Media Statements

The Helen Suzman Foundation Makes Submissions On The amendments To The Regulations Relating To The Covid-19 Social Relief Of Distress Grant

The Helen Suzman Foundation (“HSF”) welcomes the amendments which make the Social Relief of Distress Grant (“SRDG”) more widely available to those in desperate need. Nevertheless, the HSF has submitted that the amendments be treated only as a step toward progressively realising permanent basic income support, on a fiscally sustainable basis, for South Africans who find themselves trapped outside of the labour market without an income of their own.

The Helen Suzman Foundation responds to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's call for submissions on the Magistrates Bill, 2022 and the Lower Courts Bill, 2022.

The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) has launched legal action challenging the decision of the Minister of Home Affairs to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP).

It is with the greatest sadness that we at the Helen Suzman Foundation announce the passing of our beloved administrator, Roshan Arnold.

The Helen Suzman Foundation, along with eight other civil society organisations, has called on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) not to proceed with any new interviews for judicial appointment until the JSC has in place a published code of conduct for commissioners and stipulated criteria to assess suitability of candidates for appointment.

In a submission to the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee, the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) has detailed its concerns with the Electoral Amendment Bill drafted to allow for the election of independent candidates.

SANEF in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism is hosting a series of webinars to accompany the relaunch of the Reporting the Courts manual. Tomorrow at 10:00, the Helen Suzman Foundation's Chelsea Ramsden will appear alongside Lawson Naidoo of CASAC and Zikhona Ndlebe of Judges Matter for a live discussion on the role of the judiciary and the office of the Chief Justice.

Protest at the degraded process that was the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) recent interviews for the Chief Justice position has been unscrupulously represented as opposition to the possible appointment of Justice Mandisa Maya as Chief Justice.

Tomorrow at 12:00, the Helen Suzman Foundation's Director, Nicole Fritz, will be participating in a live discussion with the Daily Maverick regarding the case of Manuel Chang.

In this press release, the Helen Suzman Foundation sets out the Constitutional Provisions governing the executive authority of the Republic of South Africa as applicable to the recent exchanges between the President and the Minister of Tourism.

On 7 January 2022, Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu published an article in which she launched an extraordinary attack on South Africa’s justice system, its Constitution, and the judiciary. Although authored in her personal capacity, Ms Sisulu’s public utterances, made as a member of the Executive and as a high-ranking member of the African National Congress, must be repudiated in the strongest terms.