AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

displaced. Earlier in the year, residents of
Dunoon in the Western Cape looted foreignowned
businesses.
In April, findings were released of an
inquiry into the 2015 violence against
refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers in
KwaZulu-Natal Province. The inquiry found
the tensions were due to competition for
scarce employment opportunities in the
context of poverty and socioeconomic
inequality. Its recommendations included
educating civil servants on the rights and
documentation of foreign nationals;
strengthening the capacities of institutions
managing migrants, refugees and asylumseekers;
ensuring leaders make responsible
public statements; and education campaigns
in schools to promote cohesion.
The previous closure of three of six refugee
reception offices continued to put severe
pressure on refugees who must consequently
travel long distances to renew asylum
permits.
Draft legislation on international
immigration put forward in June includes a
security-based approach to asylum-seekers,
restricting their rights. It proposes asylum
processing and administrative detention
centres at South Africa’s borders. These
would house asylum-seekers while their
applications are processed and limit their
rights to work and movement while awaiting a
decision on their application.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Gender inequality and discrimination
continued to exacerbate the detrimental
impact of racial, social and economic
inequalities, especially for marginalized
groups of women and girls.
Nearly a third of pregnant women were
living with HIV, but improved access to free
anti-retroviral treatment for pregnant women
continued to reduce maternal mortality.
Department of Health figures showed that the
maternal mortality ratio continued to fall, from
197 for every 100,000 live births in 2011 to
155 in 2016. Problems persisted in rural
communities relating to the availability and
cost of transport for pregnant women and
girls needing to access health services. The
lives of pregnant women and girls continued
to be put at unnecessary risk due to barriers
to abortion services.
In June, the government launched a
campaign, She Conquers, to address the
disproportionately high rates of HIV infection
among girls and young women and to reduce
high levels of adolescent pregnancy.
Although focused on improving access to
health, education and employment
opportunities for girls, campaign messaging
was criticized for perpetuating negative
stereotypes of girls’ sexuality.
Also in June, the Commission for Gender
Equality found the requirement that girls
undergo virginity testing (ukuhlolwa) to
access tertiary education bursaries, as
imposed by a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal
Province, violated constitutional rights to
equality, dignity and privacy and would
perpetuate patriarchy and inequality in South
Africa. The ukuhlolwa requirement
was removed.
A report by the UN Special Rapporteur on
violence against women, its causes and
consequences issued in June called on
South Africa to implement a co-ordinated
approach to end the pandemic of genderbased
violence and discrimination, and
recommended the decriminalization of
sex work.
In March, the South African National AIDS
Council (SANAC) launched a plan to address
high rates of HIV among sex workers,
including access to pre-exposure prophylaxis
and anti-retroviral medicine. SANAC and sex
worker activists warned that South Africa’s
laws relating to “prostitution” risked
undermining the plan.
RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE
Hate crimes, hate speech and discrimination
against LGBTI people, including killings and
assaults, continued. Such attacks were
believed to be grossly under-reported
to police.
In March, Lucia Naido was stabbed to
death in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni. Katlehong
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