treatment Action Campaign and Sonke Gender Justice in the silicosis class action certification hearings in October 2015. The class was certified in May 2016 and a settlement with mining companies was reached in May 2018.
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