University of the Western Cape's Student for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) hosted a UWC Human Rights Day Events
On Wednesday, 22 March 2023 the University of the Western Cape's Student for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) hosted a Human Rights Day Event in front of the UWC Main Hall. The event had an exciting programme with the aim of highlighting the progress the country has made since apartheid and acknowledging that we still have a long way to go despite the progress, such as the recognition of Human Rights in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. It was further noted that, even though the progress is still very theoretical, it's geared towards the realisation of human rights for all people, irrespective of race.
Student for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) is a national student’s organisation which was founded in 2007 at the University of the Western Cape. SLSJ was formed in partnership between students of the various universities across South Africa. It was established with the purpose of protecting human rights, preventing discrimination and promoting social justice and the rule of law. SLSJ aims to transform legal education and access to justice. The organisation is solely run by the students and is not politically affiliated. At the core of SLSJ lies student, community, legal, and social development.
The objective of the event was to commemorate fallen heroes, those who were UWC alumni and to celebrate Human Rights Day. As part of the programme, there was lighting of torches and all guests wore a symbolic ‘all black’ dress theme as a sign of respect and also, acknowledgement of the struggles our fallen heroes went through so that we can enjoy the privileges we have today.
The guest speaker on the programme was Ms Cherith Sanger, a lecturer in the department of Criminal justice and Procedure at UWC Faculty of Law and an Attorney of the High Court who said: “Formally and legally, apartheid has been ousted but remnants of apartheid and the impact of unjust and dehumanising apartheid laws continue to plague South Africans and burden groups who continue to suffer social and economic disadvantage. Socio-economic rights have emerged as real issues for Black South Africans/people of colour. Despite 30 years of democracy a large proportion of our population remains poor and unequal in so many ways. It is also important to acknowledge how women’s rights and LGBTQIA rights continue to be trampled on with high levels of violence perpetrated against us.”
Ms Sanger further stated that: “Student activism is important for political, environmental, social and economic change in South Africa and at higher education institutions as we recently saw with student protests relating to accommodation and with #FeesMustFall. Student activism has been around as long as universities have and is still necessary for ongoing transformation to address current and emerging issues which impact students, universities, the marginalised and the country at large. Students have the ability to come up with new ways of thinking about issues and come up with new solutions to problems. It importantly also creates unity, solidarity and comradeship amongst students which makes students more influential.' 'Students must continue to engage in activism because they are best placed to know your needs now and in future. You are the future! You must exercise your right to protest and resist injustice as a right that was hard fought for by the youth and those that came before you during apartheid – many of which lost their lives for the human rights we enjoy today!"
The SLSJ Chairperson, Ongezwa Sibinda, said: “There were various messages throughout the program, however, I believe the main message that we displayed is how we as the free generation can use the freedom we have to ensure a better future for the next generation and most importantly how we can ensure access to real freedom where all races are on equal footing in terms of socio-economic factors.”
The event programme also consisted of representatives from the UWC Moot Court Society, Leaders in Demand and the UWC Black Lawyers Association (BLAsc). This was a significant contribution to the programme as the aim of the event was to show unity amongst student organisations and highlighted the importance of student governance, sharing in the common goal of improving the socio-economic status of the country through education.
On Wednesday, 22 March 2023 the University of the Western Cape's Student for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) hosted a Human Rights Day Event in front of the UWC Main Hall. The event had an exciting programme with the aim of highlighting the progress the country has made since apartheid and acknowledging that we still have a long way to go despite the progress, such as the recognition of Human Rights in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. It was further noted that, even though the progress is still very theoretical, it's geared towards the realisation of human rights for all people, irrespective of race.
Student for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) is a national student’s organisation which was founded in 2007 at the University of the Western Cape. SLSJ was formed in partnership between students of the various universities across South Africa. It was established with the purpose of protecting human rights, preventing discrimination and promoting social justice and the rule of law. SLSJ aims to transform legal education and access to justice. The organisation is solely run by the students and is not politically affiliated. At the core of SLSJ lies student, community, legal, and social development. The objective of the event was to commemorate fallen heroes, those who were UWC alumni and to celebrate Human Rights Day. As part of the programme, there was lighting of torches and all guests wore a symbolic ‘all black’ dress theme as a sign of respect and also, acknowledgement of the struggles our fallen heroes went through so that we can enjoy the privileges we have today.
The guest speaker on the programme was Ms Cherith Sanger, a lecturer in the department of Criminal justice and Procedure at UWC Faculty of Law and an Attorney of the High Court who said: “Formally and legally, apartheid has been ousted but remnants of apartheid and the impact of unjust and dehumanising apartheid laws continue to plague South Africans and burden groups who continue to suffer social and economic disadvantage. Socio-economic rights have emerged as real issues for Black South Africans/people of colour. Despite 30 years of democracy a large proportion of our population remains poor and unequal in so many ways. It is also important to acknowledge how women’s rights and LGBTQIA rights continue to be trampled on with high levels of violence perpetrated against us.”
Ms Sanger further stated that: “Student activism is important for political, environmental, social and economic change in South Africa and at higher education institutions as we recently saw with student protests relating to accommodation and with #FeesMustFall. Student activism has been around as long as universities have and is still necessary for ongoing transformation to address current and emerging issues which impact students, universities, the marginalised and the country at large. Students have the ability to come up with new ways of thinking about issues and come up with new solutions to problems. It importantly also creates unity, solidarity and comradeship amongst students which makes students more influential.' 'Students must continue to engage in activism because they are best placed to know your needs now and in future. You are the future! You must exercise your right to protest and resist injustice as a right that was hard fought for by the youth and those that came before you during apartheid – many of which lost their lives for the human rights we enjoy today!"
The SLSJ Chairperson, Ongezwa Sibinda, said: “There were various messages throughout the program, however, I believe the main message that we displayed is how we as the free generation can use the freedom we have to ensure a better future for the next generation and most importantly how we can ensure access to real freedom where all races are on equal footing in terms of socio-economic factors.”
The event programme also consisted of representatives from the UWC Moot Court Society, Leaders in Demand and the UWC Black Lawyers Association (BLAsc). This was a significant contribution to the programme as the aim of the event was to show unity amongst student organisations and highlighted the importance of student governance, sharing in the common goal of improving the socio-economic status of the country through education.
