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On 1 September 2025, the Daily Maverick published an op-ed co-authored by SERI's Nolwazi Mahlangu, together with Andiswa Mpahleni and Susan Mkhwanazi from the Slovo Park informal settlement, entitled "Delayed upgrading in Slovo Park endangers women and children." The op-ed highlights the everyday dangers women face in Slovo Park informal settlement due to the lack of basic services like water and sanitation, despite a 2016 court order mandating the state's upgrading of the area. The piece argues that the conditions in Slovo Park are not just service delivery failures but point to urgent human rights violations, disproportionately affecting women.

>> Access the full article here.

Sunday, 31 August 2025, marked two years since the fire at the Usindiso Building in Marshalltown. The fire claimed the lives of 76 people, including 12 children, and left dozens of people severely injured, destitute, and displaced. In response, the Gauteng Premier established a Commission of Inquiry into the fire (“the Commission”) which retired Justice Sisi Khampepe chaired. On this, the second anniversary of the fire, SERI continues to mourn the victims whose lives were claimed by the fire and calls for justice for the survivors, whose lives have been disrupted and who continue to live with the memories of that tragic night.

The Commission’s Terms of Reference split the Commission's assignment into two parts, colloquially referred to as Part (i) and Part (ii). Part (i) of the Commission’s proceedings focused specifically on the circumstances surrounding the fire at the Usindiso Building. Part (ii) concerned a more systematic investigation into the circumstances surrounding similarly situated buildings in Johannesburg’s inner city. Part (i) commenced in October 2023 and Part (ii) in June 2024. The report and recommendations for Part (i) were made public in May 2024. The Commission concluded its work in June 2025 with the submission of its final report to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. To our knowledge, the report on Part (ii) of the Commission is yet to be made public. We also see no progress with the implementation of Part (i) recommendations.sa

Part (i) of the Commission found that the building, which had become derelict, was owned by the City of Johannesburg (the City) and managed by Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) and was abandoned by the City and JPC at least since 2019. The Commission found, therefore, that the City and its entities, including the JPC, must bear partial responsibility and/or accountability for the tragedy. The Commission also found that the consequences of the fire would have been mitigated had the City complied with its legal obligations as owner and local authority responsible for the enforcement of by-laws.

The commission made several recommendations, including that the City consider erecting a plaque at an appropriate place in recognition of those who lost their lives; create a coordinated system for effective service delivery to protect City residents from harm; and that for the survivors, psychological support continue to be provided, and that the Department of Home Affairs provide assistance concerning lost documents. The Commission also recommended that the Mayor of the City of Johannesburg and the JPC Board consider disciplinary action for a range of key figures, including the then JPC CEO Helen Botes, and that the JPC Board undergo an independent process to allocate responsibility and liability for the contraventions of national laws and by-laws, referring its officials for criminal investigation where necessary.

Upon the release of the Commission’s first report, Premier Lesufi announced that he would establish a joint implementation committee for the purpose of following through with the Commission’s recommendations. On the first anniversary of the Commission’s establishment, SERI wrote an open letter to the Honourable Premier requesting information about the progress that has been made concerning the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, urging that doing so would be important for ensuring that the lives lost in that fire were not lost in vain. One year later, we are yet to receive a response.

The systematic investigation in terms of Part (ii) saw the Commission inspecting more than one hundred inner city buildings and hearing evidence of dozens of witnesses, including officials, inner city residents, and experts. The Commission was required to submit a final report on its work in terms of Part (ii) to the Gauteng Premier Lesufi by 30 June 2025, which it duly did.

SERI is concerned about the lack of visible progress with Part (i) recommendations and a now two-month delay on publishing the Part (ii) report, and the implications of the delay for attaining justice. The anniversary of the Usindiso fire follows on from the 13^th anniversary of the Marikana massacre, for which the question of justice continues to loom large. Both the Usindiso Building tragedy and the Marikana massacre show that the lives of poor people are characterised by precarious living and working conditions that can cost them their lives. Both tragic events exemplify how structural violence is enabled by state neglect or defended with lethal force by the state, respectively.

On this occasion, we call on the Premier to make the Part (ii) report of the Commission public and urge that implementation of the Part (i) recommendations be prioritised as a matter of urgency. The fire and its ramifications hit at the heart of the housing crisis in South Africa, especially Johannesburg’s inner city. The victims and survivors of the Usindiso fire deserve justice and the dignity of all inner-city occupiers ought to be restored.

Contact details:

• Osmond Mngomezulu, SERI attorney, Osmond[at]seri-sa.org / 082 590 8826.
• Nomzamo Zondo, SERI executive director: Nomzamo[at]seri-sa.org / 071 301 9676.
• Lauren Royston, SERI director of research and advocacy: Lauren[at]seri-sa.org.

• Download the statement here.
• Access part (ii) of the Commission report here.

Saturday, 16 August 2025, will mark thirteen years since the Marikana massacre, which took place in 2012. Justice remains out of reach. No prosecutions have been issued for the mineworkers who were killed on the 16^th of August 2012. Neither has anyone been held to account for the physical and psychological injuries suffered by many more. Without bringing prosecutions for the massacre of 16 August 2012, the state continues to fail the families of the deceased and the survivors of the massacre.

Forty-four people were killed between 12 and 16 August, including 34 mineworkers who were massacred by the police on the 16^th of August. According to the Farlam Commission of Inquiry report, police fired over 300 rounds of live ammunition over an eight to twelve second period at ‘scene 1’ where 16 mineworkers died. Police then pursued the fleeing mineworkers into the surrounding rocky area and killed another 17 at ‘scene 2’, having fired 295 rounds of ammunition. Fourteen of the 17 died on the scene. Although police are found to have tampered with the crime scene, at least ten of those killed at scene 2 appeared to be seeking refuge, while others found appeared to have been killed while fleeing. The report details how, despite being present, paramedics were not allowed to administer care to the mineworkers at scene 1 for about an hour and medical attention to scene 2 was also delayed.

In addition to the deaths, at least another 78 of the miners were severely injured and approximately 250 arrested. Despite repeated assurances of its commitment to dealing with the criminal proceedings relating to the deaths at Marikana, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has failed to prosecute anyone for the deaths of mineworkers arising from the events of 16 August 2012.

To date, the NPA has only prosecuted nine police officers, some in relation to the events of 13 August 2012 and others concerning the circumstances surrounding of one of the deaths from the massacre. In 2021, former North West Deputy Police Commissioner Major-General Mpembe, along with officers Gideon van Zyl, Dingaan Madoda and Oupa Pule were acquitted in the matter relating to the death of mineworker Mr. Modisaotsile van Wyk Sagalala, one of the 34 mineworkers shot at ‘scene 2’ on 16 August 2012 who died while handcuffed at the back of a police truck. The South African Police Service had testified at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry that Mr. Sagalala died at the Andrew Saffie hospital instead. In a separate case that was concluded in September 2024, the High Court acquitted six officers (Mpembe, retired Colonel Salmon Johannes Vermaak and officers Nkosana Mguye, Masilo Mogale, Katlego Joseph Sekgweleya, and Khazamola Phillip Makhubela), for their role in the events of 13 August 2012. These events resulted in the deaths of three mineworkers (Mr. Semi Jokanisi, Mr. Thembelakhe Mati and Mr. Pumzile Sokanyile) as well as two police officers (Warrant Officer Tsietsi Hendrik Monene, and Warrant Officer Sello Ronnie Lepaauku).  

The two trials that concluded in 2021 and 2024 sat sporadically and were slow-moving. They have been the closest that the families have come to learning the true details about the deaths of their loved ones and obtaining some form of closure. Both failed prosecutions have shown the corrosive impact that the passage of time has had on the strength of the state’s cases, which means that further delays in prosecutions is to deny the families justice and an opportunity to see those implicated being held to account.

In 2023, the NPA issued a statement detailing various personnel and resource constraints as reasons for their failure to prosecute the Marikana case. However, two more years have passed, and the families and survivors of the massacre have still not seen any progress concerning prosecutions for the massacre of 16 August 2012. Following the acquittals in 2024, the families were told that the NPA would consider an appeal but have heard nothing since. This inaction reflects a lack of commitment to ensuring the families obtain justice for the deaths of their loved ones. Over the years several family members have died before seeing any meaningful form of accountability.

Aside from justice for the families, prosecutions for the massacre are consistent with South Africa’s international obligations concerning victims of gross human rights violations, of which the Marikana massacre is emblematic. According to the United Nation’s Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy adopted by the General Assembly in 2005, the South African government has an obligation to:

• Investigate violations effectively, promptly, thoroughly, and impartially, and prosecute those responsible;
• Ensure equal and effective access to justice for victims;
• Provide effective remedies to victims, including reparation.

SERI executive director, Nomzamo Zondo, has said that: “The failure to hold accountable those responsible for these deaths is a betrayal of the promise of justice. Not only does it dishonour the families of the deceased but erodes trust in our justice system." Marikana has arguably been the most politicised incident of police brutality since 1994. It has left permanent scars on our democracy.

SERI continues to mourn the deaths of those killed at Marikana in 2012. The families have sought accountability for the deaths of their loved ones for the past thirteen years. We urge the NPA to finally demonstrate its commitment to justice by issuing prosecutions for the deaths at Marikana without fear, favour or prejudice. As a country that abides by the rule of law, it is crucial that justice is administered equally and that the families and survivors of the massacre are given the opportunity to obtain closure.

Contact details:

• Asenati Tukela, SERI attorney: Asenati[at]seri-sa.org / 066 473 5182.
• Nomzamo Zondo, SERI executive director: Nomzamo[at]seri-sa.org / 071 301 9676.
• Thato Masiangoako, SERI researcher: Thato[at]seri-sa.org / 082 590 8973.

• Download the press statement here.

“Kubomvu!” is the warning that a lookout would sound on the arrival of police at one or other of the homes that had the misfortune of being subjected to frequent warrantless police searches. To the apartheid state, the oppressed majority had no privacy to be protected and no dignity to be respected.

- Madlanga J, 2013

On Friday, 25 July 2025, City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero, together with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, the South African Police Service, the Department of Home Affairs, and the Red Ants, conducted a raid at the Ginger Park informal settlement in Sandton, where some residents have reportedly lived for the past eight years. SERI condemns this raid as the latest in a long history of raids by the City to target and harass poor people to demonstrate strong, tough-on-crime governance. SERI notes that while crime is a serious concern that must be treated with urgency, we stand against the wholesale criminalisation of informal settlements and the people who live in them, especially when carried out for political point‑scoring.

According to the Mayor, the raid formed part of a phased process to remove the settlement, which in turn is influenced by an informal settlement eradication mind-set that went out of policy favour years ago. The plan involves removing unoccupied shacks first, then profiling South African nationals for alternative accommodation and finally “dealing with” undocumented migrants. The removal or demolition of any structure that constitutes someone's home, whether occupied or not, can only be done upon the authority of a valid court order obtained after considering the life circumstances of those to be affected.

In an interview with SABC News, the Mayor made reference to a court order, the contents of which are not explained. The execution of a court-ordered eviction must be supervised by the sheriff of the court, who must be present during such eviction and may only be assisted by individuals authorised by the court. It appears that there was no sheriff present at the raid on Ginger Park, which is required in terms of Section 4(11) of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act of 1998. This would make the validity of the court orders referred to by the Mayor questionable.

In the same interview with the SABC, the Mayor stated that “the central objective is to get rid of informal settlements.” In response to a question about whether the City would continue with raids before alternative accommodation for affected informal settlement residents would be secured, the Mayor said,

“No, we will continue to do the raids. We must see them. […] The thing we are doing here is to just tell the residents [of Johannesburg] we are acting. We are dealing with lawlessness in Johannesburg. We are enforcing the law – by-law enforcement, crime prevention. That is basically what we are doing and we are going to do it and we are not going to shy away. All other issues that we may not have prepared on time will find us on the way.”

Both the events at Ginger Park and the Mayor’s rationale are problematic for a number of reasons, including disjuncture with national policy, an apparent lack of awareness about why informal settlements exist in the first place and the unconstitutionality of warrantless raids.

The Mayor’s comments illustrate a disconnection with national human settlements policy. Since 2009, the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) has rightfully and gradually shifted away from informal settlement eradication in favour of in situ upgrading. This shift took years of advocacy, litigation and civil society pressure to achieve. Many people lost their homes in the process. Now, the Mayor espouses eradication. What happened in Ginger Park demonstrates an approach that fails to understand the nature and causes of the housing crisis, of which informal settlements are a symptom.

Informal settlement is the outcome of several factors for which landless people bear an unjust burden. Informal settlements are, in part, a product of South Africa’s long history of land dispossession under colonialism and later apartheid. Although the middle class and propertied public tire of reference to this cause, history has cast a long shadow for the majority of people who live in South Africa without secure land tenure, let alone access to property. Secondly, South Africa is not insulated from global urbanisation trends. The United Nations estimated that in 2018, it was estimated that 1 billion people live in informal settlements. The International Budget Partnership (IBP) estimates that in South Africa, more than 5 million people live in informal settlements. In 2023, 68% of the South African population lived in urban areas, however, it is projected to increase to 70% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. Finally, informal settlements are also partly the result of a chronic lack of affordable, well-located housing in urban areas, itself a factor of insufficient subsidised and private housing delivery.  Analysis by Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group shows that people earning the national minimum wage (R28,79 per hour) spend between 34-55% on transport each month. Informal settlements are home to people who resort to unlawful occupation often because they are unable to access affordable housing options in areas that offer proximity to essential services, employment opportunities, and social amenities. The concept of informal settlement eradication is therefore not only unrealistic, but it also fails to comprehend root causes.

In 2021, the Constitutional Court found that a series of unlawful raids under then-Mayor Herman Mashaba were unconstitutional and egregious, showing no consideration for the residents’ rights to privacy and dignity. The court held that these raids “were conducted for an ulterior purpose, which is an abuse of power indicating wanton and calculated disregard of the law by the City and a predacious, mechanical scheme to terrorise and forcibly evict suspected unlawful occupiers, under the guise of restoring public order.” The Mayor’s comments about the purpose of the raid at Ginger Park echo the sentiments and actions addressed by the Constitutional Court in 2021. Furthermore, the use of raids and forced removals were instrumental in implementing the apartheid vision, resulting in a legacy of spatial inequality across the country, but especially in South Africa’s cities.

Our opening quote by Justice Madlanga refers to a 2013 case before the Constitutional Court about the use of state machinery against black people under apartheid continuing against the poor and marginalised in South Africa today. It is shameful that our municipality continues to do so in 2025.

SERI cautions the City against repeating past violations in service to its wealthy and propertied residents and for political gain. We affirm that the poor must be treated with dignity and afforded the privacy to which everyone is entitled. We urge the City to refrain from using raids to target impoverished people and call upon it, instead, to use intelligence-led and evidence-based policing and to develop and, more significantly, implement a housing strategy that prioritises the needs and rights of its vulnerable residents, including its informal settlement residents who are as much a part of the City as anyone else.

Contact details:

• Nkosinathi Sithole, SERI Director of Litigation: Nkosinathi[at]seri-sa.org / 082 589 7473.
• Lauren Royston, SERI Director of Research and Advocacy: Lauren[at]seri-sa.org.

• Download the press statement here.