Sash joins 'Right2Know' campaign against Info Bill

The Black Sash has joined the 'Right to Know' campaign, endorsing a statement against the proposed Protection of Information Bill currently before Parliament. Over 190 civil society organisations and 400 prominent individuals have joined the campaign, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; writer and painter Breyten Breytenbach; Nobel literature laureate Nadine Gordimer; writer Andre Brink and our own Black Sash Trustee Mary Burton.

Speaking at the launch of the Right2Know campaign on Tuesday, 31 August 2010, Black Sash National Director Marcella Naidoo confirmed that civil society organisations were willing to take the fight over the proposed Bill all the way to the Constitutional Court should it be passed in its current form.

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Sash Chair contributes to roundtable on xenophobia

Black Sash Chairperson Sibongile Mkhabela took part in a roundtable discussion on xenophobia on 18 August 2010. The event - entitled 'Of Strangers and Outsiders: Overcoming Xenophobia' - was organised by the Helen Suzman Foundation, in association with The Open Society Foundation for South Africa. 

Researchers and experts on xenophobia grappled with this issue as they tried to explain some of the factors which triggered violent attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa in May 2008.

Other panellists included David Holdcroft (Country Director, Jesuit Refugee Service South Africa), Aubrey Matshiqi (Senior Research Associate, Centre for Policy Studies), Michael Neocosmos (Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape) and Tara Polzer (Senior Researcher, Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits)

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Black Sash National Director addresses Stellenbosch University on Women's Day

Developing your own voice is a critical step in becoming an agent of social change. This was the message delivered by Marcella Naidoo, National Director of the Black Sash, who was the main speaker at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Women’s Day celebration on Tuesday, 10th August 2010. The event was presented by the Office of Employment Equity and the Promotion of Diversity – as well as the Unit for Multiculturalism and Diversity (Division for Student Affairs) and the Gender Live and Learn House – which is part of the ‘live and learn houses’ initiative on campus to ensure greater cohesion among students.

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Sash takes part in KZN forum to promote access to information

The Black Sash has attended a high-level KZN provincial forum to discuss the effectiveness of PAIA (Promotion of Access to Information Act) in the province. Officials from the office of the KZN Premier, Limpopo PAIA provincial forum, KZN archives, the Mercury newspaper, South African Human Rights Council and the Departments of Sports and Health attended the meeting in Durban during March 2010. It emerged during the meeting that KwaZulu-Natal is the worst performing provice in terms of PAIA, with Limpopo scoring 100% last year.  

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