Democracy & Social Justice

Communities across South Africa suffer a daily and persistent attack on their constitutional rights because of violent crime. The findings of this report clearly indicate that the South African Police Service has a long way to go towards becoming a democratic service that is effective and accountable, under ethical and professional command.

After many years of sustained activism by the Social Justice Coalition, The Treatment Action Campaign, Triangle Project and Ndifuna Ukwazi, the O'Regan-Pikoli Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into policing in Khayelitsha finally began its public hearings on 21 January 2014.

Now that the elections are over Zimbabwe’s future is hanging in the balance with everyone waiting on the sidelines to see the type of cabinet Mugabe will unveil, his succession plans and more importantly the economic policies which he will pursue.

On the 31st of July 2013, Zimbabwe held its seventh presidential election. Robert Mugabe leading the Zimbabwe African National Unity (Patriotic Front), ZANU PF, has contested every one of them in his 33 years in power. Zimbabweans who headed to the (hastily convened) polls remain hopeful for a return to employment, restoration of basic services and an end to political violence. Yet the increasing economic and military might of ZANU PF and its affiliates significantly dampen those hopes.

As the 2013 Zimbabwean elections are rapidly approaching, Zimbabwean feminist Rutendo Hadebe contemplates about issues of identity and how to create a Zimbabwe that is inclusive of all.

On 27 April, people across South Africa commemorate Freedom Day – a public holiday marking our country's transition to democracy in 1994. Exactly nineteen years later, 150 people gathered in Khayelitsha to assert their fundamental and hardfought right to hold our leaders accountable in advancing the basic rights of all people, but particularly those in historically disenfranchised communities. The subject of the day: communal toilets servicing thousands of households in informal settlements across the City of Cape Town.

On 27 April, people across South Africa commemorate Freedom Day – a public holiday marking our country's transition to democracy in 1994. Exactly nineteen years later, 150 people gathered in Khayelitsha to assert their fundamental and hardfought right to hold our leaders accountable in advancing the basic rights of all people, but particularly those in historically disenfranchised communities. The subject of the day: communal toilets servicing thousands of households in informal settlements across the City of Cape Town.

A strong parliament requires a civil society that is informed, organised, self critical, responsive and most importantly, tenacious in its efforts to engage with it as an institution. We hope that this small publication contributes to this project.