The Constitution recognises the informal or customary rights of people living in the former homelands yet the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has failed to legislate a communal land rights law that will strengthen and protect these rights. As a result; * Big cooperates are grabbing land in the communal land without any compensation for loss citing development. * Nature of individuals and family rights within a broader community are not clarified, and overshadowed by majority in the community. * People are not adequately compensated when land is sold or awarded for big developments * Consultation and Consent of land occupiers is not respected because of the weak nature of the rights provided by current law. In 1996, Parliament passed the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (IPILRA) to provide protection for all people living on communal land in the former Bantustans, people living on trust land, people who previously had Permissions to Occupy (PTOs) and anyone living on land uninterrupted since 1997 “as if they were the owner”. This was a big milestone in the protection and recognition of customary land rights and the empowerment of families to be part of bargaining and negotiations of any socio-economic development happening in their land. Although people are protected by IPILRA, the fact that it is temporary and can be renewed annually, deprives people of their rights to say NO to development that disadvantages them. This makes it easy for "developers" or Government to easily expropriate the land. It is also worth noting that the law also states that the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform can make regulations in terms of IPILRA to provide more detailed processes and procedures.

Any law that seeks to facilitate recognition of previously marginalised group or any development of land belonging to the people must ensure that community consultation and consent is at the centre. The TKLB closes down that space and excludes ordinary people from being consulted and give consent on decisions that will affect their lives. There needs to be meaningful public participation. As it stands, the TKLB only highlights consultations with high profile structures such as the House of Traditional Leaders, royal families and traditional councils and there is no mention of rural citizens who are land buyers and customary land rights users. The TKLB supports rural elites' access to wealth and resources. It does not put in place mechanisms that holds leaders accountable to their people. The discovery of mineral wealth in the land that was once considered dry and not productive has brought about disputes where people’s peace is disrupted by big mining companies, and when people react they are suppressed and criminalized.

Racism should not be tolerated, ever. There is no excuse. Real and permanent changes must be made. Read more about the incident here: https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/racism-thrives-at-pietermaritzburg-girls-high-school-ndapwa-alweendo/

"Work it out..”, according to sources, this is what the police said to Karabo Mokoena who had opened a case of assault against her boyfriend [1]. One month later, she went missing and was found dead allegedly at the hands of the very same man. Like many other women and children, the institutions meant to protect Karabo effectively sent her to her death. Everyday women are killed, raped and brutalised, not by monsters, but the men with whom we share our beds, homes, workplaces, churches and streets. The men in our daily spaces. Across the country, thousands are raising their voices in outrage, saying this has to come to an end. Right now we have a real shot to take our collective outrage and call for Minister Shabangu to commit to the development of a National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence. Karabo Mokoena, Lerato Moloi, Bongeka Phungula and Popi Qwabe are just of few of the many who have been murdered in 2017 so far. We are tired of being killed, maimed and brutalised at the hands of men. We call for an end to this senseless violence unleashed on women’s bodies. We want effective justice now! Let's stand together and call for Minister Dlamini to commit to a National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence (GBV). No more women must die on our watch. Violence against women has always been a serious problem in Mzansi. Recently there has been more coverage of gruesome rapes and murders everywhere in our country. From 3-year-old Courtney Pieters [2], who was raped and murdered by a family friend and tenant earlier this month, to the rape of elderly women in Willowvale [3] and recently the rape of Tambai Moloi, a lesbian from Soweto [4], it is clear that all women are at risk and it is a matter of "when" not "whether" it will happen. These cases, and the many more that occur each year, show that we are still a very long way from eradicating GBV in South Africa. This calls for everyone to stand together and demand that the Department of Women commit to a National Strategic Plan on GBV now. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2017/05/24/karabo-mokoenas-mother-warned-her-daughter-that-mantsoe-would_a_22106699/ [2]http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/courtney-pieters-was-raped-twice-before-being-murdered-court-hears-20170517 [3] http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/eastern-cape-man-20-arrested-for-rape-of-woman-76-20170108 [4] http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2017/05/18/lerato-was-killed-by-people-she-knew-it-was-a-hate-crime The following organisations are part of the campaign as of August 2016: Sonke Gender Justice MOSAIC Amnesty International South Africa Centre for Sexuality AIDS and Gender People Opposing Women Abuse South African Care Workers Forum New World Foundation Access Chapter 2 Love 167 Thando Care Service and Development Centre Justice and Women TB/HIV Care Association Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce Centre for Human Rights Medecins Sans Frontieres South Africa Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme Treatment Action Campaign Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture World AIDS Campaign International Sekwele Centre for Social Reflection Greater Rape Intervention Programme People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty Gender Links Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation Women’s Legal Centre Pietermaritzburg Agency for Social Community Action Grassroot Soccer Gender, Health & Justice Research Unit South African Faith and Family Institute Tears Foundation Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust Sun of Joy Foundation Rock Girl Soul City NACOSA amandla.mobi

Enviroserv has been in the news a lot lately for their toxic waste landfill site, which has angered the residents of Shongweni. But Enviroserv’s crimes are not only limited to those in the current new cycle. They have been polluting in black communities, such as Ntshongweni, Dassenhoek, KwaNdengezi, Buxfarm and Cliffdale, for over 15 years and have left struggling communities with a mountain of health issues including; headaches, fatigue and nose bleeds. There is has been no science-specific research that measures the long term impacts of Enviroserv’s pollution and the health issues experienced by communities. A targeted surveillance system that maps out the social, health and environmental impacts created by hazardous waste needs to be developed to avoid far more serious health issues like cancer in the future. Enviroserv’s legal appeal process that is challenging DEA’s decision to suspend their operations license, sends a clear message that Enviroserv thinks our lives are cheap and that profit matters more to them then our health, environment and quality of life. EnviroServ is ignoring our constitutional rights and the increased incidence of illnesses apparently related to the foul odour, not to mention the psychological effects living in the stench of a toxic landfill is having on us. By refusing to tell us what is going into the landfill and what its possible toxic effects on humans are, you are only serving to increase our fear that the health effects are being caused by the hazardous, ineffectively or untreated waste being accepted at the landfill.

• To get young people to understand the plight of the underprivileged. • Young people to look at the causes that lead to others needs especially in winter. • Give young people the opportunity to give back to the underprivileged communities and homes. • Create networks to work with other organizations as part of our youth outreach programme. • Equip young people with mobilising skills. • Teach young people door to door campaigning. • Building engagement and collaboration between organisations. • Providing practical assistance and knowledge to plan and prepare for winter. • Facilitating a collaborative approach to communication across organisations; ensuring that vulnerable households receive correct, clear, consistent, useful and actionable advice and information. • This will provide the youth with effective planning skills. • This will teach the youth the art of giving without expecting anything in return.

It makes no sense to upgrade Muizenberg police station considering some poor communities urgently require more police resources, including stations. According to Statistics SA, there were 27 murders reported in Muizenberg last year, while 279 people were killed in Nyanga and another 161 in Khayelitsha during the same period. “Our argument is that more officers are deployed to areas where there is no need and this confirms our suspicion that SAPS continues to serve only white communities.” "There are more police resources deployed to areas where there is no need. This situation confirms our suspicions that SAPS continue only serve white communities." “Police must stop prioritising white and rich communities, because we know people who live in those areas have access to private security.”

Our leaders had a year to meet the demands of Fees Must Fall, and they have failed. But we have an opportunity to change this. This time last year we didn't have the ‘no-fee’ varsity report released, or had commitments from government to address illicit financial flows, but this year we do. That’s why we are calling for Minister Nzimande to stop stalling and implement his own no-fee varsity report, and for Minister Gigaba to commit at least 1% of Mzansi’s GDP to higher education. In October 2015, thousands of amandla.mobi members rallied together and forced Minister Nzimande to release the No-Fees Varsity Report. The report sets out 12 recommendations showing how free university education for students from low income households can be provided [1]. This affirms the demands of the student movement collectively known as ‘Fees Must Fall’ and proves that the Minister can take decisive action to put an end to financial exclusion in higher education. Since the release of the report we have been pushing to shift the public debate towards calls for Minister Nzimande to progressively implement the recommendations of the report. The time to stop overlooking us has come! Academics have spoken out on the chronic underfunding of Mzansi’s universities [2]. In fact, Mzansi’s government spends below the continent’s average on higher education, at 0.75% of its GDP. The proportion of GDP for Senegal and Ghana is 1.4% [3]. Mzansi’s higher education budget for the 2015/16 financial year is R30 billion. If the government were to spend 1% of GDP on higher education, this would amount to R41 billion. That’s almost four times the reported shortfall caused by 2016’s freeze on fee increases [3]. The recommendation by the Department of Higher Education and Training that university fees for 2017 should not be increased by more than 8% is in stark contrast to the events of last year where the government instructed universities on what to do. It is an open invitation for universities to determine what margin they increase fees by, provided that they remain within the Minister Nzimande’s recommendation. We need to shift the focus back to addressing the chronic underspending on the country’s universities. [1] It’s a national crisis, academics tell Nzimande, News24. Oct 22, 2015. [2] Free education is possible if South Africa moves beyond smoke and mirrors, Salim Vally for The Conversation. Sep 21, 2016. * The information you submit will be sent to the Fees Commission, the Presidency and the Department for Higher Education.

Today we announce that we have embarked on a symbolic occupation of the Helen Bowden Nurses Home and the Woodstock Hospital to demand Urban Land Justice in Cape Town. We are Cape Town residents from across the race and class divide. We are residents of Woodstock, Sea Point, Marikana informal settlement, Blikkiesdorp and Khayelitsha. We are from communities at the forefront of the housing and segregation crisis in our city. We stand in solidarity with the struggles of all poor and working class people who still live homeless under bridges; in shacks and informal settlements at the edge of our city; in backyards and wendy houses on the Cape Flats; and in store rooms and domestic quarters in former white suburbs. The colonial and apartheid governments divided our city, controlled where we could live and forcefully removed our families from their homes. Our parents and grandparents resisted and overcame racial oppression. They fought for the rights to dignity, justice, equality, and adequate housing that our Constitution now guarantees. But we still experience the violence of apartheid spatial planning and segregation. A dignified life with access to good services and decent work is reserved for a few. We still experience violent evictions from our homes by private property owners and our government. This, while private landlords, developers and banks are making obscene profits. Land must be for people, not for profit. We are angry that our City, our Province and our National governments have failed to acknowledge our struggles for land and for affordable housing. They have failed to bring Black and Coloured people back into our city. We believe that symbolic and peaceful civil disobedience is now justified in the defence of our Constitution and our Constitutional rights. As we have now made our home here for over 48 hours, the law is clear that we may not be evicted without an order of court. We call on the Province and the South African Police Service to act lawfully and refrain from using violence or other tactics of state oppression against us.

The people of Glenmore want to exercise their rights and have realised that for Glenmore to develop they need to rise up as a community and demand to be taken seriously. Services rendered should be done as per specifications, should be time bound and someone must account for work done that is below the specified standard. Black contractors appointed by the municipality should ensure that their work leaves a lasting legacy for generations to come and not to produce a "final product" that will need to be demolished/redone in a short period. Black business should strive for excellence, positioning them for leadership. Proper social facilitation should be the cornerstone for any and all community development projects. We can improve service delivery and fight corruption in our Municipality by ensuring all Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs) are public and easily accessible to all. Communities need not resort to violent protest. Transparency now!

The University of the Western Cape Financial aid office is deliberately declining NSFAS funding for senior students who have passed 50% or more of their 2016 modules. According to NSFAS website and press releases, all students who were funded in 2016 and have passed 50% or more of their 2016 modules qualify for funding. The University of the Western Cape is saying otherwise. On 6 February 2017 Universities South Africa (USAf) issued a statement saying "students at all universities may be assured that notwithstanding the challenges experienced by NSFAS, the vast majority of students who qualify for grants will be able to register this week if they have not already done so." Fast forward to 21 March 2017 and there are confirmed cases of students at the University of Western Cape (UWC) and Durban University of technology (DUT) who are yet to register despite meeting the criteria to qualify for NSFAS. According to a commitment made by NSFAS in 2017, all first-entry students who have applied for financial aid and who come from Quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools (least privileged schools) and / or where family income is dependent upon a South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant, qualify for financial aid. These students may, with minimal risk to universities, be admitted to the study programme for which they qualify (subject to availability of space), and also to a place of residence (subject to capacity considerations). With regard to returning students, NSFAS has undertaken to support in 2017, all students who: * Received financial aid in 2016; * Satisfied the 50% module pass requirement; * Satisfy the N+2 completion requirement; and * Have signed their 2016 NSFAS loan agreement forms.

We are deeply troubled by the continuous introduction of risky GMOs into our food and farming systems. Since its introduction into our food system in 1998, it has done nothing to address our nation’s hunger problems. Instead, we are left with polluted soil and water and loss of our superior, local farmer-bred varieties of maize. We are also extremely concerned about the political economy of seed control that Monsanto has imposed on our seed system, which utterly undermines our food sovereignty and breeds a dependency on Monsanto's industrial systems and technologies. Local land belonging to smallholder farmers in SA have already been contaminated. More GMOs will only exacerbate this situation and further erode farmers’ seed systems. We call on our government to reject Monsanto’s application and begin a real dialogue with South Africans to transition out of industrial and GM-based agriculture systems and work towards real climate resilient solutions that are ecologically sustainable, socially just and takes care of the nutritional needs of all South Africans