Purpose
The SJC believes in accountable and effective government and the democratic participation of communities in developing policy and the implementation of services. As an organization the SJC is not aligned to any political party. The SJC's campaigns are based on ongoing research, education, and advocacy. Their advocacy works comes in many forms including formal submissions on policy and budgets, engagement with government, memorandums, protest marches, and other forms of public and legal action. The SJC's work is divided into two main programmes: Local Government and Safety and Justice.Programmes
Safety and Justice
This program is designed to make Khayelitsha and all of South Africa a safer place where there is improved access to justice and a better working relationship between the police and communities.Khayelitsha and safety
Khayelitsha is one of the most unsafe areas in South Africa and is similar to the conditions in townships across the country. It has an over-worked and under-resourced criminal justice system. For years the SJC and partner organizations monitored crime and safety in Khayelitsha and identified many problems such as poor police investigations, lack of support for victims of crime, long response times when police are called, dockets disappearing from court and a lack of support for police. The South African Police Service (SAPS), often the only recourse that poor and vulnerable people have, is unable to ensure residents safety.Campaign for a commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha
More than 10 years of struggle by an alliance of communities, organizations, and social movements led to the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha – this became known as the O’Regan-Pikoli Commission of Inquiry. For years, we tried to get government and the police to listen to these concerns and improve conditions. The Commission is very important for changing the Apartheid state, especially the police. It is providing a way to make sure there is long term change in the criminal justice system, particularly in poor and working class areas. The National Minister of Police tried to stop the commission in 2012 and 2013, but he lost in both the Western Cape High Court and then in the South African Constitutional Court. The commission held its public hearings in early 2014 and released its final report on 25 August 2014. The SJC and partner organizations are now working on ensuring the implementation of its 20 recommendations, which the Commission identified as being key to making Khayelitsha a safer place. The Commission radically altered the nature of participatory government in the sphere of safety, policing, and justice.Local government
The local government programme of the SJC aims at improving the performance and accountability of the city government ofBudget justice
With the SJC's partners=Sanitation expenditure
= In the city’s 2015/2016 draft budget R22 million is proposed for sanitation infrastructure for all 204 informal settlements in the city. This means that all the households in informal settlements are getting less than 2% of the capital budget for sanitation. For perspective, R106 million is being set aside for one parking garage for the City’s Finance Directorate.Urban land justice
Cape Town’s segregation on race and class lines is one of the key legacies of Apartheid, but continues to be maintained and worsened by government today. Poor and working class communities are forced to live far away from central areas where there are few socio-economic opportunities. We have made objections to the sale of land by the City and Provincial government as there are vast areas of government-owned land that remain unused or are sold to private developers instead of for low cost housing. The SJC is now building a campaign for urban land justice so that poor and working class communities can access land, resources, and opportunities closer to the City and to reverse Apartheid spatial planning.Grootboom Lectures
Every year the SJC hosts a lecture series in honor of housing activist2010
The theme of the 2010 lecture series was "Masithete" (2011
The 2011 lecture series was titled "The History of Inequality in Cape Town: 1652-2011". The lectures put an emphasis on the historical developments starting in the pre-colonial era that led to the high levels of income disparity and racial segregation in Cape Town. The aim of those lectures was to highlight the causes of inequality and disparity in Cape Town and then discuss a vision for the future of Cape Town including setting goals for Cape Town to achieve by the year 2031.2012
The 2012 lecture series examined the potential of the concept of design, to bring relief to those living in informal settlements. The lectures explored different concepts of urban planning with the aim of providing solutions to the safety and sanitation problems in the informal settlements.2013
The 2013 lecture series was entitled "Beyond High Walls and Broken Windows" and was focused on the lack of security faced by those living in informal settlements. There were a variety of topics addressed by the lectures including police brutality, the long term effects of crime on individuals, and the underlying causes of crime in post-apartheid South Africa.2014
The 2014 lecture series looked into the lingering effects of apartheid era urban planning. The lectures were designed to examine the reasons why racial separation continues in the post-apartheid era and the consequences of that separation in terms of the health and physical security of the residents of the black informal settlements.See also
*Sister organisations
*References
Sources
External links
* {{Authority control Migration-related organizations Non-profit organisations based in South Africa Social justice organizations Organisations based in Cape Town Organizations established in 2008 Social movements in South Africa Poverty-related organizations