{"id":877160,"date":"2026-09-29T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877160"},"modified":"2026-09-29T12:41:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T10:41:34","slug":"an-entire-province-in-south-africa-under-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/877160\/an-entire-province-in-south-africa-under-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"An entire province in South Africa under investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The North West is under investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) over concerns about poor service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation focuses on the human rights impact of communities remaining in informal settlements for extended periods while awaiting development, upgrading, or relocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAHRC said its work in the province had raised concerns about the conditions in which some residents of informal settlements live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these concerns include limited or inadequate access to water, sanitation, electricity, refuse removal, roads and other essential services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some instances, communities have remained in informal settlements for extended periods while awaiting development, upgrading or relocation,\u201d the Commission said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation will examine the extent of informality across the North West, the quality and adequacy of services provided to residents, and the progress of government programmes aimed at developing or upgrading informal settlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also investigate the causes of delays and how prolonged residence in informal settlements affects residents’ enjoyment of their human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission will obtain information from municipalities, provincial government departments, and other organs of state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also conduct targeted inspections of selected informal settlements as part of the investigation. The SAHRC has also asked residents and organisations to provide information about their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes community organisations, civil society groups, traditional and community leaders, researchers, academics and other interested individuals or organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also seeking details on access to basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, refuse removal, and roads, as well as information on services that are unavailable or inadequate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation will consider whether temporary or interim services provided to communities while they wait for development are sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents are also being asked to provide information about promises, plans, or commitments made by municipalities or other government bodies concerning development, upgrading or relocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents have until the end of October to submit complaints<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The SAHRC wants to know about delays, the reasons given for those delays and communities that have not been given clear information about whether or when their settlements will be developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission noted that it would assess how these conditions affect people’s dignity, health and safety, as well as children, older people, people with disabilities and other vulnerable residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission will also examine whether the location or condition of informal settlements makes it difficult for residents to access schools, healthcare facilities, emergency services and other essential services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information about community consultations and engagements with government will also form part of the investigation, as will examples of informal settlement development or upgrading initiatives that have worked effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where possible, submissions should provide the name and location of the settlement, the responsible municipality, the nature and duration of the problem, the services affected, and details of engagements with government and the responses received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents and organisations can also submit supporting material such as correspondence with government departments, photographs, petitions, community memoranda, meeting records and reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written submissions can be emailed to smlombo@sahrc.org.za or delivered or posted to 25 Heystek Street, Rustenburg, North West. The subject line should read \u201cSystemic Investigation \u2013 Informal Settlements\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submissions must reach the SAHRC by 30 October 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People or communities unable to make written submissions can contact the SAHRC’s North West Provincial Office on 063 728 8544 for information on alternative ways to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission said information received from the public would be considered alongside information obtained from municipalities, provincial departments, site inspections and other relevant sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos of the collapse in the North West Province<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The province known as the ‘Platinum Province’ is under investigation by the Human Rights Commission over poor service delivery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":799441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2104889189238018082","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2220523982101334","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18099509405536752","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[19161,853,24152],"class_list":["post-877160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-service-delivery","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-human-rights-commission-sahrc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877160"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877433,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877160\/revisions\/877433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}