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16 APRIL 2012
Protection to victims of domestic violence has been extended significantly by the granting of a protection order to a learner at a school in Gauteng against her teacher.
Last week, a magistrate granted a final protection order to the learner who alleged that her teacher harassed, intimidated and physically and sexually abused her. The learner reported an alleged rape to the police late last year. The Gauteng Department of Education has placed the teacher on precautionary suspension. Since then, the teacher has attempted through harassment and intimidation to force the learner and her family not to pursue the case against him.
The magistrate held that the definition of “domestic relationship” in the Domestic Violence Act extends beyond the traditional relationship between husband and wife or parent and child and includes a relationship between a teacher and a learner. He accepted SECTION27’s argument that a teacher assumes parental responsibility for learners at the school at which he teaches. This relationship constitutes a domestic relationship and therefore the victim of any domestic violence as defined in the Domestic Violence Act would be entitled to a protection order against the perpetrator of such domestic violence.
This unprecedented decision is in keeping with the tenor and principles of the Domestic Violence Act, the Children’s Act, the Constitution and the protection of children against violence in international law. This is an important step in bringing legal assistance and protection to the hundreds of learners who are sexually abused by their teachers in this country and allows them to defend their rights without fear of intimidation or harassment.
The police, the Gauteng Department of Education and the South African Council for Educators are currently investigating the teacher concerned.
For more information please contact:
“ … a great deal has been accomplished. But a great deal remains to be done … this journey has only just begun. Yet millions of lives depend upon it.” — From the forward by Vuyiseka Dubula, Chairperson of the SECTION27 Board of Directors
SECTION27 is pleased to announce the publication of the “SECTION27 REVIEW”.
The “SECTION27 REVIEW” is available by clicking “Read more” below, or by contacting Tummy Seboko (by email at seboko@section27.org.za or by phone at 011 356 4100). The “SECTION27 REVIEW” reports on the work of SECTION27 from April 2010 to December 2011 and also assesses important aspects of the government’s compliance with its duties under section 27 of the South African Constitution. It features an introduction by the Executive Director, Mark Heywood, an organisational report, and essays by Mark Heywood, Adila Hassim and Jonathan Berger.
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The 7th meeting of the Budget and Expenditure Monitoring Forum was held on 21 and 22 November 2011 in Johannesburg. The purpose of the meeting was to develop a clear picture of where South Africa is at in terms of its financing, budgeting and expenditure for the response to HIV/AIDS. The key points of discussion and findings of the meeting were:
- The findings of the National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA), which amongst other things showed that South Africa spent more than R13 billion on the response to HIV/AIDS and TB in 2009/10. The meeting heard that while expenditure was on the increase this was inequitably spread between provinces with those provinces with the highest incidence rates often spending the least per person living with HIV.
- Provincial departments of health have consistently underspent on allocations for HIV/AIDS programmes over the last three years. Poor financial management, which results in unauthorized and irregular expenditure are then compounding this poor spending performance.
- Even though the costing of the NSP 2012-2016 has been the most complete to-date, full funding of the response to HIV/AIDS, TB and STIs will require detailed costings of provincial strategic and/or operational plans. These costings must then be integrated into provincial budget processes in order to ensure that allocations are based on achieving the targets outlined in the plans and are not made on an incremental basis.
- Funding for all social sector services, including health, are going to be severely constrained over the next three years due to the impact of the global economic crisis. Provision is being made, however, to ensure that sufficient resources are being made available for the response to HIV/AIDS. However, with the Global Fund cancelling round 11 this will not be the case for the rest of the region and many countries face the possibility of having their programmes collapse
- Overcoming the funding crisis will require a shift in the way in which we invest in health generally and HIV/AIDS more specifically. One possible mechanism would be to implement the New Investment Framework put forward by UNAIDS. Another would be the implementation of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) which could raise between 200 and 300 billion US$ for global development
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SECTION27, Sonke, the Equality Project and TAC feel compelled to make public our views on how those who participated in the process were unfairly attacked, how Justice Mogoeng’s responses did little to address our concerns and how the JSC failed to discharge its constitutional mandate. We do so primarily because of our commitment to ensuring that future interviews for judicial appointment – to all superior courts – are conducted in an open and accountable process. While important, live broadcasting alone cannot guarantee that this happens. The full press release is available at http://www.section27.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Joint_press_release_on_MM_-_201109061.pdf
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SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) welcome the release of the Green Paper on National Health Insurance (NHI) for public comment. As organisations committed to the realisation of the right of everyone to have access to health care services, as guaranteed in section 27 of the Constitution, we value the opportunity to participate in what appears to be a clearly defined and well-considered policy development and implementation process that is to be accompanied and underpinned by legislative reform.
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SECTION27, which was launched in May 2010, incorporates the AIDS Law Project (ALP), an organisation which for nearly a decade and a half pioneered litigation and advocacy regarding the rights of people living with HIV. In this new documentary three of the founders of SECTION27 – Mark Heywood, Adila Hassim and Jonathan Berger – talk about how law can and has been used to advance campaigns for the right to health and social justice more broadly.
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We are a range of organisations who campaign for the right to health, and/or who provide health care services to poor people who depend on the public health sector. We fully support the efforts of the government to improve health care services. We also support unions and their members who are at the front line of health care provision, and who justifiably try and draw attention to the difficult conditions in which most health care workers operate.
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On the 27th of May 2011 the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), a Ugandan NGO, and the families of two mothers who died in government hospitals in 2009 in Uganda approached the Ugandan Constitutional Court alleging the women’s deaths were caused as a direct result of Uganda’s failing healthcare system. The Constitutional Court will begin its hearing of this landmark case this Thursday on July 7th 2011. It is critical that you speak up for these women. Raise your voices in support of the right to health in Uganda, distribute this widely. Please send messages of support to CEHURD. E-mail info@cehurd.org or phone +256 414 532283
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Download the SECTION27 auditor’s report for the year ended 31 December 2010 (PDF 1345KB)
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After a very successful first year, SECTION27 has revised and updated its Prospectus to reflect its current activities, areas of work and vision. We have also completed a 30 minute film called Making Rights Real, that documents how SECTION27 (and our predecessor the ALP) have used the law, legal advocacy and litigation to advance human rights to HIV treatment, health and education in South Africa.
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Legal advice
Understanding NHI
