SECTION27 will intervene as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case between Makhanda Circle of Unity and Others v Head of Department, Eastern Cape Department of Education and Others. The applicants, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, are challenging the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s (ECDoE) decision to cut funding at Continue Reading
A statement from Basic Education for All (BEFA), SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) We are horrified and angry at media and Department of Basic Education reports that five year old Lumka Mkhethwa died in a pit latrine at Luna Primary school in Bizana in the Eastern Cape. This Continue Reading
ECHCAC calls on the provincial and national health departments to urgently intervene before any more lives are lost. The Coalition urges the departments to act swiftly to avoid the situation degenerating to the state which occurred in the North
In March 2015, the South African Human Rights Commission held a hearing on Emergency Medical Services in the Eastern Cape. The Commission’s interest in Eastern Cape emergency medical services emerged from a complaint submitted to the Commission by the community of Xhora Mouth, a group of around 2000 people living Continue Reading
Mothers giving birth at home; babies developing disabilities due to difficult unsupervised births; diabetics unable to reach treatment; old women crossing rivers and spending most of their pensions to get to the clinic; a 10-year-old boy dying of pneumonia because his mother could no longer carry him to hospital; a Continue Reading
ECHCAC STATEMENT ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION’S HEARING INTO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IN THE EASTERN CAPE “I am grateful to hear that the government provides these things called ambulances. I have never seen an ambulance in my area.” – testimony from Xhora Mouth resident EAST LONDON, 30 March Continue Reading
A recently launched website unveiling the secrecy around the annual initiation rituals in the Eastern Cape has sparked a large outcry among sections of the Eastern Cape population, notably the Traditional Leadership. The website was launched by a health care provider after treating mutilated boys across several initiation seasons and Continue Reading
The Keiskamma Trust, a community organisation that works with vulnerable groups in the Amatole region in the Eastern Cape has released a statement announcing that they are officially and publicly joining the Eastern Cape Health Crisis Action Coalition (ECHCAC). Please find the press statement attached. Keiskamma Joins ECHCAC press statement 24 October Continue Reading
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), supported by SECTION27, RHAP and MSF have been involved in a campaign to ensure that villagers in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape get a clinic which ensures their rights to dignity and health. Attached is a presentation with pictures showing the Village clinic of the past at Continue Reading
SECTION27 and partner organisations the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have released a report detailing continued drug stock-outs in the Eastern Cape. Please follow the link to access it. EC_Drug_Stockouts_5_months_on June 2013
Thousands of people living with HIV and TB still risk death and drug-resistance in the Eastern Cape due to ongoing interruptions to their supply of life-saving drugs. A new report released five months after a coalition consisting of the Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP), Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and SECTION27 first raised the alarm about the crisis at the Mthatha medical depot, paints a grim picture.
SECTION27, RHAP, TAC, BEMF and RuDASA invite the public to two consultations to discuss the health crisis in the Eastern Cape in Mthatha on the 16th of May and East London on the 18th of May. Read more…
