Funda Community College was founded 30 years ago by Professor Eskia Mphahlele. This erstwhile prestigious institution housed a number of organisations which formed part of an Education Cooperative at the time. These organisations were: The Council for Black Education and Research, the Community Development Projects Association, the African Institute of Art, the Madimba Institute of African Music, the Soyikwa Institute of African Theater, and the Part-Time University Students Association. These organisations collectively made Funda Centre to become a critical institution that brought about transformation in education and played an important role in the development of the Arts in Black communities of Soweto and other surrounding townships like Sebokeng, Sharpeville, Alexandra, Katlehong, Mamelodi etc.

Lawyers Collective is a well-respected legal organisation that advances human rights in India, including women’s rights, the rights of people living with HIV and the right of access to affordable medicines. Lawyers Collective plays an important role in advancing the constitutionally-entrenched rights of the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of society. A number of key civil society organisations in South Africa have worked with Lawyers Collective for many years to advance the rights entrenched in the South African Constitution, including important work to promote non-discrimination and protect the human rights of people living with HIV. Lawyers Collective has been absolutely instrumental in ensuring that the environment that enables India to continue to be the Pharmacy of the Developing World is maintained, even in the face of serious external pressures on India to deviate from its historical pro-public health stance. Through its work, vulnerable people in both India and South Africa (among others) have had access to life-saving medicines that they would not otherwise have been able to afford. [1] “Human rights defenders and civil society must have the ability to do their important job without being subjected to increased limitations on their access to foreign funding and the undue suspension of their registration on the basis of burdensome administrative requirements imposed to those organizations in receipt of foreign funds,” the UN human rights experts concluded. - See more at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20112&LangID=E#sthash.eHvoNyDl.dpuf

We see everyday the dangers of drugs and the ripple effect they have on our already deteriorating psycho-socio-economic conditions. If we do not do anything about it, it will only get worse. The future of our beloved country lies boldly in our kids, very astonishingly. We must fight this war on drugs. This brings me to the most vital and painful truth, "Lelilizwe lizobuswa yizinyoni..."

An unapologetic racist says “blacks and government workers” are not allowed to stay at his guest house because “it’s God's law” to segregate people by race. André Slate, the owner of Sodwana Bay Guest House in KwaZulu-Natal, made this declaration when responding to a booking enquiry sent by Sizakele Msimango on Wednesday. “We do not accommodate blacks or government employees any longer,” he stated in an email [1] [1] http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/racist-claims-segregation-is-gods-law-2037681

in April 2015, the People's Coalition Against Xenophobia was formed in response to a spate of xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals livinig in the South African provinces of Gauteng, North West and Kawzulu Natal. The Coalition organised a very successful march of 30 000 people through the streets of Johannesburg, calling for an end to xenophobia and all other forms of discrimination. Xenophobia did not only happen in 2008 and 2015, two terrible periods of concentrated attacks on foreign nationals, some of whom were killed, whose spaza shops, other businesses and homes were looted and destroyed. Xenophobic acts against foreign nationals are happening all the time - however, many are not known about because they are not reported. The Coalition therefore believes that there needs to be ongoing work done to rid our country of xenophobic tendencies and to encourage social cohesion and inclusion. We recognise, too, that what is happening in South Africa is happening across the world, in the Mediterranean where refugees from North Africa and Syria are dying in their thousands as they battle to find sanctuary, in other parts of Africa where refugees are expelled or poorly treated, in the USA where Donald Trump is calling for an 'apartheid' wall to be built along the border with Mexico to keep foreign nationals out. We need a more caring, welcoming world. For this reason, the Coalition has drafted a Pledge which is based on the pricinples of caring, ubuntu and human rights for all. We are calling on all those who are committed to an inclusive, integrated society to sign this Pledge and send a strong message to South Africa and the world that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. In the words of Nelson Mandela: "Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world." By joining this campaign, you will be endorsing the letter to the Minister of Home Affairs and signing the "Sibantu Banye / We are one people" Pledge. You will be sending a powerful message, confirming that you are joining the milliions of people in South Africa and the world who are committed to a human-rights based world in which discrimination, oppression and exploitation will not be tolerated. "SIBANTU BANYE / WE ARE ONE PEOPLE" PLEDGE WE EMBRACE • The Constitution of South Africa, especially the rights contained therein of all people to respect, human dignity and equality • Respect for the rule of law • Respect for international law • Promotion of human rights for all people • Respect for the rights of women, children and vulnerable populations • Ubuntu and mutual respect between all peoples • Social and spatial Integration of South Africans and people from elsewhere • Safety and freedom of movement for citizens and people from elsewhere • An inclusive and peaceful hosting environment for asylum-seekers, refugees and all other migrants in solidarity with their plight • The ‘right to work’ for asylum-seekers, refugees and all other migrants WE REJECT • Xenophobia, Afrophobia and any other form of discrimination against individuals and groups • Denialism of the existence of xenophobic attitudes and practices • Violence (physical and/or verbal) by anyone towards anyone • Legislation which is inconsistent with the Constitution of South Africa and with international practice in respect of asylum-seekers, refugees and other migrants • Institutionalised xenophobic practices which persist despite court rulings against them and public statements denying that such practices exist • Refugee “camps” and border refugee processing • Unlawful detention of asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants and current inhumane immigration detention practices • Unlawful and unreasonable deportations and return of asylum-seekers and refugees to places of danger WE CALL ON ALL IN SOUTH AFRICA TO • Read out and endorse this pledge • Defend the Constitution, practise ubuntu, and promote international solidarity • Act against xenophobia and all other forms of discrimination • Speak out against the denial of basic human rights of both citizens and people from elsewhere • Support the welcome and integration into our communities of refugees and migrants fleeing persecution, war and economic challenges • Take a stand and join the People’s Coalition Against Xenophobia to campaign against attacks on foreign nationals. The People's Coalition Against Xenophobia - [email protected]

Repeat of 1976. 1. Students suspensions 2. Pending Court Cases 3. Workers and Staff victimisation 4. Constitution of the Country Violation ( Convicted with no trial) 5. Praising of Apartheid methods and Tactics

The unemployment narrative doesn't mention that universities, such as DUT, withhold qualifications if students still owe fees, thereby rendering their graduates unemployable. This has far reaching impact in bringing about redress and employment equity when you consider the reality that the majority of students who owe fees are black, and from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is another way in which Black lives are affected by the NSFAS funding model. Inconsistencies with NSFAS payments to institutions impacts negatively those students who rely on NSFAS to settle their debt. DHET does not monitor this payments to institutions appropriately, hence students who are beneficiaries of NSFAS don't get their qualifications. How can we bring change in our communities if we can't work because we can't produce our qualifications?

This is important because it exposes the myth of the rainbow nation. This is what real estate agent Penny Sparrow said on Facebook in January this year: "These monkeys that are allowed to be released on New years Eve And new years day on to public beaches towns etc obviously have no education what so ever so to allow them loose is inviting huge dirt and troubles and discomfort to others. I'm sorry to say I was amongst the revellers and all I saw were black on black skins what a shame. I do know some wonderful thoughtful black people. This lot of monkeys just don't want to even try. But think they can voice opinions about statute and get their way dear oh dear. from now I. Shall address the blacks of south Africa as monkeys as I see the cute little wild monkeys do the same pick drop and liter [sic]."

Project Spear tracks the theft through corruption of some R30 billion from South Africa in the run-up to the 1994 national elections. Despite having commissioned the film, the Public Broadcaster has gone to extraordinary lengths to try to prevent the South African public from seeing the film and learning about the loss to the country of state resources which could have financed a comprehensive reparations programme for victims of apartheid gross human rights violations. Survivors of apartheid gross human rights violations struggle today still to advocate for the TRC-recommended reparations that represent a key component of justice for victims of apartheid crimes. The SABC has also refused to sell the rights to the material gathered by Ms van Vollenhoven in her work of preparing Project Spear for the series entitled TRUTH BE TOLD. Project Spear uses creative choreography with “Bugsy Malone” style young performers to highlight corruption.

The SABC is our public broadcaster and has to serve our interests. This kind of self-censorship is anti-democratic and not what our people struggled for in the national democratic revolution.By self-censoring reporting on these protests, the SABC is denying us our right to know which municipalities are failing to deliver services to their people, and the extent to which our people are unhappy with our local government authorities. This information is especially vital as we draw closer to local government elections where we will be choosing councillors and mayors. Journalists and Staff members at SABC are being suspended unceremoniously because they question the legitimacy of the self-censorship. Those with consciences are being forced to resign. Recently, under Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC opted out of a public consultation process in which the public could comment on the Broadcaster's draft policies.This resulted in Mr Motsoeneng giving himself the role of Editor-in-Chief and by that giving himself power to rule on any controversial editorial line and/or one which might have significant financial and/or legal implications, issues that should ideally be taken over by the Editor-in-Chief and not the COO. We are also aware that all of this is happening at the backdrop of a cloud around Mr Motsoeneng's qualifications and other irregularities at the SABC that the Public Protector has been looking into.

● The net impact of the internal and external judgements is devastating to the personal futures of black students from the RhodesMustFall movement and those who are in solidarity with them, and this impact on their lives is disproportion with the loss of a few items of private property. ● The basis of the expulsion, particularly through the interdict, is partly linked to the continued “threat” placed on the university by the presence of certain individuals. We provoke the question, if these students posed such a threat tothe campus and had negatively anarchic goals to “destroy the campus” and so on then why did we not see continued political violence after their studies had been interrupted? The lack of such sustained political violence supports the suggestion that it is not the objective of these students to “destroy the university”. ● Restorative Justice conducted in a manner that includes the university community creates the opportunity for dialogue in a context that by all accounts appears to be experiencing the stifling of debate and the experience of the limitations on freedom of expression. ● Pursuing restorative justice in this case potentially establishes a national precedence that demonstrates that our community can deal with the aftermath of political violence differently and not through mechanical, bureaucratic exclusion that will only result in creating an environment where people have nothing to lose. It is no surprise that police presence and expulsions have been followed by fire at our institutions. ● Shackville TRC as an open public process could provide a platform through which South African Youth and broader society can begin to critique and reimagine the advantages and shortcomings of the TRC as a process and provide a much needed reflective point. The RhodesMustFall movement, among many, are largely and openly critical and synical of the TRC process that brough South Africa’s present dispensation into being. This process could open up a space where those very criticisms and limitations can be tested and debated publicly as we continue to push towards a reflexive understanding of how we came to be where we are today. ● Shackville TRC will provide a space to problematise the ways in which the “victim” and “perpetrator” identities become used to individualise collective or mass action. Such a space could provide the basis for the emergence of a common memory of Shackville that takes into account a multitude of diverse experiences. In short, the gambit for the Shackville TRC pushes the University of Cape Town to take a consistent position on what the appropriate means of dealing with political violence are. It is either that restorative justice is desirable and a Shackville TRC is established or that the University of Cape Town must admit and reject publicly the legitimacy of post­1994 TRC as a process that, among many things, was tasked with addressing the legacy of political violence (and facilitating constructive reconciliation of communities in conflict). Is restorative justice reserved for powerful whites or when they are involved in political violence? Or can it also be used to provide different forms of engagement for the disenfranchised and dispossessed? Is restorative justice a luxury or an option? While many student collectives, persons and organisations involved have taken particularly harsh positions on the South African TRC and its failings we must call upon those proponents, the University of Cape Town being of them, to step forward and demonstrate the capacity and potential for restorative justice in post­conflict societies and communities. The liberal institutions who laud these TRC processes must be put to the test, let us as a community see whether they are capable of living up to the rhetoric they readily prescribe for conflicts and political violence that exist beyond the comfort of the ivory tower. Sign this petition now and breathe life into the Shackville TRC. This petition will be handed over on June 15 to UCT council thereafter we collectively demand the announcement of the halting of the internal proceedings and the commissioning of the Shackville TRC to be announced appropriately on Youth Day 2016, June 16 by 5pm. The commission structure and its terms of reference will be collaboratively defined by Council and representatives of the charged and sentenced, including those adversely affected by the events before, during and after Shackville. We call on organisations and individuals who promote and endorse restorative justice to openly issue support for this process as we look to turn a new chapter on the Student Uprisings of the 2015/2016 generation. Please email [email protected] for further letters of support

Reform of Library and Petition By-Laws Consequences of the reforms being advocated: • Creating a process for citizen inititatives to be heard • Improving direct democracy in the city For the full proposed Petitions By-Law, please see Annexure A For the full proposed Library By-Law, please see Annexure B http://asri.org.za/sign-the-petition-for-public-library-and-by-law-reform-in-johannesburg/