In October 1985, in an operation to arrest stone throwers, the Joint Operation Command consisting of the South African Police, South African Railway Police and South African Defense Force, disguised as railway workers, hid in crates on the back of a railway truck and ambushed the communities of Athlone and Crossroads. Five youths were killed and men, women, children and toddles were wounded in the operations known as the Trojan Horse Massacres.
Episode twelve is a little different to previous podcasts. We took this opportunity to review and celebrate the first 25 years of Human Rights Media Centre On the 15th of November HRMC celebrated it’s silver jubilee celebration at Community House join us as we share some excerpts from the event and an interview with Founder and Director Shirley Gunn by Haroon Gunn Salie in December 2025.
Episode Eleven delves into the challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers in exercising the right to work.
The right to work is entrenched in international human rights law. First introduced in the 1945 Charter of the United Nations, the right to work is recognised in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Episode ten focuses on the white paper on Immigration, Citizenship and Refugee Protection. This policy document, made public over a year ago, proposes major changes in the South African migration system that have far reaching consequences.
Episode nine unpacks the endless delays causing fear and uncertainty experienced by asylum seekers stuck in the appeals’ process. We speak to three asylum seekers, review Human Rights Media Centre’s 2018 qualitative research that focused on the plight of fourteen Rwandan asylum seekers, who were and are, seven years later, still stuck in the Department of Home Affairs’ appeals system.
Episode eight focuses on the Department of Home Affair’s assertion that refugees are a burden to South Africa. This is despite their small numbers, and the evidence showing that refugees and asylum seekers often make a positive contribution to the economy.
We can no longer accept the rhetoric that refugees are the problem: they are definitely part of the solution in addressing unemployment and poverty, and growing South Africa’s economy.
Episode seven focuses again on the White Paper circulated by the Department of Home Affairs. Many civil society organisations, including the Human Rights Media Centre, take strong issue with its intention. We consider it an outrage against the rights and human dignity of those who are forced to flee their homes. We aim to make this legal information accessible because the White Paper must be understood by everybody.