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This week — Discussing the just energy transition, justice for Listeriosis victims and the African Transitional Justice Forum

This week — Discussing the just energy transition, justice for Listeriosis victims and the African Transitional Justice Forum
Takudzwa Pongweni
By Takudzwa Pongweni
9 Sep 2024
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Commemorating World Suicide Prevention Day, discussing where women stand in land reform, and the ongoing fight for justice for Listeriosis victims.

On Monday, 9 September at 4pm, the Public Affairs Research Institute will launch a new report titled “Transitions: the role of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in South Africa’s just energy transition” by Thokozani Chilenga-Butao and Waseem Holland.

“Pari is launching a new report on the role of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in South Africa’s just energy transition. The energy transition is an ongoing but contested process. The department is an integral part of this process, given its role as policymaker and regulator of the mineral resources and energy sectors. Following the formation of the Government of National Unity in June 2024, the department has been split into the Mineral Resources and Petroleum, and Electricity and Energy Departments respectively.

“Based on our research, we will present findings that are relevant for government departments, stakeholders in the mining, energy and electricity sectors; sector experts and civil society organisations.

At this launch, we wish to engage in wider conversation:


  • How can we build consensus for a just energy transition?

  • How can various institutions participate towards realising it.”


Speakers include Lebogang Mulaisi, COO, Presidential Climate Commission Victor Munnik, Research Associate, groundWork/Wits University and Thokozani Chilenga-Butao, Pari Research Associate/Lecturer in Political Studies (Wits University).

Register to attend on Zoom: rebrand.ly/rsqa6ye

Register to attend in Joburg: rebrand.ly/itb39f6  



On Tuesday, 10 September at 9.30am, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) will host press briefing for World Suicide Prevention Day. 

Speakers include Zane Wilson, Sadag founder, Zamo Mbele, clinical psychologist, Roshni Parbhoo-Seetha, project manager, Professor Katherine Sorsdahl, and Marion Scher, journalist and author. The briefing will focus on suicide contagion, evidence-based interventions and teen suicide statistics from schools. This will take place at Sadag’s head office, 322 Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia Close Office Park, Block E, Rivonia, Johannesburg.

RSVP via email: [email protected] or via this link.



Also on Tuesday, at 1pm, Natural Justice will host a webinar for environmental lawyers and civil society across Africa titled “Defending Ancestral Lands: the plight of Indigenous Communities in Africa”.

Speakers include: Dr Willem Odendaal, programme office for Natural Justice Namibia, Lebani Mazhani, founding partner of Mazhani Law, and Roger Mavungu Kama, executive secretary of Dynamique pour le Droit, la Démocratie et le Développement Durable. 

Register here: https://bit.ly/4cYe5X8 



Also on Tuesday, Ubuntu 2024, a joint conference between The Network: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) and Rural Wonca (The Working Party on Rural Practice), is bringing together the TUFH 2024 Annual Conference for TUFH. 

This conference will take place from Tuesday to Friday and is being co-hosted by five partners in Cape Town, South Africa: University of the Western Cape; University of Cape Town; Stellenbosch University; Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and the Department of Health and Wellness – Western Cape government.

 It has been named Ubuntu 2024, referring to the meaning of Ubuntu: “I am, because you are,” and will be a fully hybrid conference taking place at the University of the Western Cape main campus and online.

“Ubuntu 2024 will be an international, intersectoral, and intergenerational in-person and virtual conference, bringing together academic organisations and global rural health providers into a single event,” read the website page for the event. 

There will be keynotes, interactive workshops, oral presentations, and ubuntu documentaries.

Check out the programme at a glance here.



Also on Tuesday, at 6pm,  Maverick Citizen journalist Lerato Mutsila will be joined by human rights activist Mark Heywood and senior associate at Richard Spoor Inc Attorneys Thamsanqa Malusi, for a Daily Maverick Live Journalism Webinar, titled The Human Cost of an Outbreak: A fight for justice for Listeriosis victims.

“For more than six years over 1,000 victims of the listeriosis tragedy have been struggling to pick up the pieces after the deadly outbreak irreversibly changed their lives. With new developments in Richard Spoor Incorporated Attorney’s (RSI) class action lawsuit against Tiger Brands, calls for justice have been renewed, and the victims are demanding compensation from the company,” reads the webinar description. 

Register here.



On Wednesday, 11 September, at 9am the 8th edition of the African Transitional Justice Forum begins. The theme is: Transitional Justice and Education in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges for Peace, Resilience, and Sustainable Development.

Join here:  https://bit.ly/3Xu1VAR 



Also on Wednesday, at 2pm, Rosa Luxemburg Southern Africa will discuss democracy in the context of post-apartheid State Capture and anti-constitutional ideologies in South Africa with Dale McKinley. 

“Dale T. McKinley holds a PhD in International Political Economy/African Studies. Author of several books, Dale has written and researched widely on various aspects of South African and international political, social and economic issues and struggles. He is an independent writer, researcher, lecturer and a long-time political activist. He is a regular public speaker, contributor as well as commentator in the media,” reads the event poster. 

This will be a hybrid event, taking place at 237 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg, and on Zoom. 

Register to attend online here.

RSVP for onsite attendance: [email protected]/ [email protected]



On Thursday, 12 September, at 9.30am the Legal Resources Centre will launch its latest publication on Where Women Stand in Land Reform. 

This will take place in Polokwane and virtually.

Register here.



Also on Thursday, the Legal Resources Centre returns to the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, representing Khula Community Development Project and three schools, demanding the Department of Education and Transport address outstanding scholar transport applications and ensure safe access to education.

“Children face dangerous journeys to school daily, with families forced to choose between transport and essentials. We’re fighting for a catch-up plan and ongoing accountability. Join us in court as we stand up for our youths’ right to safe, accessible education.”



Also on Thursday, at 5pm, the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics will host the Annual Steve Biko Bioethics Lecture, to ber delivered by Russell Rensburg. The lecture is titled ​​”Lost to Follow Up: TB in South Africa – Translating the Obligation to Take Legal and Other Measures to Realise the Right to Health.”

“Russell Rensburg is a health activist working towards equitable access to quality health care for rural communities and serves as the division director at Rural Health Advocacy Project, a division of the Wits Health Consortium. He has more than 20 years of experience working in strengthening health systems, with eight of those spent managing technical assistance in Eastern Africa and South Africa. He has a strong interest in strengthening the responsiveness of public finance allocation processes towards advancing the realisation of constitutionally enshrined socio-economic rights.

“He has served as a commissioner on the South Africa Lancet Commission for quality health systems, as well on the ministerial team tasked with the development of the National Human Resources for Health Strategy 2030. He is a founding member of the Budget Justice Coalition and a member of the advisory panel of the Public Economics project at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits,” reads the event poster. 

This will take place on Zoom, register here.



On Friday, 13 September, at 2pm, the Centre for African Studies will host a colloquium titled “Engaged Insurgent Scholarship: The life and work of Lungisile Ntsebeza”. 

“This colloquium celebrates a special issue of the journal Review of African Political Economy, honouring the life and work of leading African scholar-activist, former director of the Centre for African Studies, Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza. Ntsebeza’s work has prominently featured in debates on the land question, rural local government and social movements in South Africa and Africa more broadly. Ntsebeza’s work has not only been academic. He has used his research on land and rural governance to inform and support the daily struggles of communities in different parts of South Africa and the continent,” reads the event poster.

This will take place at the Centre for African Studies Gallery, Harry Oppenheimer Institute Building, University of South Africa. 

Speakers include Horman Chitonge, Peter Lawrence, Andrew Nash, Fred Hendricks, Mercia Andrews, and  Fani Ncapayi.

RSVP to: [email protected] 

Attend online here. DM

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