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On 22 March 2024, SERI’s Lauren Royston participated in an online panel discussion on “Housing justice: securing affordable inner-city homes through retrofitting” jointly hosted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Architecture Sans Frontieres (ASF-UK). Lauren spoke on a panel alongside Sifiso Mtimunye (1to1 Agency of Engagement), Ricardo Moretti (Universidade de Brasília), Saskia O'Hara (Public Interest Law Centre - PILC), Beatrice De Carli (ASF-UK). Alexandre Apsan Frediani from IIED moderated the discussion. About 76 people attended the virtual panel discussion.

The panellists discussed the issue of housing justice from their local perspectives (South Africa, Brazil, and the United Kingdom), as well as the precarious living circumstances of low-income households, and their struggles to access housing in the cities.

Lauren discussed the legal framework for housing access in South Africa, the history that necessitated such a legal framework, and the key problems that affect access to housing in the inner city of Johannesburg for poor households. In particular, she argued that the inner city is plagued by very little urban and building management even in cases where people have been relocated to temporary alternative accommodation, recalcitrance and non-compliance with court orders, social stigmatization and discrimination against foreign nationals, and the reliance on pejorative terms that further stigmatise and criminalise low-income inner-city residents in occupied buildings. She argued for a range of interventions that could help address the inner city crisis, namely:

• That basic services to all emergency temporary accommodation be provided;
• Vacant buildings be audited;
• Buildings be categorised similarly to how informal settlements for upgrading are,
• Relocation takes place in due course and carried out in consultation with residents, and 
• Buildings are incrementally upgraded.

Beatrice De Carli of ASF-UK also discussed some of the collaborative work that ASF-UK did in the aftermath of the Usindiso Building fire of August 2023 with 1to1 Agency of Engagement, including the development of a new guide entitled, "Our Right to Adequate Housing" which is available in English and Sotho (with IsiZulu forthcoming).  SERI, Inner City Federation (ICF), Inner City Resource Centre (ICRC), and 1to1 participated in a peer-learning workshop hosted by ASF-UK in September 2023, which resulted in the new housing guide.

On 18 March 2024, SERI’s Jason Brickhill participated in a panel discussion on “Human Rights Law and xenophobia” hosted by the Human Rights Committee of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates at Thulamela Chambers. Jason spoke alongside Andrew Chinnah (a human rights activist), Candice Pillay (from Norton Rose Fulbright), and Nabeelah Mia (from Lawyers for Human Rights).

The panellists discussed a range of issues and challenges faced by migrants in South Africa. These include the rise and institutionalisation of xenophobia, the emergence of openly xenophobic groups such as Operation Dudula, and the treatment of migrants following the Usindiso building fire in August 2023. 

Jason Brickhill also answered some questions about SERI's submission on the White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection; the case on behalf of Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF), Inner City Federation (ICF) and Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) against Operation Dudula and various state bodies; SERI's role in the Commission of Inquiry into the fire at the Usindiso Building, as well as the way the victims of the Usindiso Fire (who are represented by Norton Rose Fulbright) have been treated since the fire, including being forcibly removed from shelter and some being detained.

About 40 people attended the event.

On Friday, 15 March 2024, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), Inner City Federation (ICF) and Abahlali baseMjondolo made a submission to the Department of Human Settlements on the White Paper on Human Settlements in line with its call for comment issued on 18 December 2023.

Overall, SERI, ICF and Abahlali welcome the housing rights framing in the General Principles of the White Paper, and support the positions on prioritising informal settlement upgrading and on rental housing, as well as the assertion that rapid land release is a pro-active mechanism for pre-empting occupations. However, as noted in the submission, SERI, ICF and Abahlali raise several concerns and offered recommendations for changes. These concerns include:

• The consultation process, the notice period in particular, has been flawed, leading to an inability on the part of organisations to consult with their members and constituencies.
• People need to be centred in the White Paper, and the measures taken to secure a home, in the context of unrelenting poverty, should be identified and acknowledged, in order to treat people with the respect and dignity deserving of all human beings.
• The historical review in the White Paper is incomplete.
• The White Paper's problem statement is underdeveloped.
• The housing rights commitment is not followed through and in some places is subverted.
• The White Paper does not develop an analysis of women’s unequal access to housing rights and as a result women’s equal access is inadequately treated in the proposals.
• The White Paper is silent on the rights of migrants.

Finally, SERI, ICF and Abahlali submit that the White Paper is incomplete in its rights framing, especially with regard to land and tenure rights, and rights to basic services, which all fit within the ambit of “human settlements”, as defined in the White Paper.

• Access the submission here.

On 7 March 2024, SERI participated in a Dialogue on the Rights of Domestic Workers in terms of the amendments made to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 (COIDA). The dialogue was hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), in collaboration with the Women Legal Centre (WLC). SERI's Asenati Tukela, Qobo Ningiza, Yongeza Mbimbi participated in the dialogue on behalf of SERI.

The dialogue was facilitated by Chriscy Blouws of the WLC, who also opened the event with introductory remarks that provided the background of the domestic work sector in South Africa. SERI’s attorney, Asenati Tukela shared the background of the Mahlangu case and provided an overview of the developments in the law regarding domestic workers and their protections in the workplace, in particular, the COIDA amendments and the implications of the litigation. Izwi Domestic Workers Alliance's Maggie Mthombeni and Pinky Mashiane from United Domestic Workers of South Africa (UDWOSA) were also in attendance and they shared their insights on the working conditions of domestic workers in South Africa and the continued human rights violations that they face in the workplace.

Harry Maphologela and Vusi Zwane from the Compensation Fund also participated in the dialogue. They provided an overview of what the COIDA claims process entails and gave guidance on available reporting and accountability avenues should the claims process fail either domestic workers or their employers. The roundtable ended with an undertaking by the participants to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to advance the interests of domestic workers.