This week — Life Esidimeni families march for justice, tracking SA's energy profiteers, a Palestine solidarity protest

On Monday, 28 October 2024 at 8am the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign will host a protest outside the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town in support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed an application at the International Court of Justice instituting proceedings concerning Israel’s violations of its obligations under the “Genocide Convention” with its war on Gaza.

While public hearings were held at the Hague in early 2024, Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has continued and at least 42,924 people have been killed since October 2023.

Now, South Africa will be filing its memorial to the International Court of Justice to try to provide facts and evidence that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in Palestine.

Several actors in civil society will gather in Cape Town to support the submission.

 Venue: Cape Town High Court, Keerom Street, Cape Town

Time: 8am-9am



On Tuesday, 29 October the Life Esidimeni Family Committee and Members will march to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) offices in Pretoria to hand over a memorandum for accountability for the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

In 2016, 144 people with mental health problems died after they were moved from Life Esidimeni, a highly specialised, long-term psychiatric care hospital, to ill-equipped and unlicensed NGOs and community care facilities in one of the biggest human rights infringements in democratic South Africa. On 10 July 2024, Judge Mmonoa Teffo found that former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and mental health director Makgabo Manemela could be held criminally liable for the deaths of some of the 144 mental healthcare users. Join the families as they march for accountability and justice for the victims of the tragedy.

WHEN: Tuesday 29 October, 2024 

Starting Point: Church Square, Pretoria

Time:  9.30am



On Tuesday, 29 October, the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition will host a hybrid event tackling the right to adequate food in urban and peri-urban areas: achievements, challenges and way forward.

“The event aims to emphasise the integration of the right to food and the right to the city in all measures addressing food insecurity in urban and peri-urban contexts, advocating for equitable, sustainable, and resilient food systems through multilevel governance and human rights-based approaches,” the panel said.

Register to join the discussion online at this link.



Also on Tuesday, 29 October, at 5.30 pm, the Nelson Mandela Foundation will launch an exhibition called Our Shared Humanity in Action.

The exhibition will reflect on the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid which the General Assembly established to keep the racial policies of the South African government under review. The committee worked to promote the international campaign against apartheid to press for effective international sanctions against the regime. 

Former Department of International Relations and Cooperation minister Dr Naledi Pandor, anti-apartheid activist Ambassador Abdul Minty and department Director-General Zane Dangor will speak at the exhibition launch.

Venue: Nelson Mandela Foundation — 107 Central Street, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg

RSVP to [email protected] 



On Tuesday, 29 October and Wednesday, 30 October, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria will hear the Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrant’s case on the R370 Social Relief of Distress grant.

The hearing aims to address the barriers preventing people from accessing the grant and challenge the unconstitutional rolling back of the benefit due to the state’s failure to adjust its value or means-test threshold for inflation.

#PayTheGrant and the institute will gather outside the court from 8am onwards in solidarity to demand fair social assistance.



On Wednesday, 30 October at 12 pm, Open Secrets will host an online discussion unveiling the organisation's new tool — the PowerMapper.

The interactive tool profiles the “power players” who profit from the climate crisis and the transition to renewable energy.

Open Secrets campaigner Letlhogonolo Letshele will be joined by investigators Michael Marchant and Zen Mathe, and they will demonstrate how the PowerMapper can be used to identify and profile the key private entities driving the coal, gas, oil, and renewable energy sectors.

Register to join the discussion at this link.