In early 2025, police announced that operation ‘Vala Mgodi’ (Close the Holes) had been completed at the Buffelsfontein gold mine near Stilfontein. It is estimated that approximately 100 ‘illegal’ miners died as a result of the operation. This paper explores the background conditions and policy context which led to this avoidable tragedy, and makes recommendations as to how artisanal and small scale mining should be addressed in future.
Community kitchens in Cape Town are feeding thousands amid rising food insecurity, yet their work extends far beyond food—each meal represents invisible care work, a daily act of resistance and solidarity that fills the gaps left by failing systems. This report shares findings from a four-year research project which explored how a strengthened informal sector can contribute to the progressive realisation of the right to food.
Public space only comes alive when it is used. This seems obvious, but using public space in South African cities is to come up against a long history linking back to Apartheid spatial planning. This legacy of control permeates almost every aspect of public space and is highly visible across many areas of urban life. This research brief as part of the Global South Public Space Platform looks across the parallel contexts of South Africa and Colombia pointing to alternative approaches to create dynamic and resilient cities.
South Africa is in the grip of a femicide crisis, with firearms playing a leading role in the murder of women. This brief, developed by our partner, Gun Free South Africa, outlines six key recommendations to strengthen gun control, close legal loopholes, and prevent firearms from falling into the hands of those who pose a threat to women’s safety.
Our partner, the Hate Crimes Working Group (HCWG), has been lobbying for a law against hate crimes and hate speech since 2018. This brief was developed to give policy and lawmakers an impression of the unacceptably high and ongoing cost in human life, equality, and dignity experienced in 2021 alone.
Despite Africa’s exceptional solar and wind resources, and the exhibiting costs, lead time and risks of nuclear power, announcements of nuclear power plant projects and cooperation agreements proliferate across the continent. This report was commissioned to try to distinguish hype from reality and provide a realistic assessment of which African countries’ nuclear plans are likely to materialise in the coming two decades.
The policy brief introduces basic concepts around the complexities of steelmaking, including why it has historically been seen as ‘hard to abate’ in terms of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from steel production. It aims to provide a non-technical commentary on AMSA’s Decarbonisation Roadmap suitable for frontline communities and the NGOs they work with to understand and engage with the plans.
The incoming German government will have to navigate challenges that are existential to Germany, Europe. This publication applies a feminist perspective to the far-reaching impact of the second Trump administration on global peace and security.
It is 2020...
The Covid-19 Pandemic disrupts life as we have come to know it. It has dramatic effects on all aspects of socio-policital and economic systems.
The Systematic Exclusion of the Kwazulu Natal Subsistence Fishers from the Fishing Rights Regime in South Africa. This Policy Brief is a summary of research report on the Exclusion of Subsistence Fishers in KwaZulu Natal from the fisheries policy regime.
This brief is the second in a series produced by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in relation to its ‘Care and Support in a Time of Epidemic’ research project. The project focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on shelter services to victims of domestic violence in South Africa, and seeks to strengthen policy and practice in the provision of domestic violence services.
