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By Belinda Matore, an LLD candidate and project officer at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria
Childhood is increasingly defined by structure, schedules and achievement. From organised sport and cultural activities to extra lessons and enrichment programmes, many of the experiences intended to support children’s development are becoming ever more demanding. This raises an important question: what happens when activities designed to enrich children’s lives cease to feel voluntary and begin to feel compulsory?
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By Olayinka Adeniyi, an LLD postdoctoral fellow, and Prof Ebenezer Durojaye of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria
On Youth Day, 16 June, South Africa commemorates the courage of the young people who confronted injustice with extraordinary moral boldness and clarity. It is not merely a public holiday or memorial – it is a national mirror that seeks to assess what kind of society has been built with the freedom for which young people fought, resisted and sacrificed.
The youth of 1976 were changemakers who knew that education was not neutral. They realised that the classroom could reproduce oppression or promote freedom. Their protest against the education system was about more than language – it was about dignity, identity, opportunity and the right to imagine a future beyond the imposed limitations.
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By Tendai Mbanje of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria
South Africa is at a defining moment, as rising tensions around immigration test the country’s commitment to unity, tolerance and shared prosperity. In recent weeks, the streets of Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria have witnessed regular marches, with citizens voicing frustrations over unemployment, crime and the perceived failures of the immigration system. These protests aren’t mere eruptions of anger but expressions of deep socio-economic distress. For many black South Africans, the struggle is about livelihoods, survival and the daily effort to make ends meet.
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Olayinka Adeniyi LLD Post-doctoral Fellow-Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Prof Ebenezer Durojaye, Centre for human Rights, University of Pretoria.
On 5 June 2026, the world will mark World Environment Day. The focus for this year on climate change is urgent as well as timely. Globally and throughout Africa, the climate crisis is not a new scientific prediction or a future policy concern. It is an emerging and present occurrence which is evident in sea level rising, drought, floods, the destruction of crops, recurrent epidemics, the collapse of economy and livelihoods, and the intensifying experience of poverty.
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By Tendai Mbanje, an LLD candidate at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
For millions of South Africans, Freedom Day is not merely a holiday; it is a day of unforgettable memory, a reliving of the hopes and promises of 1994. It is a profound reminder of the sacrifices made to dismantle apartheid – and the triumph of democratic ideals.
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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.
