CALS Quarterly Issue 30
- Lee-Anne Gaertner
Read the latest issue of our quarterly newsletter and catch up on our recent highlights
CALS has had an eventful quarter, with appearances before the Constitutional Court and High Court, as well as submissions made to the South African Human Rights Commission and the United Nations.
At the end of November, the Civil and Political Justice programme appeared as a friend of the court in an appeal concerning the power of the South African Human Rights Commission to issue binding directives. CALS’ in-house counsel Jatheen Bhima argued that the Commission’s powers under the Constitution should be interpreted broadly, in line with international law, and that the Commission has a crucial role to play in realising the right to access remedies for victims of human rights violations.
In the Eastern Cape High Court, the Home, Land and Rural Democracy programme represented residents of three villages in an application against the Amathole District Municipality, calling on the local government to supply access to safe, sufficient water to their communities. The judge granted CALS’ application and ordered the Municipality to ensure the uninterrupted supply of free basic water to the villages.
In other news, the Environmental Justice programme made submissions before an inquiry run by the South African Human Rights Commission. Our comments focused on reforms needed to decriminalise and regulate artisanal mining. Recently, we also hosted this year’s short course on climate justice for women activists in partnership with Lawyers for Human Rights.
In October, the Business and Human Rights programme travelled to Geneva for the latest round of negotiations on the binding treaty on business and human rights. We made submissions on how to ensure corporate accountability under international law and, along with our partner organisations, we co-hosted side events on the need for a binding treaty in the context of the global rush for critical minerals, and exposing the collusion between big capital and the state.
Finally, CALS participated in a Litigation Learning Lab hosted in Brazil by our partners at Conectas Direitos Humanos, the Open Society Justice Initiative, Forum Asia and the Pan-African Lawyers Union. Sithuthukile Mkhize represented CALS and ran discussions on strategic litigation against public participation.
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