The dreaded Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the world has already affected all aspects of our lives in ways that are not only still unfolding, but will be with us for a very long time. Coronavirus is spreading across the world at such a ferocious speed that globally almost 11 500 000 have been infected and over [...]
Bulelani Qolani was bathing yesterday when he was forcefully removed from his home in Khayelitsha by the anti-land invasion unit of the City of Cape Town. The only discernible difference between the dehumanising evictions that occurred under apartheid and what happened on Wednesday is that the latter was filmed and shared by thousands on social media. Officials' [...]
Attention Media Houses: For Immediate Release 02 July 2020 IJR Media Statement: Dehumanising Evictions in Khayelitsha The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) condemns the dehumanising evictions that have occurred in Khayelitsha over the last two days. In an especially callous incident, the anti-land invasion unit from the City of Cape Town forcefully removed an individual [...]
Against the backdrop of South Africa’s poor economic prognosis, the practice of forced labour is set to rise in the coming months and years. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made matters worse. Forced labour is a type of human trafficking, defined under the Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act. Other types of human trafficking [...]
Attention Media Houses: For Immediate Release 10 June 2020 Media Statement on the Passing of the President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) would like to express its condolences to the family, friends and compatriots of the outgoing President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza. The government of Burundi announced the passing of [...]
The Covid-19 pandemic revealed the deficiencies in international collaboration and multilateralism, a lack of preparedness and an effective coordinated global response. International organizations, including the UN and the World Health Organization, are dependent on the support and political will of member states. This webinar will discuss how the Post-Covid-19 world should focus on building a global [...]
The novel coronavirus pandemic, or COVID-19, has forced many of us inside our homes and asked of us to do something that does not come naturally to most human beings: stay away from each other. While social distancing- as it has come to be known- is crucial for curbing the spread of the virus and easing [...]
The excessive violence meted out to members of the public by soldiers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) over the past weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown is fuelling racial tensions in South Africa, especially online. Their modus operandi exudes the long-lasting trauma of a country built on violence and structural oppression. During the Covid-19 [...]
Efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 have seriously disrupted the economy, but it is informal workers who have been disproportionately affected. Not only has the government lockdown exposed how invisible the informal sector is to policymakers, but it has also created a moral dilemma for workers in that sector who must choose between abiding by [...]
One year ago, on Friday May 8, something happened that would be unthinkable today. More than 17-million South Africans lined up around the country, without any concern for physical distancing, to cast their vote in the elections. Those elections seem like a lifetime ago. So much has changed since then and it seems increasingly difficult to imagine [...]
