Ramaphosa Calls for People-Centred Justice as South Africa's Rights Commission Hails Largely Incident-Free Local Elections With Turnout Up to 52%
The South African Government News Agency (SAnews) midday edition for November 12 rounds up several government developments: President Cyril Ramaphosa called for people-centred justice systems at the International Conference on Access to Justice in Sun City, North West; Deputy Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla urged Southern African Development Community (SADC) health ministers in Durban to turn solidarity into practical instruments; a 38-year-old foreign national was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport over an alleged attempt to join the Russia-Ukraine war; and the South African Human Rights Commission hailed last week's local government elections as largely incident-free, with turnout up to 52 percent. This report is filed as a South Africa station roundup.
On justice, Ramaphosa told the conference, which opened at the Sun City Convention Centre on Thursday, that justice systems should be accessible, responsive and centred on the needs of ordinary people, warning that justice that is inaccessible, delayed, corrupted or reserved for the privileged undermines democracy itself. 'Justice that is inaccessible is justice that is denied,' he said. The conference, held under the theme Strengthening People-Centred Justice Systems: Deepening Democracy, brings together governments, the judiciary, international institutions, the legal profession and civil society; next month South Africa commemorates 30 years since its democratic Constitution was signed into law.
Ramaphosa said the existence of constitutional rights does not automatically guarantee that people can exercise them: a person may have the right to equality and yet experience discrimination, the right to dignity and yet endure violence and humiliation, or the right to access the courts and yet be unable to afford a lawyer, travel to a courthouse or navigate complicated legal procedures. Poverty is one of the greatest obstacles to justice, he said, and government must ensure justice systems are adequately resourced, efficient, independent and responsive, including by strengthening legal aid, supporting community-based legal services and making legal information accessible in languages and formats people understand. Technology must not create a new divide between the digitally connected and the excluded, he added, setting three priorities for the conference: making justice genuinely accessible to poor and vulnerable people, building independent, accountable and efficient justice institutions, and establishing meaningful ways of measuring whether justice systems are improving people's lives.
On regional health, Phaahla told a gala dinner in Durban honouring the SADC Ministers of Health and Ministers Responsible for HIV and AIDS that member states should move beyond statements of solidarity and adopt practical instruments to strengthen health systems, secure medical supply chains and address climate-induced health threats. The joint meeting of SADC health and HIV/AIDS ministers kicked off in Durban on Monday. Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the urgency of practical collaboration in pooled pharmaceutical procurement, local manufacturing and disease surveillance, he said, while SADC countries face overlapping pressures from infectious diseases, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and climate shocks from floods to El Niño drought, with development assistance under pressure, supply chains vulnerable and the cost of resilient health systems rising.
On law enforcement, a 38-year-old foreign national arrested on Wednesday night at OR Tambo International Airport is expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrates Court on Thursday, facing charges under the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998. The Hawks said an integrated multidisciplinary team, including INTERPOL's Pretoria National Central Bureau, the Hawks' Crimes Against the State and Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit and SAPS Crime Intelligence, acted on intelligence in making the arrest, and the suspect was allegedly en route to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. Earlier this week, nine other foreign nationals aged between 20 and 26 were arrested on Sunday night at the same airport and at a hotel in Bruma in connection with a similar alleged attempt to leave South Africa to join the war.
On the elections, the South African Human Rights Commission commended South Africans and the Electoral Commission (IEC) on the largely incident-free local government elections held last Wednesday. Voter turnout in the 2026 local government elections stands at 52 percent, up from 45.9 percent in 2021, the commission noted, commending voters who braved the extreme heatwave; at least 36 SAHRC election observers monitored the elections across the country. The commission noted an incident at Douglas in the Northern Cape's Siyancuma Municipality, where a station was reportedly stormed and ballot papers destroyed before counting and the IEC announced a revote, while still commending the IEC for a largely incident-free election and calling on parties, candidates and supporters to accept the results peacefully and route any dispute through the IEC's complaints processes or the courts.
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Source: South African Government News Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：南非卫生部副部长 Joe Phaahla 在南部非洲发展共同体卫生部长会议期间发言。照片：南非政府新闻署（SAnews）供图，该署明示媒体可免费使用其图片并注明出处。 / Photo: South African Deputy Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla during the SADC health ministers meeting. Photo: SAnews, which states media may use its pictures free of charge with credit.
