The Democratic Alliance will request a Justice Portfolio Committee meeting with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), where they must explain exactly what their "collaboration" to "furtherance of human rights against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic" entails.
In the SAHRC rejection of our 15 July 2020 statement, the Commission states "the South African Human Rights Commission Act obliges the Commission to make recommendations to and advise organs of states at all levels of government". Making recommendations and advising organs of state is a far cry from collaborating with these organs. Collaboration implies a deeper relationship that does exceed the SAHRC's mandate and deserves sharper scrutiny and oversight, especially in light of the gross human rights violations that have already occurred during the Covid-19 lockdown.
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