In the days of apartheid, when many turned their backs on activists, the Catholic Church provided refuge, provided a source of comfort to the families of Coline Williams and Robert Waterwich. The youth from UDF's Wesco (Western Cape Student Congress) met regularly at the CWD premises, as did YCW (Young Christian Workers) and several other youth and community organizations. Activists on the run from the apartheid state were given refuge. It is now a space for the working class to engage in cultural activities such as music, art, yoga, the study of history and the history of Table Mountain. The CWD Executive wants to close the building. It is already a community that has few spaces for Culture. It should remain a living cultural space and heritage site. Please sign and share this petition. In addition, for over 50 years the CWD projects operated from this centre and elsewhere. Tens of thousands of people were assisted. There were social workers; there was training for Early Childhood Development. There was a sewing project that brought together refugees with local workers. It housed the science laboratory of the legendary St Columba's school. The residence for the teachers was housed upstairs on site. Over the past three years the then Arts and Culture manager, Andre Marais has managed to build up the Athlone Cultural Hub. Under his stewardship the Western Province Mountain Club is now housed in the building. They take youth of the area up Table Mountain and give talks about the history of the mountain. The Academy of Music has their administrative office on the premises. A jazz band, with local artist Trudy Rushin, have their practice sessions on site. The Revolutionary Yoga group operates at the Hub. There is also a dance club. There is a library of 30 000 classics and 10 000 movies. There have been several cultural activities held. There have been several education schools run by UCT Summer School. There is a corner for volunteers to read children stories. A memory garden has been started for Coline Williams and Robert Waterwich, who were killed in the struggle against apartheid. Robert was a former student of St Columba's and he would have used the laboratory. On the 13th February 2019 three rooms were renamed after the Trojan Horse 3. The library has been named after Shaun Magmoed. The section where the social workers used to operate, in front, has been named after Michael Miranda, while the upstairs section which used to be the dormitory of the teachers and lately was the section that housed the ECD, was named after Jonathan Claasen. Retired teachers are prepared to run free maths and science classes on site. A local resident is prepared to offer free carpentry classes. There is a strong case for the building to be declared a living heritage site, especially now that a funder has stepped forward that has offered to cover running costs, including that of Cultural Hub manager. Help us keep the building open.

President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro was democratically voted into power and now US imperialism under Donald Trump and his allies in the European Union and Britain want regime change and are orchestrating a coup together with the support of the rich in Venezuela. After talking on the phone with US Vice President Mike Pence, President Maduro’s opponent Juan Guiado declared himself interim president. Soon after US President Donald Trump came out in support of Juan Guiado as interim president and Canada, the EU and right-wing, nationalist governments in South America known as the Lima-Group (Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Paraguay) were all very quick to declare their support for Guiado. Juan Guiado wasn’t democratically elected and it’s clear he is being propped up by right-wing governments and the West as a leader sympathetic to their right-wing, nationalist and capitalist ideologies and oil and gold interests. Besides wanting to own/control Venezuela’s oil and gold reserves, US imperialism cannot allow alternatives that promote the interests of the people to exist, especially not in its so-called backyard! For years now they have been blockading Venezuela and creating a crisis by blocking food and medicine imports. This has been part of their plan to destabilize the country, agitate the people into pushing for regime change and ousting Maduro’s leftist government. US President Trump’s recent speech calling on Venezuela’s military to back Juan Guiado as President is a clear attempt to escalate the situation in Venezuela. The West’s support of Guiado and meddling in the country is only leading to more violence and escalation. If enough of us come together, we can pressure the US embassy and consulate in South Africa to condemn Trump's actions against Venezuelan sovereignty and support the Venezuelan's right to constitutionally and democratically elect their leaders without foreign and Western intervention. Support the people of Venezuela in their struggle for sovereignty, to determine their own future, to build the society they want to live in and to have a government of their choice. Many around the world are joining the struggle to resist the US & EU’s attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuela. Hence the Red Cross and UN agencies are not supporting the US sanctions and boycott of Venezuela. Defend the Right of Venezuela to Determine Its Destiny! Say Hands OFF Venezuela! Sign the petition #HandsOffVenezuela For more information on the campaign and International Solidarity initiatives in South Africa contact the Venezuela’s Solidarity Committee in South Africa: Contact: 011 336 9190 Email: [email protected]

With Mzansi’s economy struggling, rising fuel prices and the VAT increase- the poor of Mzansi are in crisis. But despite this, government is trying to cut more public spending on things like healthcare, housing and social grants which are meant to give important economic relief to the poor [1]. We, the people, already shouldered the tax burden when VAT was increased last year. It is big business’ turn to pay their fare share. Tell Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, he must increase Corporate Income Tax for the tax-dodging and greedy rich and start prioritizing economic relief for the people. We welcome the announcement that sanitary pads, white bread flour and cake flour will be VAT free. With VAT at 15%- the burden of fixing the economy is still on the shoulders of the poor. But the gap between the rich and poor in Mzansi is one of the largest in the world. Mzansi is a country where the top 10% control 90-95% of the wealth [2]. It is unjust that Treasury keeps proposing solutions to the ongoing economic crisis by increasing the tax burden on the majority, especially poor Black women especially whilst 89% of companies in SA don’t pay Corporate Income Tax [3] and R965 billion leaves the continent in illicit financial flows every year. [4] Mzansi is dominated by greedy multinational companies. We the people essentially subsidize corporates. Government cutting public expenditure on things like healthcare, housing and social grants which give financial relief to an already struggling poor is not the solution to our struggling economy. Tell government and Treasury to tax the mega-rich instead by increasing the Corporate Income Tax. [1] The 2018 mid-term budget speech in a nutshell, Staff Writer for Business Tech October 2018 [2] 10 Percent Of South Africans Own 90 Percent Of The Country's Wealth, Staff Reporter for The Huffington Post July 2018 [3] Corporates not ‘tax compliant’. Baldwin Ndaba and African News Agency for The Mercury 22 Aug 2018

(For those who are Dutch speakers there is a translation of the below text into Dutch at the end of the English text) A total of 55 workers were recently dismissed from the Heineken brewery in Sedibeng, South Africa. The workers were employed through labour brokers to do jobs such as sorting and packing. Some have been earning less than R4500 per month and they all earn only 20-25% of what their co-workers who are directly employed by Heineken earn. These workers have been working under, what they call ‘slavery conditions’. Gladys Thaane who worked at Heineken brewery in Sedibeng for 9 years before being dismissed says, “They keep us in a state of being unsure and anxious all the time by moving us from labour broker to labour broker. I worked under five different labour brokers while doing the same job of packing and sorting for Heineken. This is their way of keeping us away from decent wages and rights. For us women it is so bad. We suffer from long periods (menstruation), back pains and breast problems but we cannot say anything because we are not sure we’ll have a job the next day. The managers even target us for sexual harassment. Now when we claim our rights they chase us away.“ The workers were accused of participating in an ‘illegal gathering’ and ‘breaking labour laws’ by the labour brokers who employed them. This despite the fact that there is no concept of an ‘illegal gathering’ in South Africa’s laws. The workers took part in a legal protest in their time off against someone other than their official employer which means there was no way they broke labour laws. The workers were part of a group that visited Heineken’s head office in South Africa and tried to meet with the company. These workers were victimized for simply fighting for their basic rights. This hardheaded response of Heineken is consistent with how it reacted to all efforts of the labour broker workers to improve their conditions and claim their rights over the last few years. The company only acknowledged the workers and their struggles when there was public pressure on Heineken to treat its workers fairly. We demand that Heineken immediately rehire these workers with permanent employment and living wages. Bij de Zuid Afrikaanse Heineken brouwerij in Sedibeng zijn onlangs in totaal 55 werknemers onslagen. Zij waren in dienst als uitzendkrachten en verrichtten taken als flessen sorteren en kratten vullen. Sommigen verdienden minder dan 300 euro per maand. Uitzendkrachten verdienen slechts 20% tot 25% van wat werknemers verdienen die direct bij Heineken in dienstverband zijn. "Mijn naam is Gladys Thaane. Ik werk al 9 jaar bij Heineken Sedibeng en het is al 9 jaar een worsteling. We zijn constant bezorgd en onzeker op het werk omdat we van uitzendbureau naar uitzendbureau worden geschoven. Ik heb voor 5 verschillende uitzendbureaus gewerkt terwijl ik dezelfde baan had: flessen sorteren en kratten vullen voor Heineken. Dit is hun manier om ons weg te houden van degelijke betaling en onze rechten. Voor ons vrouwen is de situatie heel slecht. We lijden aan erge menstruatieklachten, rugpijn en borst problemen, maar we kunnen niets zeggen omdat we niet zeker weten of we de volgende dag nog een baan hebben. Vrouwen zijn zelfs het doelwit van sexuele intimidatie door managers. Wanneer we voor onze rechten opkomen, worden we weggejaagd. Maar we gaan niet weg. Help ons alstublieft om gerechtigheid te krijgen door deze petitie te tekenen." De ontslagen werknemers worden door de uitzendbureaus beschuldigd van ‘illegale samenkomst’ en het ‘overtreden van arbeidswetten’. In de Zuid Afrikaanse wet bestaat echter geen concept als ‘illegale samenkomst’. Daarnaast namen de werknemers feitelijk deel aan een legale bijeenkomst, in hun eigen tijd, bij een bedrijf dat officieel niet hun werkgever is. Dit betekend dat de uitzendkrachten niet in een positie waren om arbeidswetten te overtreden. De ontslagen werknemers zijn onderdeel van een groep die het hoofdkantoor van Heineken in Zuid Afrika bezochten in een poging een ontmoeting met het bedrijf te bewerkstelligen. De deur van het Heineken kantoor bleef echter dicht. Deze koppige reactie van Heineken is consistent met eerdere reacties van de multinational in de afgelopen jaren op de pogingen van de uitzendkrachten om hun situatie te verbeteren en hun rechten op te eisen. Slechts wanneer er publieke druk is uitgeoefend heeft het bedrijf gereageerd op de werknemers. Uw handtekening is van groot belang om Heineken te dwingen de, volgens de uitzendkrachten, “slavernij omstandigheden” aan te pakken. Eis dat de onterecht ontslagen uitzendkrachten direct hun baan terugkrijgen, permament bij Heineken in dienst komen en fatsoenlijke lonen betaald krijgen!

Every day, ordinary South Africans get calls and messages from private companies that want our money, or political parties that want our votes, or banks that want us to take out loans. But how did they get our information? There is a powerful privacy law called the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) which is meant to protect every person’s personal info from being traded, misused or stolen [1]. The POPI Act is meant to be enforced by a new privacy watchdog called the Information Regulator (headed by Adv Pansy Tlakula), which can investigate companies or departments that misuse your personal info. But six years after being signed, this privacy law isn’t fully in force. After years of bureaucratic delays, the Info Regulator is still not operational. The law will not come into full force until the Info Regulator has enough staff and resources to fulfill its watchdog mandate. While these delays continue, millions of South Africans’ personal info have been exposed through ‘data breaches’ by private companies and government agencies [2]. We need the watchdog up and running to investigate and act against companies and departments which misuse our private info. This is especially urgent as South Africa heads to 2019 elections, given the growing risk of personal info being used for electoral interference [3]. We call on the Information Regulator and Parliament, Treasury to act now: get the watchdog fully staffed and operational, and get the POPI law in force! _________________________ [1] Read more: What you need to know about the POPI law, at https://r2k.org.za/popi-guide [2] “Five massive data breaches affecting South Africans,” Fin24, 19 June 2018: https://www.fin24.com/Companies/ICT/five-massive-data-breaches-affecting-south-africans-20180619-2 [3] “How Trump consultants exploited the Facebook data of millions,” 17 March 2018: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html Note from R2K: View the Amandla.mobi privacy policy at http://awethu.amandla.mobi/privacy_policy It includes a commitment that your personal information will not be provided to any third parties, including us. All signatories to this petition have the right not to receive further updates about this campaign or any others.

South African women earn 27% less than men [2]. Our country already faces so many gendered social and economical issues and the gender pay gap also contributes to these issues. Our national women’s soccer team Banyana Banyana is just one example of women who work hard, yet they still remain underpaid and underfunded compared to Bafana Bafana (national men’s soccer team). If the argument has been that men work harder than women and “deserve” a higher pay, then without a doubt our women’s team have proven themselves to have worked harder than the men, but the willingness to increase their salaries still remains low. Earning an equal salary should not be about one’s gender, it should be about the fact that people do the same work in the same industry, and therefore should be paid the same. The time is now - SAFA must take action and pay the women what they deserve. References: [1] Jordaan calls for help to boost Banyana salaries amid outcry, Matshelane Mamabolo for IOL, 30 November 2018 [2] Do South African women earn 27% less than men?, Gopolang Makau for Africa Check, 27 September 2017

In the same week Health Minister Motsoaledi blamed our fellow Africans for the state of our health system, Home Affairs have quietly proposed new regulations to the Births and Deaths Registration Act to stop certain children born in Mzansi from receiving a birth certificate. Read the draft regulations here: http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/181012draftreg-registrationofbirthsdeaths.pdf Organisations such as Lawyers for Human Rights, Centre for Child Law, the Scalabrini Centre and the UCT Refugee Law Clinic sounded the alarm on Wednesday: http://www.lhr.org.za/news/2018/home-affairs-discontinue-birth-certificates-foreign-children

While other Life Esidimeni families have been paid [1], there are still remaining families yet to receive payment. Why split the families? [2]. The Life Esidimeni families share a collective pain, why prioritise payment for others and not all? The remaining families also need closure and the payment is necessary for this. The Premier made a public commitment to honour the payments [3], now his office is giving the remaining families the run around and it's not right, haven't they suffered enough! All the families ask for is a firm commitment of the 10th December 2018 as a previously agreed deadline for everyone to receive payment and for the Premier's office to stop postponing and commit. References [1] https://www.enca.com/south-africa/life-esidimeni-families-have-received-their-payment [2] https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-10-16-esidimeni-families-have-to--wait-for-payment/ [3]https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/makhura-vows-life-esidimeni-families-will-get-compensation-before-deadline-20180611

Government institutions tasked with compensating sick miners have become dysfunctional with backlogs of 200 000+ unpaid certified claims and an even larger number of unprocessed claims. Stringent requirements and processing centralised in Johannesburg makes it very difficult for sick and repatriated miners to access compensation. Many are unaware of their rights to compensation and thousands have already died without being compensated. Without serious reform of the compensation system, and a concrete plan of action from the TSHIAMISO TRUST, most of the 500 000 miners will die without receiving anything, unless we make this our business and do something. THE COMPENSATION SYSTEM IS BROKEN and if the R5 billion is not paid out within 12 years, it will remain with the mining companies.

A Sexual Offences Unit will ensure that survivors of gender based violence receive specialised and sensitive support and resources that will help towards their healing journey. Campuses that have an already existing ‘gender office’ need to change their systems so that they serve the concerns of everyone on campus, and are in line with the proposed Sexual Offences Unit. The Black Womxn Caucus, an intersectional women’s organisation at Wits University have called for a ‘rapid response rape team’ for gender based violence to be established on the campus. The movement advocates for a thorough understanding of gender violence as it occurs in many forms and in many spaces, and reinforces the violences that womxn and gender non-comfornimg bodies are subjected to in this country. As the number of rape, sexual abuse and killing of womxn and children in this country continues to increase so does the call from those most affected by violence in our society to organise ourselves to fight gender based violence. The Black Womxn Caucus insists that if their Vice Chancellor at the time, Adam Habib, among others, were able to establish a rapid response team [4] to clamp down on student protest action following the #FeesMustFall movement, there is no reason the university should also prioritise the establishment of a ‘rapid response team’ to address gender violence on campus. The Sexual Offences Units should include: support staff who encourage everyone on campus to go for prosecution through reporting their cases; this includes a 24 hour psychologists available at all times for emergencies, and a space for activists to assist in sharing insights to developing better models aimed at reducing all forms of violence on campus. This unit must also represent the different socio-economic backgrounds of members of the institutions community, and be able to cater to survivors of all backgrounds.

The Political Party Funding Bill has the potential to curb the instances of corruption that plagues our political and electoral systems. We have seen it with the State Capture Inquiry and through the instances of maladministration in local government structures. All of this because we don't have access to the crucial information of who provides funding to political parties. It is our democratic right to not just vote but to make an informed vote. The information of political parties’ private donor information is required to make an informed vote at the elections. The longer the President delays signing the Bill into law, the longer we will have this democratic right denied. After twenty-four years of South Africa’s democratic dispensation, political parties remain unwilling to provide the public with information on their private funding. For many years, we have been campaigning for Parliament to regulate the transparency of political parties private funding information. Although long overdue, in 2017 Parliament finally drafted the Political Party Funding Bill. This Bill is the only law that will place an obligation on political parties to disclose information on their private funding. Earlier this year the Bill was adopted in Parliament, however the Bill cannot be implemented until President Cyril Ramaphosa signs the Bill into law. Sign this petition and help put measures in place that could effectively prevent more dubious dealings on all levels of government that affects all South Africans.

Independent analysts put the number of people killed in what has been dubbed as political killings in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) as high as 104 [1]. These killings have made residents feel unsafe. Despite this, KZN Premier, Willies Mchunu, refuses to release the Moerane Commission report and hearing transcripts. Even when a Public Access to Information (PAIA) request was made on 16th August, giving him 30 days in which to act, the Premier has failed to comply. Premier Willies Mchunu appointed the Moerane Commission of Inquiry to investigate the underlying causes of the killings and to come up with recommendations based on the evidence from the security forces, victims, families, political parties and local government. The Commission completed its work in May and tabled the Moearane Commission to the Premier. Following that, the report was tabled at the KZN provincial legislature [2], but it still has not been published on all government websites. The public deserves to know. The hearings were funded by the public, the majority of them open to the public, and relates to issues of great importance to the public. The people of Umlazi and surrounding areas, and where the bulk of the killings have a vested interest to know what happened.