Promoting Human Rights & Rule of Law in South Africa

Cases

SALC works with local lawyers and civil society organisations to litigate cases further human rights and rule of law in domestic courts. See below our ongoing and completed cases.

Ongoing Cases

South Africa/Zimbabwe: Challenging the NPA’s Refusal to Act in Terms of the ICC Act

In 2008, SALC submitted a dossier to the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) containing comprehensive evidence of the involvement of eighteen Zimbabwean security officials in perpetrating torture, and requested the NPA and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to initiate an investigation. The NPA has an obligation to investigate cases of alleged international crimes under the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act. South Africa is » Read More

Zambia: Activist defends right to freedom of expression

SALC is providing legal support in the case of People v Kasonkomona. Paul Kasonkomona is a respected HIV activist and National Coordinator of Engender Rights-Zambia. On 7 April 2013 Kasonkomona was arrested outside Muvi TV station after he appeared on a television programme. As a guest on the programme Kasonkomona argued that the rights of sexual minorities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT) and sex workers, should be recognised in » Read More

Zambia: Two men accused of "carnal knowledge against the order of nature"

SALC is supporting the defence of two Zambian men who have been charged under section 155 of the Zambian Penal Code. In terms of section 155 of the Penal Code, any person who (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or (c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him against the order of nature; commits a felony and is liable, upon conviction, to » Read More

Zambia: Individual Charged Under False News Provisions

SALC is providing legal support in the case of People v Hichilema. Hakainde Hichilema has been charged under sections 67(1) & (2) of the Penal Code Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia. Section 67 states: (1) Any person who publishes, whether orally or in writing or otherwise, any statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace, knowing or having » Read More

Zambia: Right to food for HIV-positive prisoners

SALC is working with the Legal Resources Foundation in Zambia challenging the right of HIV-positive prisoners on treatment to adequate food. The case is being brought by two individuals—one currently incarcerated in Lusaka Central Prison and the other a former prisoner at the Lusaka Central Prison. They are alleging that they only get two meals a day which makes it impossible for them to take their treatment in violation of » Read More

Lesotho: Women’s right to chieftainship

On 16 May 2013, the Lesotho High Court, sitting as the Constitutional Court, upheld section 10 of the Chieftainship Act of 1968 which denies all daughters the right to succeed to chieftainship. The case was brought by Senate Masupha, the first-born child of a chief. She argued that denying her the ability to succeed to chieftainship solely due to her gender violated her constitutional rights to equality and freedom from » Read More

Namibia: Coerced Sterilisation of HIV-Positive Women

SALC is working with the Namibia Women's Health Network and the Legal Assistance Centre to challenge the coerced sterilisation of three HIV-positive women at public hospitals in Namibia. In July 2012, the High Court held that all three women were subjected to coerced sterilisation in violation of their fundamental rights and were thus due compensation. The Court found that there was not adequate evidence to prove that the coerced sterilisation » Read More

Botswana: High Court challenge to refusal to register LGBT organisation

In March 2013, fourteen individuals filed a case before the High Court of Botswana, asking the court to review the decision by the Director of Civil and National Registration and the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs to refuse to register the organisation, Lesbians, Gays and Bi-sexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO). The Applicants are represented by Unity Dow, a well-known human rights lawyer. The case is supported by the Southern Africa Litigation » Read More

South Africa/Rwanda: Challenging the grant of asylum to alleged perpetrators of war crimes

This case concerns the judicial review of the decision of the South African authorities to grant refugee status to a former Rwandan general and suspected war criminal, Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, in June 2010. This case is being brought by the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) and is supported by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC). This case has its genesis in a legal briefing paper submitted by CoRMSA and » Read More

Zimbabwe: Assisting sex workers to hold police accountable for abuse

SALC is working with the Sexual Rights Centre in Bulawayo to act on and litigate in cases of police abuse of sex workers. The intention is to hold the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the responsible Minister and individual police officers accountable for abuse perpetrated against sex workers. In August 2013, a civil case was filed in the Bulawayo High Court on behalf of a woman who was assaulted » Read More

Malawi: Mandatory HIV testing of alleged sex workers

In November 2009, police in Mwanza arrested alleged sex workers, eventually charging them under section 192 of the Malawi Penal Code for ‘spreading disease’. These women were subjected to mandatory HIV tests and their HIV status was subsequently disclosed in open court proceedings. The case was brought by 11 women who sought a judicial review of the actions of the police, hospital and court in Mwanza district, arguing that their » Read More

Malawi: Strengthening the Writ of Habeas Corpus

SALC is using the writ of habeas corpus to challenge Malawi’s authority to detain. The applicant, Mavuto Anthony, has been detained for 5 years without a trial. He has been denied bail on a number of occasions. The writ of habeas corpus is rarely used in Malawi and in cases where it has courts have tended not to view illegal detention as enough to justify release. It is hoped that this » Read More

Completed Cases

Botswana: Women's Inheritance Rights Under Customary Law

SALC supported a case in Botswana before the High Court challenging a customary law rule which provides only for male inheritance of the family home.The case was an appeal from a decision of the Customary Court of Appeal finding that under customary law, women could not inherit the family home due to their gender. In a landmark ruling, the Court held that the customary law rule infringed the right to equality » Read More

Zambia: Mandatory HIV Testing of Military Employees

In May 2010, the High Court in Livingstone found that both petitioners, Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole, were subjected to HIV testing without their informed consent in violation of their rights to privacy and to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment, and that they were entitled to damages. The case brought by Kingaipe and Chookole, former employees of the Zambian Air Force (ZAF) alleged that not only were they subjected » Read More

South Africa: The Constitutionality of the Confidentiality Provisions in the South African Refugees Act

SALC was admitted as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Constitutional Court matter, Mail and Guardian Media Limited and others v Chipu NO and others. On 27 September 2013, the Court ruled that section 21(5) was unconstitutional as it was an unjustifiable limitation of the right to freedom of expression. In a unanimous judgment Judge Zondo suspended the invalidity for two years to enable Parliament to correct the » Read More

Malawi: Protecting Rights of Same-Sex Couple

Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested on 28 December 2009 and charged with violating sections 153 and 156 of Malawi’s Penal Code prohibiting carnal knowledge against the order of nature and gross indecency between males. They had held a traditional engagement ceremony two days prior to their arrest, a fact which was widely reported in the local press. The Magistrate found the couple guilty of both offenses and sentenced them » Read More

African Court: Request for Advisory Opinion on Suspension of SADC Tribunal

On 23 November 2012, SALC and the Pan African Lawyers Union filed a request for an advisory opinion at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The request asks the Court to use its advisory powers to determine whether the suspension of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal by the region’s leaders was legal or not. Request-for-Advisory-Opinion-before-AfCHPR Frequently Asked Questions » Read More

Malawi: Right to Bail for Terminally Ill Remandees

The case law in Malawi deemed that bail should only be granted in cases of terminal illness and only if the illness could not reasonably be managed in prison. It also dictated that bail should be granted only for terminally ill detainees, who contracted their illnesses before they were imprisoned, but not if the illness occurred in prison. SALC challenged this precedent on behalf of Chimwemwe Mphembedzu who at 15 was » Read More