The 2022 edition of our Annual Review sheds light on some of the remarkable achievements of the organisation over the year.  

After four years of evidence gathering, investigations and hearings, 2022 saw the publication of the final reports from the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, also known as the Zondo Commission. Among other matters, the reports exposed rampant corruption that resulted in the hollowing out of key state institutions and the looting of billions of rands from state coffers. This plundering of resources, combined with the chronic challenges of inequality, poverty, unemployment and a weak economy, make the work of SECTION27 on accountability and rights realisation even more urgent.  

For SECTION27, 2022 was a year of both major wins and steady progress in our efforts to ensure accountability and the realisation of the rights to basic education and access to health care services. We enjoyed a historic victory in the Constitutional Court, which vindicated the rights of people who are blind or visually impaired by mandating access to reading materials in accessible formats. We took a big step forward in our work on violence in schools, challenging the South African Council of Educators to revise its sanctioning policy in cases of corporal punishment and, in a separate case, pursuing disciplinary measures for a school staff member who sexually assaulted learners. 

Moreover, we reached 900 learners in trainings on sexual and reproductive health rights, sexual violence and corporal punishment across four provinces. We pushed back against ongoing discrimination against people living with HIV who are enlisted in the South African National Defence Force. We secured a learner’s ability to write her exams while pregnant and forced the revision of the pregnancy policy in schools in KwaZulu Natal. We also continued the arduous but important work of representing bereaved families in the Life Esidimeni Inquest and monitoring sanitation infrastructure in schools across Limpopo.  

SECTION27 continues to work in the best tradition of public interest lawyering. It uses legal mobilisation -- which includes creatively using research, media advocacy, policy advocacy, education and litigation -- to catalyse social justice.  

We are fortunate to have a dedicated group of attorneys, researchers, mobilisers, fundraisers, evaluators, accountants, communicators, paralegals, administrators, board members, supporters, partners and funders. We are extremely grateful for all the contributions to the important work of SECTION27 in 2022 and look forward to continued success in catalysing social justice through legal mobilisation in the years to come.

Report by SECTION27