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FS SAHRC to engage provincial departments on challenges

───   OLEBOGENG MOTSE 18:00 Mon, 21 Oct 2019

FS SAHRC to engage provincial departments on challenges | News Article

The Free State branch of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will on a quarterly basis engage three government departments and entities on ways in which they can improve on services provided to the most vulnerable members of society.


SAHRC Commissioner, Bokankatla Malatji, says during his visit to the province last week, he sat down with officials from the Departments of Health and Social Development as well as the South African State Security Agency (Sassa) on the concerning conditions found at the Free State Psychiatric Complex and two special needs schools in the province.

When probed on the financial burdens faced by these government departments and the effect this has on the provision of those services, Malatji says the rights of the people must always come first. He says what is at stake here is people’s lives and the education of children. He says should some of these issues not be addressed, then the rights of the most vulnerable members of society will be compromised.

During his visit to the province, the Commissioner paid visits to the Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind in Thaba’ Nchu outside Bloemfontein. Staff members there reveal the special needs school is operating without assistant teachers, which are mandatory at such a school. 

Learners living at the dilapidated hostel are forced to fetch water in buckets due to a poor network of water pipes. The staff says the Free State Departments of Education and Public Works can alleviate these issues by filling vacant posts and working on the dilapidated infrastructure, but instead there is no action. 

The Free State Psychiatric Complex is facing similar issues with the added burden of catering to just under 800 patients without an appointed contractor.

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