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Author Dr Dorcas Basimanyane is a development lawyer and legal scholar specialising in international trade and investments law, business and human rights, technology law and economic governance based at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence, Legal Pluralism, Corporate Accountability, Africa, Human Rights-Based Approach, Endogenous Governance.
Introduction
Global discourse on corporate accountability is witnessing a fundamental reorientation. For decades, the governance of transnational corporations (TNCs) regarding human rights and environmental standards was relegated to voluntary initiatives and the frequently indeterminate concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The limitations of this voluntarist approach have precipitated a decisive turn towards "hard law," as continued corporate impunity for environmental degradation, labour exploitation, and community displacement necessitates stricter regulation. The rapid proliferation global of Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (mHRDD) legislation epitomises this shift.
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By postdoctoral fellow Olayinka Adeniyi and Prof Ebenezer Durojaye of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
The availability of safe drinking water is key to understanding Africa’s water crisis. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme found that just 39% of Africans used safely managed drinking water in 2020, highlighting a huge disparity between Africa and better-served regions. The issue goes beyond rainfall and physical deprivation: weak infrastructure, poor service delivery, government problems and entrenched inequality decide who receives water, when and at what cost.
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This year, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (the Centre) commemorates the International Women’s Day in its 40th year of existence. For the women’s rights activists in the Centre, the mood is not so celebratory. Many are grappling with righteous rage. Following national and international news including current affairs leaves one at pains to choose where to direct one’s rage on any given day. Today, my righteous anger is targeted at the apparent impunity of men in power for the exploitation of women and girls as is evidenced in the Epstein files. Royalty, spiritual and wellness gurus, business and world leaders are implicated in maintaining communication and interactions with the convicted and sentenced sex offender even after his crimes had been exposed and successfully prosecuted.
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Many people are asking whether the war between Israel, the United States, and Iran affects Africa in any way. The answer is yes, and this piece will demonstrate how. The escalation of hostilities between these powers is not simply another distant conflict. Africa often suffers the consequences of wars in which it is not directly involved. At the same time, a sobering reality emerges we are living in an increasingly unsafe world dominated by advanced lethal weapons, ballistic missiles, and cyber warfare technologies that Africa remains decades behind in either possessing or understanding.
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By Ivy Gikonyo
In recent weeks, public attention in both Ghana and Kenya has been captured by disturbing allegations of a foreign national secretly recording intimate encounters with women and circulating those videos online. What might have been private, fleeting moments between consenting adults were transformed into viral spectacles without the knowledge or permission of the women involved.
Before anything else, it is important to draw a clear moral line. Choosing to spend time with someone, even in an intimate setting, does not cancel out one’s rights. Adults are allowed to make personal decisions (wise or unwise). None of those choices amount to consenting to be filmed in secret. None of them translate into permission to have one’s image and vulnerability distributed to strangers across messaging apps and social media feeds.
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By Tendai Mbanje
Citizens of Burkina Faso now endure life stripped of dignity, denied the rights to political participation, association, expression, and assembly. Under the self‑proclaimed pan‑Africanist Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the promise of liberation has curdled into repression. Once hailed as a defender of sovereignty, Traoré has become an oppressor to his own people, extinguishing freedoms and ruling through fear.
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By Michael Aboneka
Ugandans went to polls on 15 January 2026 and despite assurances by the Ministry of ICT and the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) that the internet would remain on, the government once again pulled the "kill switch" on 13 January 2026 with no legal justifications whatsoever. UCC in their communication noted that they received direction from the national security council to switch off the internet due to security reasons. Despite having It is clear that the 2026 shutdown was not just a political tactic; it was a systemic dismantling of the human rights that underpin a free society.
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UN reports that more than 300 incidents of government-enforced shutdowns have been recorded in over 54 countries in just the past two years
In the 21st century, democracy is meant to thrive on transparency, participation, and the free flow of information. Yet, a new cancer is eating away at its foundations: state-sponsored internet shutdowns. Once considered rare and extreme, these digital blackouts have become disturbingly routine. UNESCO reports that more than 300 incidents of government-enforced shutdowns have been recorded in over 54 countries in just the past two years. The year 2024 was the worst on record since monitoring began in 2016, and the trend has only worsened into 2026.
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By Lakshita Kanhiya, LLD Candidate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
A silence that is becoming harder to justify
For a country that frequently presents itself as a model democracy and a defender of the rule of law, Mauritius’ prolonged silence before Africa’s principal human rights body is increasingly difficult to explain. The State’s periodic report under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (and relevant protocols) has been due since 2024. While Mauritius prepared and submitted its 11th Periodic Report under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights covering the period from August 2020 to April 2024, it failed to appear before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission / Commission), the treaty body mandated to supervise the implementation of the provisions of the Charter to present it and engage in constructive dialogue with the Commission, so that the Commission can provide its feedback through issuing concluding observations. Mauritius was listed on the agenda of both the 81st Ordinary Session held in November 2024 and the 85th Ordinary Session held in October 2025 in The Gambia. On both occasions, the State delegation did not show up. As 2026 begins, the question can no longer be postponed, is Mauritius ready to account for its human rights record to the African Commission, or will it once again remain absent?
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Uganda goes to the polls on 15 January 2026. Ugandans will elect the president, members of parliament for a five‑year term. As the date of the elections draws near, various stakeholders have argued that these polls are not a celebration of democracy, but rather a repetition of authoritarian consolidation. Despite the presence of 27 political parties and over 21 million registered voters, human rights groups have reported that the electoral environment is marred by violence, repression, and systematic human rights violations. For instance, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented widespread intimidation, arbitrary arrests, and torture of opposition supporters, underscoring that these elections mean little for ordinary citizens. What should be a moment of democratic renewal has instead become another occasion for authoritarian entrenchment, echoing the failures seen in Tanzania’s recent elections, yet another troubling example within the East African Community (EAC).
