Today, the report titled “Effective Remedies in Socio-economic Rights Litigation” was released. The report provides insights from a collaborative workshop organised by SECTION27, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, and Professor Sandra Liebenberg, H.F. Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch. The workshop primarily aimed to Continue Reading
The 2022 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement continues the trend of cutting funding for socio-economic rights, sidelining people who rely on public services.
MEDIA RELEASE: SECTION27 IS DISAPPOINTED BY YET ANOTHER MEDIUM-TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT THAT FAILS TO CONSIDER THE HUMAN COSTS OF AUSTERITY The 2021 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) presented by new Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to Parliament on 11 November has once again affirmed government’s commitment to austerity budgeting. The deep Continue Reading
The term of the Occupational Therapy Board of the Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA) that was considering an application for registration made by the Orientation and Mobility Association of South Africa (“OMASA”) has ended. It is not clear if a new board has been reconstituted or whether the Continue Reading
Democracy is about more than just voting. It’s about how we participate in our society, how we exercise our constitutional rights, including our right to protest and the freedom we have to express ourselves. It’s said by some that those who chose not to vote in elections lose their right Continue Reading
As of last year, there were 14 million South Africans who had inadequate or severely inadequate access to food. Hunger is a reality that many South Africans will face unless the right to food is realised soon. The Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII) launched a report on the Continue Reading
SA GOVT’S DECLARATION ON EDUCATION CLAUSE MARS THE WELCOME RATIFICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (ICESCR) Joint statement by SECTION27, Equal Education, Centre for Child Law, Legal Resources Centre, Equal Education Law Centre 21 January 2015 – As South African organisations working to advance the Continue Reading
The judgment of the Eastern Cape High Court, handed down on 3rd August 2012, is a groundbreaking vindication of the state’s duties to ensure children have a basic education.
SECTION27 salutes the Centre for Child Law, a number of School Governing Bodies from schools in the Eastern Cape and their legal team, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), for this important victory for the rights of learners to learn and teachers to teach.
On the 27th July 2012, TAC/Section27/CALS met with Gauteng Health MEC Mr Hope Papo, HOD Dr Nomonde Xundu and heads of departments.
On the agenda for discussion was a formal response to TAC’s memorandum that was delivered at the Provincial Department of Health (PDOH) on the 12th June 2012.
SECTION27 has noted various unfortunate statements on the text book crisis in Limpopo as well as attack on the legal action of SECTION27 and comments by COSATU General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi. Below we set out the facts about how this crisis has unfolded in the last seven months.
We believe there has been a collective failure of many organisations that represent the poor, including COSATU, SADTU, the churches, the ANC, school governing bodies, and civil society in allowing an educational crisis, such as that in Limpopo (and other parts of the country) to develop over months and years.
The most important lesson of the Limpopo text book crisis is a reminder of the need for ongoing monitoring and action to protect and advance the rights of the poor and vulnerable in South Africa, in this case learners.
SECTION27 and the Department of Basic Education released the ‘verification report’ into the delivery of textbooks to learners in grades 1-3 and grade 10 in Limpopo Schools.We thank Professor Metcalfe and her team. Not only have they done a great amount of work in the last two weeks, but they have made a personal sacrifice out of a commitment to the right to basic education.
SECTION27’s intention is not to vilify any particular person. However, we maintain our position that once the National Executive (Cabinet) decided to intervene in Limpopo under s100(1)(b) of the Constitution they assumed, through the DBE, full responsibility for meeting minimum standards for the delivery of basic education services within the Province.
REPORT ON LIMPOPO TEXTBOOKS VERIFICATION TEAM TO BE MADE PUBLIC ON 16 JULY 2012 This afternoon SECTION27 and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) met with Prof Mary Metcalfe to receive a report back on the findings of the independent verification team working in Limpopo for the past two weeks. Continue Reading
