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  • Media Bill Goes Too Far – ANC MP

    The African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament, Ben Turok, has urged his party to make the press ombudsman more transparent and accountable to the public rather than impose a media tribunal.

    Speaking during a Mail&Guardian Critical Thinking Forum debate on media freedom in Cape Town, Turok said that the Protection of Information Bill ‘goes too far’ and that the proposed media appeals tribunal is not the solution.

    He further said that suggestions that ANC is a one-party state that is overwhelmingly in favour of the tribunal are not true, adding that some colleagues within the ruling party agree with him that the solution lay in beefing up the ombudsman, the media's self-regulating mechanism.

    To read the article titled, “ANC MP says info Bill goes too far,” click here.

    Source: 
    Mail&Guardian

  • Activating for Change

    On 21 March this year, we commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Sharpville where 69 people lost their lives activating for change in apartheid South Africa. We took a good look at how our current environment calls us to social action once again and how local heroes across South Africa are putting their energy into bringing about change in their communities.

    In Sharpville in 1960, the police killed 69 unarmed civilians and injured 180 others who refused to carry the dompas identity document. Now recognised as Human Rights Day, 21 March is a commemoration - to make sure that we never again see protesters for human rights so brutally silenced.

    It reminds us that the voices of communities have a right to be heard. It teaches us that we should not live in fear of reprisal for raising our concerns about the state of our world.

    Challenges

    Our government currently faces a number of serious challenges interlinked with the delivery of services. The scale and range of issues is complex. Infrastructure development, food security, energy supply and access to water are but a few.

    Pravin Gordhan’s Budget 2010 speech indicates renewed government commitment to service delivery at the local level, improving the resourcing of education, generating jobs and expanding critical health services. The pressure is on to deliver on the fundamental promise of our young democracy: a better life for all.

    In achieving a democracy, many of our citizens handed over responsibility for their communities to the state, thereby absolving themselves of any contribution to a movement for change.

    A turning tide

    But the tide seems to be turning. Service delivery protests have sprung up all over South Africa with increasing frequency over the past three years. At the end of October 2009, Municipal IQ – which monitors data on municipalities across the country – reported that 83 major service delivery protests had been recorded on its website. Considering that there are only 231 municipalities in South Africa, this means that conditions are dire in at least a quarter of communities.

    Speaking out

    But it is also a demonstration of the number of community based groups that are beginning to speak out around their needs and to put their energy into bringing about change in their communities.

    While the Treatment Action Campaign – itself a social movement - was able to leverage a national platform to articulate its demand for improved access to antiretrovirals, the majority of social protests in South Africa are taking place in small rural or peri-urban locations, sharing a common focus on improved service delivery.

    Understanding community activism

    Community activism is markedly different to more formally structured organised activity. Some key characteristics are:
    • It involves multiple stakeholders drawn from a diversity of locations.
    • One does not have to be a recognised leader in your community to get involved.
    • Community activism is fundamentally rooted in participation. It harnesses social capital to make things happen. Social movements such as these are almost always under-resourced in every way, except for their people power.
    • It organises on the basis of a vision of change. There is a problem; and there is a solution to that problem.
    • It calls for action rather than speculation or deliberation.
    • It is often structured through campaigns or lobbying activities.
    • It is more focussed on outcomes than profile.

    Local heroes

    Every community presents infinite possibilities as to how we can become involved as social activists, as local heroes. Any action to improve our communities for the better, counts. So on 21 March this year, make a promise to yourself to become involved in community action to bring about change.

    Explore Community Development organisations.

    - This article has been prepared by the Greater Good South Africa (GGSA). The article first appeared in the GreaterGood News and it is published here with the permission from GGSA, the first online social marketplace for people who want to make a difference.

  • Advocating for Sex Workers’ Rights

    On 3 March 2001, a gathering organised by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Calcutta-based group consisting of over 50 000 sex workers and members of their communities, was held in India. The result of this gathering subsequently led to sex worker groups across the world celebrating 3 March as International Sex Workers' Rights Day.

    The Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT)1 and Sisonke2 celebrated this day not only with sex workers but also with those who support the rights of sex workers. The aim of the day was for sex workers to come together and share their positive and negative experiences of their work, as well as building solidarity with other movements.

    All aspects of sex work are criminalised in South Africa. The criminalisation of the industry increases the vulnerability of sex workers to violence and exploitation, by forcing sex workers further underground, hindering access to health and legal services and increasing the stigma attached to the work. In a qualitative research project done by SWEAT (2005), the majority of the sex workers interviewed expressed a need for non-judgemental spaces where they could talk. The criminalised status of sex work results in the marginalisation and stigmatisation of sex workers. Creating safe spaces is not only therapeutic but also creates opportunities for learning.

    Sex workers have reported to SWEAT, and studies have documented the mistreatment and abuse of sex workers when they are arrested. “I was beaten and pepper sprayed,” reported one sex worker. 3Stacey-Leigh Manoek, an attorney from the Women’s Legal Centre, made a presentation on the rights of sex workers when they are arrested at the International Sex Worker Rights Day hosted by SWEAT. The aim of her presentation was to empower sex workers to know their rights and what they should do when their rights are violated, especially at the time of arrest. Many sex workers attending this event were not aware that the use of force is only required if a person is resisting arrest and that force should be minimal. Sex workers have mentioned excessive use of force by officers like being beaten and pepper sprayed when they were already in the police vans.

    The International Sex Worker Rights Day is commemorated by sex workers across the world. Sex workers in Cape Town learnt about the struggles of sex workers from India, Cambodia, Korea, Europe, Kenya, Australia, United States of America and Brazil. The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective (NZPC) sent a letter of support and solidarity to the event in Cape Town. New Zealand is currently the only country where sex work is decriminalised. In the letter, NZPC mentioned some of the positive things that have emerged from this new law.

    “Under the Health and Safety clauses of our law, sex workers, clients and operators can be fined for not using condoms for all penetrative sexual activities. The fine is larger for the operator who is expected to promote safer sex at the brothel and have information that the client can see. A client ripped off his condom and ejaculated inside her. She was brave enough to report him to the police who tracked him down and he was sent to court, found guilty and his name was published in the newspaper. We were proud to support the worker through this process”4.
     
    Sex workers from Cape Town also sent the NZPC a letter sharing their experiences of working under a criminalised system and some of the challenges that they face.

    “In South Africa HIV/AIDS is a big thing and it is hurting many people including those in this industry. The fact that your laws make it illegal for clients to ask for unprotected sex is something that we would like to have. The reality that we are faced with daily is clients offering us more money for unprotected sex, with some of our peers falling for this, which has dire consequences for them”5.
     
    With the FIFA World Cup less than 100 days away, sex workers in South Africa are very concerned about their ability to work and earn a living during that time frame. At a recent consultation6 meeting on HIV and AIDS, “Sex Work and the 2010 Soccer World Cup”, sex workers raised the following concerns:
    • Being arrested for the World Cup period and being kept in jail;
    • More gangsters on the streets and being mugged and an increase in violence.
    Some of their dreams for the World Cup are:
    • More clients, more money, more foreign currency and making connections for future work;
    • If sex work conditions improve for the World Cup then sex work conditions will be better for the future;
    • The World Cup should benefit all and not just some.
    The most rational approach to sex work in South Africa would be to decriminalise the industry. This approach would protect tourists and sex workers, while freeing up police resources to deal with other more pressing issues such as violence, hooliganism, robbery and other genuine and significant crimes. Unfortunately, the South African law reform process has been very slow and it is most unlikely that the out-dated laws on sex work will change before the World Cup starts. In the absence of decriminalisation, sex workers and civil society groups have called for a moratorium on sex worker harassment and arrests by police. This strategy should, they say, be implemented in conjunction with public health messages and campaigns.
    • 1. The Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) is a non-profit organisation started in 1994 to promote the health and human rights of sex workers.
    • 2. A South African sex worker led movement, which was started in 2003.
    • 3. Male sex worker, December 2009.
    • 4. Anna a sex worker from New Zealand in letter to sex workers in Cape Town.
    • 5. Cape Town Peer educators, segment to letter to NZPC 2010.
    • 6. SWEAT and The South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) held a joint consultation in November 2009 on HIV/AIDS, sex work and the 2010 soccer World Cup. The meeting was attended by sex worker organisations, human rights advocates, public health researchers, government and the media.
    - Dianne Massawe is Research and Knowledge Management Officer at Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce.
    Author(s): 
    Dianne Massawe

  • Residents Warn Municipality on Service Delivery

    The Merafong Demarcation Forum in Khutsong has warned the mayor and his councillors to deliver or leave.

    Speaking to Khutsong residents over the weekend, the forum’s leader Jomo Mogale, who led Khutsong into a demarcation battle with the government, argues that, “Khutsong needs a mayor. The present mayor was imposed on us.”

    Mogale blames mayor Papi Molokwane for the lack of service delivery, awarding of contracts ‘to friends and relatives’ and alleged nepotism in the municipality.

    To read the article titled, “Khutsong officials must ‘shape up or ship out’,” click here

    Source: 
    Sowetan
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