By Liesl H Muller | Attorney, Statelessness Project
This week we commemorate the children of the African continent – many of whom live and survive unaccompanied across state lines in Africa. Some of these children are heads of households; some are migrating alone; some are trafficked; some are refugees; but ALL deserve better.
One of Africa's activists for the rights of the child, Benyam Mezmur, rightly says: “Children are tired of being the future. They want their rights now!”
Our children are indeed our future, but they are also entitled to their rights immediately – which are being threatened daily, more so now that the COVID19 pandemic is making children less visible in community life, but more at risk of rights violations.
LHR has been paying attention to this specifically during this difficult time. Although our offices are closed under lockdown in South Africa, we continue to work together with our partners to make sure that children's rights are protected.
More than 70 million people are reported to be forcibly displaced today, a higher figure than ever before in the world. 52% of those are children. This means that millions of children are trying to survive in places other than their places of origin; without primary caregivers; in a world which gets more scary every day.
LHR is committed to seeing the African child flourish. Our recent cases are aimed at improving the family life and home security of children in South Africa. We’d like to highlight the following two cases which focus on improving the lives of children by improving their security and access to family life and documentation. Use the hyperlinks for the original press releases. JOIN US to support children!
______________________________________________
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), representing the Centre for Child Law (CCL), filed an application with the Constitutional Court asking the court to fix a historical wrong done to both children and fathers in South Africa.
Like many other previously colonised countries South Africa inherited a narrow and outdated concept of fatherhood in our laws. This has left children stateless and fathers uninvolved, because the law considers them to be less equal than those who are born within, or raise children within, a marriage.
Currently, The Births and Deaths Registration Act (the BDR Act) and its regulations make it impossible for unmarried fathers to register the births of their children, if born outside of wedlock, leading inevitably to statelessness.
A stateless child is a child who is not considered to be a citizen of any country in the world. The BDR Act makes it impossible for an unmarried father to register their own child, where the mother is not present, unable, or undocumented. Not only does the child suffer the inevitability of statelessness, but also the indignity of not being called by their father’s name – should they so wish. The Makhanda court found, on appeal, that such a provision is unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Court now has the opportunity to decide whether it agrees with the appeal court, whether all children indeed have the right to a name and a nationality from birth, regardless of the marital status or gender of their parent.
“The judgment, if confirmed by the Constitutional Court, will change the face of fatherhood in South Africa. It will return dignity to those who, although they were no longer called ‘illegitimate’, still suffer its stigma under outdated laws. Every child has the right to a name. And every child has the right to acquire a nationality from either parent regardless of their sex or gender. It will empower our fathers to be present in their children’s lives” Liesl Muller, head of the LHR Statelessness Project.
The LHR Statelessness Project provides legal assistance to such children living in South Africa. Watch the story of Nozi, our client, who fought bravely with her dad for her to be registered as a citizen in South Africa here . For the CCL’s press release click here.
This agreement is a significant milestone following protracted litigation and ongoing negotiations between the Lesetlheng community and Pilanesberg Platinum Mine.
In 2014, PPM who has mining rights, brought an application to evict certain members of the Lesetlheng community from the farm where they had farmed for more than a century. Thereafter, the High Court in Mafikeng granted an interdict against PPM, preventing it from continuing with mining operations on the Wilgespruit farm. Notwithstanding appeals by PPM being successful in both the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Constitutional Court, on 24 October 2018, overturned the High Court order that had been awarded to PPM to evict the community members from the farm. The ConCourt held that mines can no longer rely only on their mining right to displace any person or community from their land. The ConCourt essentially directed PPM and the Lesetlheng community to engage and negotiate a settlement.
This was a significant victory for all communities who host mines on their land and also affects mining companies who plan to apply for mining rights. While this problem has affected individual landowners, many communities have also lost their land rights in the past, often without any compensation. It is difficult to separate the apartheid land laws, the role of the traditional authority, and more specifically, their relationship with the mines from why these communities cannot receive real benefits from mining.
This agreement is unique in many respects and is a rare example of what can be achieved, if there is true intent from a mining company to build meaningful partnerships with community landowners, in order to benefit both parties over the long term from mining activities.
The settlement not only provides for significant monetary compensation to resettle community members from the Wilgespruit farm, where mining will commence, but also includes a transparent and fair procurement model, together with a progressive Social and Labour Plan, that will certainly benefit both the mine and the broader community.
Community members in their individual capacities are party to the agreement and not the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela Tribal Authority.
“These days community members affected by mining are in a much better position to obtain procurement contracts and have real financial benefit, especially in rural areas where a lack of economic opportunities drive people to informal settlements in cities” says Louise du Plessis from Lawyers from Human Rights, acting for certain members of the community.
Community voices have expressed their satisfaction and have said that although negotiations were not always easy, they are excited by the opportunities this will create for their community, as well as for other mining-affected communities, involved in similar negotiations with mining companies.
Erich Clarke CEO of PPM commented:
“We have travelled a long road together and I am pleased that this agreement enables both the mine and the community to realise future benefits. We look forward to converting words into action to deliver demonstrable value to our communities and broader stakeholders. We see this as a victory for all parties and a historical milestone for our industry”.
In conclusion, it is hoped that this agreement will be used as a roadmap for the participation with interested parties and for the benefit of all.
_____________________________________________________
To the children of Africa, we are with you. We stand with you, we fight for you, and we commit to prioritise you, always.
_____________________________________________________
Links:
By Liesl Muller | Attorney
By Liesl Muller | Attorney
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser