Working Paper No 9 – Report on initial exploratory focus group research into a decent living level
The National Development Plan (NDP) aims to eliminate all poverty and reduce inequality in South Africa by 2030 .[1] The poverty line used to benchmark poverty in the NDP is R418 per person per day in 2009 prices. According to the NDP, 39% of people living in South Africa in 2009 fell below this line. […]
Recommendations from the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry
By GroundUp – The Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into policing has made many important recommendation to the National Minister of police. These include agreed upon minimum standards for policing (i.e. reasonable response time after a call), the establishment of a monitoring team made up on senior police officers and civilian participation, an increase in the […]
SA narrowly avoids recession
By Lisa Steyn – South Africa has narrowly averted a recession with economic growth clocking in at 0.6% in the second quarter of 2014. The prolonged strikes in the mining sector served to drastically drag economic growth down. The marginal growth was driven by general government services and the transport, storage and communication industry. Finance, […]
Budgeting for Human Rights: Using the Maximum of Available Resources
By Helena Hofbauer – The International Budget Partnership has published a handbook on using budget analysis to hold governments to account The last few decades have seen two mutually reinforcing trends with regard to government budgets. First, though fiscal policy has long been seen as a key tool for governments to support stable economies and provide […]
Women empowerment key for Africa to develop
By Polity – Home Affairs Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan says the underrepresentation of women in social, political and economic spheres must be addressed if Africa is to develop fully. Chohan said creating opportunities for women to participate in the economy will improve their earning potential and assist families to move out of poverty. She was addressing a […]
Khayelitsha commission a “victory for justice” say organisations
By Barbera Maregele – The organisations that originally called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha have welcomed as a “victory for justice” the commission’s findings and recommendations. Established by Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, the commission investigated allegations of police inefficiencies and a breakdown in the relationship between […]
ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: GDP data to indicate if economy is in recession
By Maarten Mittner – THIS will be a week of reckoning for the South African economy. Second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data set to be released on Tuesday will reveal whether the economy is in recession. But the consensus is that the second quarter was not as disastrous as the first. Growth is expected to […]
Sadc needs to overcome flaws to benefit region
By Adekeye Adebajo – MEDIA reports of last week’s summit of the 15-member Southern African Development Community (Sadc) in Victoria Falls appears to have focused disproportionately on its host, Robert Mugabe, who became the body’s new chairman. President Jacob Zuma became chairman of Sadc’s security organ. Twelve heads of state attended, with the leaders of […]
Institution of Parliament ‘is damaged’
By Wyndham Hartley – THE debacle in the National Assembly last Thursday, when Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MPs were ordered from the house and they refused to obey the speaker’s instruction, has raised more questions than answers about the damage done to South Africa’s democracy. There is an emerging consensus among independent observers of Parliament […]
PRESS STATEMENT Issued by: Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA (SERI) 22 August 2014
High Court declares City of Johannesburg’s temporary accommodation model unconstitutional – Today the Johannesburg High Court ordered that two house rules being imposed on residents of the Ekuthuleni shelter are an unjustifiable infringement on the residents’ rights to privacy, freedom and security of the person and human dignity. Judge Wepener interdicted the City of Johannesburg […]
