Grantee Directory

Government told not to 'misuse' data from new Covid-19 grant recipients

3 days ago

"If personal information is compromised, it can be used to steal grant money or make unauthorised or unlawful deductions from social grants" – Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker, national advocacy manager at Black Sash. The group has warned that there must be heightened vigilance against the possibility of any misuse of the personal information of grant applicants and beneficiaries. HeraldLIVE - Port Elizabeth has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

www.heraldlive.co.za

The protection of personal information of the vulnerable people who have applied for - and been approved for - the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant should be paramount

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Court victory for “invisible, undocumented children”

4 days ago

Unwed fathers will soon be able to register the births of their children without the mother being present or giving consent. The matter was initially raised by Legal Resources Centre and Centre for Child Law, in a “public interest” application against the Minister and Director-General of Home Affairs. GroundUp has more on this court victory. ... See MoreSee Less

www.groundup.org.za

Fathers to be able to register the births of their children without the mother being present or giving consent

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Legal Resources Centre threatens City with court action over Ocean View evictions

4 days ago

Ocean View residents whose homes were destroyed by law enforcement have approached Legal Resources Centre for assistance. The Centre has since threatened to take the City to court for unlawful eviction of residents. IOL News reports below. ... See MoreSee Less

www.iol.co.za

The LRC said the land on which residents’ homes were erected was owned by the Ocean View Development Trust.

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Please join these important Africa Day webinars

5 days ago

Tomorrow kicks off a three-day Africa Month public symposium under the theme “Africa’s innovations in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Five webinars will be run between Wednesday 27 May and Friday 29 May, as a collaboration between the African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), UCT Convocation and the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance (NMSPG).

OSF-SA Executive Director, Bulelwa Ngewana will feature as a panelist. Visit the link below for more information. ... See MoreSee Less

www.news.uct.ac.za

VC Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng invites the UCT community join this year’s important Africa Day webinars.

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Kathrada Foundation recommends govt should setup a COVID-19 corruption tribunal

5 days ago

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, an OSF-SA grantee, has recommended that the government set up a Covid-19 corruption tribunal. The Foundation hopes that this will tackle any wrongdoing linked to the misappropriation of resources meant to help South Africans during the pandemic. Eyewitness News has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

ewn.co.za

Civil society organisations have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa saying they want clear details of how the R500 billion stimulus package is being used and where the money is going.

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OPEN SECRETS: UNACCOUNTABLE: Thales — how to buy a country

6 days ago

The latest installement in the Open Secrets ZA "Unnacountable" series, dives deeper into profiling the corporations implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. This Daily Maverick article zooms in on the company at the heart of Jacob Zuma’s Arms Deal corruption scandal, Thales. ... See MoreSee Less

www.dailymaverick.co.za

This week Open Secrets publishes the second in a series of profiles on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. This week we focus on the company at the heart of Zuma’s Arms Deal corruption scandal and the co-accused in their corruption tria...

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The controversial Strandfontein shelter shows the importance of monitoring womxn’s rights during a crisis - The Mail & Guardian

6 days ago

"Independent monitoring to ensure that womxn’s rights are protected is particularly important in a time of crisis” – Charlene May, lawyer at Women's Legal Centre. The organisation believes that the City of Cape Town failed in its responsibility at the Strandfontein shelter, after weeks of controversy over its poor health and social conditions. Mail & Guardian has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

mg.co.za

Our government’s Covid-19 response and regulations must be subject to stringent monitoring to ensure womxn’s safety and security. This is why the Women’s Legal Centre will be an amicus curae in the case between the City of Cape Town and the SAHRC

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Alitheia IDF secures $10m from Open Society Foundation to lend to women

6 days ago

Open Society Foundations have invested $10 million in privately-owned equity fund Alitheia IDF. The investments will be used to fund various sectors that are led by women entrepreneurs engaging in activities such as distribution, production, and consumption, in parts of West and Southern Africa. ... See MoreSee Less

www.techinafrica.com

Alitheia IDF, a privately-owned equity fund, has secured a $10 million funding from Open Society Foundations. The joint venture fund between Nigeria's Alitheia Capital and South Africa’s IDF Capital funds companies spread across West Africa as

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Democracy must not be silent victim of pandemic urge global leaders

1 week ago

Open Society Foundations president, Patrick Gaspard, has joined 28 global leaders and the Kofi Annan Foundation, in signing an open letter calling on governments and civil society to ensure democracy does not become the silent victim of the coronavirus pandemic. ... See MoreSee Less

www.dispatchlive.co.za

As extraordinary measures to fight Covid-19 prevail around the world, the Kofi Annan Foundation, alongside 28 global leaders, have published an open letter calling on governments and civil society to ensure democracy does not become the silent victim of the coronavirus pandemic. The Kofi Annan Found...

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Fears that amendments to CoCT by-law will target homeless

1 week ago

Ndifuna Ukwazi has made a formal submission opposing the City of Cape Town's proposal to amend its Streets, Public Places and Prevention of Noise Nuisances by-law, highlighting that the amendments would unfairly target people who lived in public spaces, like the homeless. Eyewitness News has more on the group's concerns. ... See MoreSee Less

ewn.co.za

The amendments would allow an authorised individual to conduct search and seizure operations without a warrant under certain circumstances.

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"Immigrants are living in fear and hunger" - NGOs | All4Women

1 week ago

Poor immigrants in South Africa are living in fear and hunger under lockdown. “These are among the most vulnerable people in our society. These people have no form of income as a result of the lockdown because they depend on the informal economy to survive." – Consortium for Refugees and Migrants South Africa (CoRMSA). The organisation has highlighted government’s exclusionary lockdown regulations as a contributing factor. www.all4women.co.za has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

www.all4women.co.za

About 5% of their beneficiaries are undocumented immigrants who live in fear of xenophobic attacks even for the simple act of accepting free food.

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A comprehensive guide and toolkit to accessing Covid-19 relief funds

1 week ago

A partnership between IOL News and Women's Legal Centre has seen the release of a comprehensive information booklet and toolkit to assist the public with access to Covid-19 relief funding. The booklet unpacks key relief measures including the Special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant, the UIF Temporary Relief Scheme (TERS), SMME Debt Relief Scheme, the Tourism Relief Fund and the Solidarity Fund. Download it at the link. ... See MoreSee Less

www.iol.co.za

IOL has partnered with the Women's Legal Centre to bring you this comprehensive information booklet and toolkit to help you access Covid-19 relief funding.

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Women's Legal Centre questions motive behind City of Cape Town's proposed by-law amendments

1 week ago

The Women's Legal Centre has submitted an 18-page document detailing objections to the City of Cape Town's controversial draft amendment to the Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances by-law, warning that the amendments are "intended to authorise Law Enforcement from ordering “unsavoury” persons to leave a particular “affluent” area should they be viewed as contravening the by-law. " IOL News has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

www.iol.co.za

The Women's Legal Centre is concerned that proposed amendments to the City of Cape Town's Streets, Public Places and Prevention of Noise Nuisances by-laws may just be a way of keeping "unsavoury" people out of affluent areas.

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OPEN LETTER: Call for Covid-19 ‘people’s vaccine’ to be free and available to all

1 week ago

President of Open Society Foundations, Patrick Gaspard, joined more than 140 world leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, in signing an open letter calling on all governments to unite behind a ‘people’s vaccine’ against Covid-19. Daily Maverick unpacks the importance behind this movement. ... See MoreSee Less

www.dailymaverick.co.za

More than 140 world leaders, including South Africa’s President and African Union Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa, have signed an open letter calling on all governments to unite behind a ‘people’s vaccine’ against Covid-19, saying it is the best hope of putting a stop to the global pandemic. The...

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'Relax the regulations': small businesses in fight for survival

1 week ago

“The services provided by these informal traders are no different to those provided by conventional retail stores that offer the same essential goods to their customers." Legal Resources Centre has challenged a decision by Cape Town to prohibit informal traders operating during the lockdown. Times LIVE has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

www.timeslive.co.za

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) is challenging a decision by the City of Cape Town to prohibit informal traders operating during the lockdown

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Domestic workers want recognition for Covid-19 relief benefits

2 weeks ago

SA’s domestic workers have called on the government for access to Covid-19 relief benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA (SERI) has since made recommendations to Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping, and the National Coronavirus Command Council, seeking a declaration for domestic workers as UIF contributors. BusinessLIVE has more details. ... See MoreSee Less

www.businesslive.co.za

Unions and other bodies want domestic workers, for whom the pandemic has had a devastating effect, recognised by the UIF

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One in five informal settlement residents has no access to water – study

2 weeks ago

“The lack of oversight, lack of urgency in responding to service delivery needs of people in informal settlements, and a poor manner in which the sanitation service in informal settlements was being coordinated by many Cities was shocking" – Nontando-Zintle Ngamlana, executive director at our grantee Afesis-corplan. The group were involved in a study conducted by #Asivikelane, to shine a spotlight on the daunting state of access to water and sanitation in informal settlements across the country. ... See MoreSee Less

citizen.co.za

There were also a lack of toilets and maintenance in Cape Town, Johannesburg and eThekwini.

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Water Wars Webinar: Covid-19: Exposing a water crisis in the making

2 weeks ago

One in three people in South Africa have no access to safe or reliable water supplies. A recent webinar on water rights hosted by Amnesty International South Africa and Daily Maverick, asked members to add their names to Amnesty International’s petition to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, calling for plans to make access to safe, running water a reality. Daily Maverick has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

www.dailymaverick.co.za

The outbreak of coronavirus infections, and the rush to provide water to communities so they can wash their hands, should be a major wake-up call to the South African government, experts said during a Daily Maverick webinar on water in this country.

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Unemployed & Unpaid: Labour department urged to include unregistered domestic workers in UIF

2 weeks ago

Many domestic workers are unable to access Unemployment Insurance Funds because they were not registered by their employers. A recent letter sent to the Department of Employment and Labour by OSF-SA grantee, Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), called for domestic workers to be declared as UIF contributors to "enable them to benefit from the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) during the Covid-19 pandemic.” Daily Maverick unpacks the story further. ... See MoreSee Less

www.dailymaverick.co.za

Many domestic workers are unable to access Unemployment Insurance Funds because their employers didn’t register them for UIF. The Socio-Economic Rights Institute has written to the Department of Employment and Labour recommending that domestic workers be declared as UIF contributors.

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'That's when I realised I was going to get a hiding' - journalist on alleged ordeal with FS police

2 weeks ago

Following yet another altercation between SAPS and the media, OSF-SA grantee SAEditorsForum - SANEF, has emphasised the need for media protection. "We believe that journalists and the media at this level often experience more abuse than affluent, often more high-profile mainstream media – we thus must ensure their protection." News24.com has more details on the most recent incident. ... See MoreSee Less

m.news24.com

The police officers allegedly beat him and left him. He then went to the police station to lay an assault charge.

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Water shortages in SA are due to lack of foresight, not virus

2 weeks ago

OSF-SA grantee Amnesty International South Africa, teamed up with Daily Maverick to co-host an informative webinar on the right to water. The panel highlighted how the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed pre-existing inequalities in the country, including that government should have included water as a fundamental human right. The Citizen News has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

citizen.co.za

Covid-19 must be a call to action for government, said experts during a webinar on the right to water, co-hosted by Amnesty International South Africa and the Daily Maverick.

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2 weeks ago

The Africa Regional Foundations and the Africa Regional Office of the Open Society Foundations hosted an informative conversation on “Rethinking Social Policy in Africa” with regard to Covid-19. Watch the livestream below. ... See MoreSee Less

Video

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The need for speed in water licensing

2 weeks ago

The current time frame involved in the processing of a water use licence application in South Africa can take up to 300 days. Andiswa Matikinca investigates the data for #MineAlert, and unpacks the need for speed in water licensing. ... See MoreSee Less

bit.ly

The government is in the process of speeding up water use authorisations. What are the implications for water security? Andiswa Matikinca investigates the data

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FAKE NEWS | Reports about Chinese police stations opening in SA are bogus, and 2 years old

2 weeks ago

Recent reports about Chinese police stations opening in South Africa are false. This fake news story has resurfaced under Covid-19 fears, after it was debunked by our grantee Africa Check back in November 2018. News24.com has the full story. ... See MoreSee Less

www.news24.com

As the battle against the novel coronavirus intensifies, conspiracy theories and ignorance have flourished as fake news and bogus claims are lapped up by a gullible public.

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Toxic masks, inhaling steam and Chinese cop shops in SA - more coronavirus myths debunked

2 weeks ago

Life under lockdown continues to fuel the spread of fake news and false information about Covid-19. OSF-SA grantee Africa Check, have debunked the most recent myths about inhaling steam, toxic masks and herbal cures. News24.com unpacks the facts below. ... See MoreSee Less

www.news24.com

It seems that life under lockdown has created the perfect breeding ground for the spread of fake news, false information, hoaxes and scams about the novel coronavirus.