SAHRC inquiry into Alex to start on Thursday
Updated | By Sibahle Motha
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has confirmed it will institute an inquiry into the protests that hit Alexandra, north of Johannesburg.
The announcement was made during a meeting between the city’s mayor Herman Mashaba and several councillors on Friday morning.
The commission’s chairperson in Gauteng, Buang Jones, said the inquiry will be apolitical.
“The reason for this is to try and depoliticize the issues and to get to the bottom of what are some of the concerns, and what the various government departments have done to address the genuine human rights issues that have been raised by the people of Alex.
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“The inquiry will focus on the provision of basic services, housing issues, sanitation and environmental degradation in Alexandra. We want to see what the different departments including the city have done to address the issues in Alexandra. It will be open to the public.
“On Monday and Tuesday, we’ll dispatch a team to Alex as part of an information gathering exercise so that we are better prepared for the public inquiry on Thursday. We want to take it away from the politicians and to solely focus on the genuine human rights concerns that are being raised.”
During his meeting with councillors, Mashaba presented the city’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) ahead of his visit to Alexandra on Monday.
Mashaba has not been to Alexandra to address the community since the protests began almost two weeks ago.
He has attributed other commitments for his unavailability.
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