On 25 February 2014, the socio-economic rights project (SERP) of the Community Law Centre in conjunction with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) conducted a human rights workshop at Blikkiesdorp. Blikkiesdorp is a temporary relocation area in Delft, Cape Town.
The director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Jaap de Visser, was selected as one of the participants to unpack the laws, regulations, and the informal city where urban planning and design is concerned.
The Multilevel Government Initiative (MLGI) of the Community Law Centre at the University of the Western Cape launched its ‘Talking Good Governance’ (TGG) blog. TGG aims to deepen intellectual debate on good governance by making current research accessible to the public and policy makers.
On 3 March, Dr Aquinaldo Mandlate from the Children’s Rights Project of the Community Law Centre (University of the Western Cape) spoke on the system of protection of human rights in Africa, during a two day workshop on human rights which took place in Luanda, Angola.
On 28 February, Professor Jan Erk, a visiting professor at the Community Law Centre under the SARChi Chair for Multilevel Government, delivered a lecture for the LL.M/Mphil students in Law, State and Multilevel Government. The lecture was titled 'Two Divided Cities: Federalism, Nationalism and Urban Politics in Montreal and Brussels'.
Prof Jaap de Visser, the director of the Community Law Centre and senior fellow of the centre’s Multilevel Government Initiative addressed a group of officials from Kenya on the topic of Integrated Development Planning (IDP). He outlined the background to IDP, the legal framework and also discussed some of the challenges in implementing this progressive and ambitious system.
Dr. Jan Erk, who is currently a visiting research fellow at the Community Law Centre, has just completed teaching a short seminar on post-conflict settlements and federalism to Ethiopian doctoral candidates and lecturers at the Institute of Peace and Security of Addis Ababa University.
Albie Sachs is set to deliver the Community Law Centre’s 9th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture on 25 March 2014. The Community Law Centre is pleased to announce the 9th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture, which will be delivered by former Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs.
Today, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities will commence with public hearings on the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality bill.
Prof Benyam Dawit Mezmur has been appointed associate professor as well as the head of the Children’s Rights Project at the Community Law Centre. Prof Mezmur who published a number of articles on children's rights in Africa and related topics is also research fellow based at the Centre.
Community Law Centre's Parliamentary Programme has delivered a submission to Parliament on women, children and people with disabilities on the women’s empowerment and gender equality bill.
The Community Law Centre has featured in two separate panel discussions during the on- going 17th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA). The Conference with the theme Now More than Ever: Targeting Zero, holds from 7-11 December 2013 at the Convention Centre, Cape Town.
The staff of the Community Law Centre mourns the loss of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and extends its deepest sympathies to his wife and his family.
In this ESR Review, Courts, capacity and engagement: Lessons from Hlophe v City of Johannesburg, A Social Protection Floor for all: Indispensable for eradicating extreme poverty by 2030
Yesterday the Community Law Centre hosted a dinner for the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) in Cape Town. This meet and greet session followed a two day workshop on the with the aim of discussing country reports on actions taken in follow-up to the 2012 Day of the African Child.
In March this year, South African Local Government Association (Salga) announced that at least R81-billion is owed to municipalities for services. In line with this yesterday it convened the Anti-Corruption Summit and National Members Assembly at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE) Bill has been introduced in parliament. At this point we are unsure of when parliament will hold public hearings on the Bill. It may be this year or in the first months of next year.
Many serious questions are being raised about the state of democracy and politics in South Africa at this time. Over the course of 2013, there have been a number of initiatives to discuss and engage with questions of civil society’s role and place in South Africa’s democracy nearly 20 years down the line.
The Community Law Centre also received a critical mention in Albie Sachs' keynote address, who is the former Community Law Centre associate and former Constitutional Court judge in South Africa. The event kicked off on 18 November and it concludes on 22 November in Washington DC in the United States of America.
Two post-doctoral researchers for the Children’s Rights Project at the Community Law Centre contributed a chapter to the first edition of the African Disability Rights Yearbook.
On the November 2, 2013 Thulaganyo Selokela, a doctoral researcher for the Multi-level Government Initiative, recently attended the South African Local Government Association Women’s Commission meeting in Worscester Western Cape.
The Community Law Centre has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre for Federal Studies (CFS) at Addis Ababa University. In terms of that MOU, staff of the Community Law Centre regularly teaches at the CFS, particularly in its PhD programme.
The director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Jaap de Visser lectured a group of honours and LLM students on the place of local government in the South African system of multilevel government at the Ethiopian Civil Service College in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia yesterday (7 November 2013).
The Community Law Centre hosted a seminar that looked at challenges faced by institutions in South Africa in ensuring that growth leads to better living standards.
The Director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Jaap de Visser, presented a statement at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).
On 21 October 2013, during the 54th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights holding in Banjul, The Gambia, the Community Law Centre at the University of the Western Cape and the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights organised a side event on Penalisation of Poverty as a Human Rights Challenge in Africa.
The former director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Nico Steytler was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as member of the Financial and Fiscal Commission with effect from 01 September 2013, for a period of five years, as a part time commissioner. Prof Steytler is currently the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair.
A doctoral researcher at the Multi-level Initiative of the Community Law Centre, Thulaganyo Selokela, presented a paper on “Gender Representation in Local Government’. She presented this at a conference organised by the Institute for law in Action based at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University together with the Institute on Municipal Administration For Southern Africa.
21 October 2013 - This past weekend, the Community Law Centre in partnership with the University of Western Cape Law Faculty hosted the sixth doctoral colloquium at the Atlantic Beach Hotel in Cape Town.
Today the NCOP Select Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development in parliament met to consider the negotiating mandates from the provinces on the Traditional Courts Bill. It was a short meeting, it seems that the actual work took place behind closed doors prior to the meeting session.
