In May 2017 a 26-year old worker in the DA offices laid a sexual harassment complaint against Edmund van Vuuren, the DA’s Chief Whip in the Eastern Cape Legislature.
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Mcedisi Maphisa, a representative of the IFP and the Deputy Mayor of AbaQulusi has been charged with sexual assault, indecent exposure of genitals and compelling a person to witness masturbation.
Sipho Maselane is accused, along with another man, of raping and robbing two women in 2014 and another two in 2015.
#NotOurLeaders Campaign launched by Women and Democracy Initiative, Lawyers for Human Rights and gender violence specialist during 16 Days of Activism to end violence against women. On 25 November, marks the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women. Activities led by government emphasise the importance of taking action to end gender-based violence but do political parties walk the talk?
Fighting corruption requires a combined effort, should be a shared objective and citizens need to be actively involved in this fight. This is according to Dullah Omar Institute’s researcher, Dr Tinashe Chigwata during a seminar on Combatting Corruption held at Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies recently(STIAS) on 6 November 2017. The seminar was part of STIAS year-end function for PhD Scholarship holders with an audience of students from all over Africa.
The South African Local Government Association (SALGA), in partnership with the University of the Western Cape’s Dullah Omar Institute, will host a research colloquium in Cape Town on 28 – 29 March 2018. The theme of the colloquium is “Rethinking Local Government Transformation: Spatial Planning, Robust Governance and Sustainable Financing as tools for developmental local government”
The Socio-economic Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape (UWC) has a bursary available for a full-time student to study in 2018 towards a Master’s Degree in Law with a specific focus on Human Rights and Food Security.
Dr Conrad Bosire has rejoined the Dullah Omar Institute as a post-doctoral fellow under the SARChI chair. The aim of the fellowship is to update his PhD thesis and research into a publication.
The Dullah Omar Institute’s Women and Democracy Initiative, in collaboration with the Parliament Watch collective has recently published the first edition of its bi-weekly newsletter, ParlyBeat.
Local government practitioners can't deliver well because they lack credible constitutional powers to help them deliver services. These are words by Prof Jaap de Visser, the director of the Dullah Omar Institute when giving keynote speech at the 4th Annual National Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at Makerere University in Uganda.
On 3 November, the Dullah Omar Institute hosted the President of Open Society Foundation, Chris Stone and OSF-SA CEO Fatima Hassan.
Sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental human right as well as human development issue that states must strive to fulfil. It is guaranteed in various international and regional human rights instruments as well as national laws and policies. This was true at the recent Regional Colloquium on The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in East and Southern Africa Regions.
On 24 October 2017, the SARChI Chair in Multilevel Government Law and Policy, Prof Nico Steytler hosted a dialogue session with Dr Conrad Bosire and Dr Zemelak Ayele. The topic of the dialogue was: The politics of electioneering in Africa: The case of Kenya and Ethiopia.
The Dullah Omar Institute hosted Zemelak Ayele, an Associate Professor at the Centre for Federal Studies, Addis Ababa University as a visiting scholar, from 18 September until 25 October.
The Dullah Omar Institute is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrest of thirteen persons, recently carried out by the Tanzanian Police.
The Dullah Omar Institute is inviting further applications to study towards a Masters Degree in Multilevel Government with a specific focus on Food Security.
The head of the Children’s Rights Project, Prof Benyam Dawit Mezmur was invited to be judge in the final round of the 2017 National Schools Moot Court Competition on the 8th October in the Constitutional Court in Pretoria, together with Justices Madlanga, Mhlantla, Mojapelo, Kollapen, and a number of other experts.
The Socio-economic Rights Project hosted a roundtable on the access to food for students in tertiary institutions in South Africa on the 5th of October 2017. It looked at issues to be addressed from a first-hand perspective, as well as possible solutions going forward relating to access to food for tertiary students.
I stand here today, along with the memory of Advocate Dullah Omar and the principles of justice and equality he stood for, urging us not to spare the strength or courage required to collectively soul search and move us closer to the South Africa enshrined in the dreams of our Freedom Charter and Constitution. This were the words by renowed humanitarian and international advocate for the rule of law, governance and human rights, Graça Machel during the 11th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture which took place on 3 October 2017 at the University of the Western Cape, organised by the the Dullah Omar Institute.
The Ugandan Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters is tasked by President Museveni to propose reforms to the land sector. Land administration in Uganda is plagued by corruption, land use is often uncontrolled and tenure systems are collapsing.
On 13 September 2017, the Socio-Economic Rights project at the Dullah Omar Institute based at the University of the Western Cape organised a Roundtable Discussion on Just Cities.
On Friday 8 September, Dr Louis Scheepers, the Executive Director for Area-Based Planning in the City of Cape Town and former Municipal Manager of Saldanha Bay, delivered a guest lecture to the LLM/Mphil class in Multilevel Government. He introduced the students to "Integrated Development Planning" the principal strategic planning instrument in local government.
The Dullah Omar Institute is delighted to announce that the founder of the Graça Machel Foundation,Graça Machel is set to deliver the 11th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture on 03 October 2017. The Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture Series celebrates the memory of the former Minister of Justice and the first director of the Community Law Centre (now the Dullah Omar Institute), Adv Dullah Omar, who worked tirelessly towards, and achieved so much, in realising the goals of human rights and democracy.
On 31 August, Prof Jaap de Visser led a workshop on land use planning to inform the PHA Food & Farming Campaign
On 16 & 17 August, Prof Jaap de Visser took part in the Council of Speakers, a gathering of all municipal speakers. In municipalities, the speaker chairs all council meetings and enforces the Code of Conduct for Councillors.
Mr Mario Baatjies, Deputy Director of the Western Cape Department of Local Government delivered a guest lecture to the LLM/Mphil students in Multilevel Government.
On Monday 21 August, Mr Chris Nissen, Commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission visited the Dullah Omar Institute. Commissioner Nissen and the Institute share a connection with the late Adv Dullah Omar as the two worked together intensively as activists. The meeting, attended by senior staff of the Institute, focused on how the two organisations can intensify their collaborative efforts towards achieving social justice.
Dr Tinashe Chigwata, a researcher with Applied Constitutional Studies Laboratory presented at the Local Government Investment Conference which was held at the Harare International Conference Centre from the 7th to 9th of August 2017. Dr Chigwata presented a paper titled: “Local government financing in Zimbabwe: (re)positioning local authorities as investment drivers”. He also chaired a session on promoting sustainable local economic development.
Yesterday, in commemoration of women’s month, the Socio-Economic Rights Project (SERP) convened a one-day Stakeholders Engagement Workshop on Involuntary Sterilisation of Women in South Africa as Gender-Based Violence.
As the Institute, we are gravely concerned about the state of democracy in South Africa. Our constitutional democracy, for which people like Dullah Omar fought so hard and made so many sacrifices, is under threat. At a time when South Africa needs a stable, functional and prosperous state, state institutions are being used to pursue interests that do not advance the cause of realising the rights in the Bill of Rights. On 7 August, the People's March, organised under #UniteBehind will demand that Parliament does what it is elected to do, namely hold the President to account. We call on all sectors of society to support this initiative and defend our constitutional democracy.