News

The newly trained activist monitors from CSOs working with Women and Democracy Initiative’s (WDI) Parliament Watch and Putting the ‘People’ in People’s Parliament projects entered Parliament and the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane has highlighted that inequality for women in the workplace, among other settings, is still prevalent in South Africa. Judge Kathree-Setiloane - the South Gauteng High Court judge who has presided over several high profile matters - has also warned that sexual harassment cases against women in the workplace are pervasive. There are judgments from the courts that have found that resignations as a result of sexual harassment does constitute unfair dismissal.

South Africa ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in January 2015. As required by the ICESCR, the South African government submitted its initial report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in April 2017.

Together with an independent researcher and Lawyers for Human rights, Women and Democracy Initiative submitted 12 Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) applications to political parties, most provincial legislatures and Parliament.

Questions in Parliament is one of the few ways MPs can use to hold the executive accountable. The efficacy of this oversight mechanism however, depends on the extend the executive answers and if they are present during oral question time or in committee meetings. This is not just important for oversight but also transparency as principles of for good governance. Ministers often come under fire for dodging questions. The DA last year took aim at former Social Development minister Bathabile Dlamini who they claimed failed to answer 93% of the questions relating to the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).

For the past three reporting periods between 2016 and March 2018, not a single police station visited by the SAPS’ Civilian Secretariat has fully complied with the Domestic Violence Act. In terms of this Act, the SAPS must report biannually to Parliament on complaints received against police officers who don’t properly implement the Act and the steps taken against them. Beyond the grim nature of domestic-violence statistics, the costs of non-compliance are often high and can have life-or-death consequences on a victim.

The Civil Union Amendment Bill recently got the go ahead from Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs when it recently adopted a motion of desirability on amending the Civil Union Act. many hailed the Act passed in 2006, as a big victory for the LGBTQ-community as it extended marriage rights, albeit in the form of a civil union, to same-sex couples. The euphoria over the Act was short-lived as it did not necessarily mean a happily ever after for many same-sex couples who got turned away from certain branches of the Department of Home Affairs.

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) last week expressed confidence that the Post Office’s (Sapo) next pay-out of social grants at end of September will be “much smoother”. Many beneficiaries however, are still confused over the transition process and some called on MPs to hold public hearings where they can express how the transition impacts on their lives. From October Sapo will take over grant pay-outs from the former service provider Cash Paymaster Services (CPS). Sassa said in the statement that Sapo already paid beneficiaries R4,4 billion through 7,4 million transactions by 3 September. Sassa CEO Abraham Mahlangu described Sapo’s progress as “impressive” given the volume of September’s pay-outs and the number of beneficiaries it managed to migrate to the new gold Sassa card.