On Monday, 21 August from 9 am to 10:30 am, The Ethics Institute and the Whistleblower House are hosting a webinar: “Snitches get Stitches and end up in Ditches Complimentary”

“Join us in creating a culture where whistleblowers are appreciated for their contribution to transparency and accountability, and not victimised for having had the moral courage to call those involved in wrongdoing out,” the event brief reads.

“In this webinar, we will hear first-hand from Jóhannes Stefánsson, the whistleblower known as the source of the Fishrot Files about the damages he has, and still is, experiencing because of victimisation. Not only will we enquire about obvious detriments, but also about the moral injury he, and so many other whistleblowers, has endured. Could the victimisation Jóhannes and our South African whistleblowers experienced have been prevented? The answer is yes.” 

For more information contact 064 524 0241 or visit www.whistleblowerhouse.org 

Register here.

From Monday 21 to Tuesday 22 August from 9 am – 5 pm, the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Sociological Change and Practice sponsored by The SA Research Choir in Social Change is hosting an analysis “Can the BRICS change the world? Western-dominated, pro-corporate multilateralism is unable to resolve the poly-crisis”.

Both days will be hosted at the Kerzner School of Hospitality and Tourism at the UJ Bunting Road Campus.

An activist teach-in will precede protests near the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) bloc BRICS summit site on 23 August; details are on the BRICS from Below website.

From Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 August, BRICS Leaders are expected to attend the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa. The Summit will be hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre (SCC) in Johannesburg, Gauteng.

“BRICS Leaders will engage with business during the BRICS Business Forum and engage with the New Development Bank, BRICS Business Council, and other mechanisms during the Summit. South Africa will also continue its Outreach to Leaders from Africa and the global South and hold a BRICS Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue during the XV BRICS Summit,” 

Read more in Daily Maverick: The BRICS Summit in Johannesburg — everything you need to know

On Tuesday, 22 August 2023, Amnesty International South Africa and partners, the Ukrainian Association of South Africa and the Helen Suzman Foundation, “will hold a peaceful demonstration outside the Sandton Convention Centre where the 15th BRICS summit will be held, calling for a just peace to end the invasion of Ukraine and for the crackdown of anti-war protesters in Russia to stop,” the statement reads.

Venue: Innesfree Park, Harris St and Katherine St, Barlow Park, Sandton

For more information contact Genevieve Quintal, Media and Communications Officer, Amnesty International South Africa: +27 (0) 648 909 224; [email protected] or Anastasia Korpeso, Secretary, Ukrainian Association of South Africa: +27 (0) 762 365 824; [email protected]

On Tuesday, 22 August from 9 am to 4 pm, The Detention Justice Forum (DJF) invites you to the premier of the documentary I did not ask for this and a full-day symposium, titled “Rethinking Justice to Create Alternative Global Features.”

Venue: Ford Foundation, One-on-ninth, 19th street Melrose Estate, Johannesburg,2132

There are limited spaces available, RSVP: [email protected] 

To attend virtually click link here. 

From Tuesday 22 August to Friday 25 August at 6 pm, The Forge is hosting Pan-African Women dialogues

Venue: 87 De Korte street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg

The Forge invites you to join us for four days of radical women presented by historian Vashna Jagarnath.

22 August: Women’s Day: the History of Women’s Struggles in South Africa 23 August: Ida B Wells: Racism and the Suffragette Movement  

24 August: Claudia Jones: Black Marxist Feminism 

25 August: Emma Mashinini: Feminism in the Labour Movement 

On Tuesday 22 Augst, Plaas is hosting an academic seminar — The Promised Transformation: Mexican Coffee Policies During the Administration of President López Obrador.

Abstract

This thesis analyses Mexican coffee policies during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Amlo). It builds on approaches of state theories, agrarian political economy, and global value chain studies, and contributes to debates regarding the role of the state in small farmers’ livelihoods. 

Register here. 

Tuesday, 22 August is International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

According to the UN, “There are continuing acts of intolerance and violence based on religion or belief against individuals, including against persons belonging to religious communities and religious minorities around the world, and the number and intensity of such incidents, which are often of a criminal nature and may have international characteristics, are increasing.

“That is why the General Assembly adopted the resolution A/RES/73/296, titled “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief” strongly condemning continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities, on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief.”

Wednesday 23 August is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

According to Unesco, “International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is commemorated on 23 August each year. It was first celebrated in a number of countries, in particular in Haiti (23 August 1998) and Gorée Island in Senegal (23 August 1999).

“This International Day is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples. In accordance with the goals of the intercultural project “The Routes of Enslaved Peoples”, it should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions to which it has given rise between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.”

On Wednesday, 23 August at 5:30 pm The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, Defend Our Democracy and other civil organisations invite you to pay homage to Babita Deokaran on the 2nd anniversary of her assassination.

Venue: Mondeor Recreation Centre 

Please use the link to RSVP here.

From Wednesday 23 August – Thursday 24 August, Gauteng ECI Workgroup is hosting the 5th Gauteng Early Childhood Intervention Conference, taking place at Summer Place, Boksburg under the theme “Creating Early Childhood Intervention Together’”. The Conference is CPD accredited. Please note that your attendance will be confirmed via email. 

RSVP here.

On Thursday, 24 August fro 1 pm to 2:30 pm, Witwatersrand University’s Southern Centre for Inequality Studies and Public Economy Project are hosting a seminar on “Balancing Probity and Performance: Reflection on 20 years of democratic local government in South Africa”. 

The speaker will be Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University School of Public Policy, Tania Ajam. 

“Much research has already been devoted to local government in South Africa. The National Development Plan 2030 has not only generated a very comprehensive diagnostic but also a pathway to improving local administration and governance in practice. The (challenge) to date appears to be political will to implement them, not lack of research insight or an evidence basis. However, there is one area which has received comparatively little attention, and that is the need to balance probity, compliance and the stewardship of public funds and assets in municipalities, on the one hand, with the equally urgent imperative to improve performance of local government in fulfilling its developmental mandate.”

This event is both virtual and physical. Register here. 

North Lodge (seminar room), Parktown, Management Campus, 2 St Davids Place, Parktown, Johannesburg.

Cosas 4 trial begins Monday, 21 August

The Legal Resources Centre released a statement highlighting the significance of the Cosas 4 trial which will begin in Johannesburg on Monday 21 August. 

“Two former security branch officers, Christiaan Sebert Rorich and Thlomedi Ephraim Mfalapitsa, are accused of the murders of Eustice ‘Bimbo’ Madikela, Peter “Ntshingo” Matabane, Fanyana Nhlapo and the attempted murder of Zandisile Musi — known collectively as the “Cosas 4”.

The Cosas 4 were members of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), an anti-apartheid student organisation. They were lured and abducted, three of whom were then murdered by members of the South African Security Branch in 1982. The masterminds behind the killing of the Cosas 4 were refused amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1999, but the democratic state failed to hold them accountable.

The trial in the Johannesburg high court is both historical and significant — it will be the first time that charges under international law, specifically the crime against humanity of murder and the crime against humanity of apartheid, will be brought against two individuals in a South African court. It is also the first time that charges of the crime against humanity of apartheid are being brought anywhere in the world. These charges are being introduced under Section 232 of the Constitution, which recognises customary international law as law in the Republic, unless it is inconsistent with the Constitution or an Act of Parliament.

This trial is a historic opportunity to bring apartheid criminals to justice. It is also a landmark case that could set a precedent for future prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes. Find our full press release here and a factsheet,” the statement reads. DM