News

Senior Journalist Carolyn Raphaely goes in depth about her work at the WJP on Classic Fm with Richard Cock, and gives us a taste of her favourite songs.

The DCS recently launched the Nelson Mandela Rules - adopted by the United Nation General Assembly more than 60 years ago...

Yesterday Magistrate Pravina Raghoonandan, in a potentially precedent setting judgment, sentenced Vicki Momberg to three years in prison of which one year will be suspended.  Momberg was convicted of crimen injuria in 2017. Crimen injuria refers to a deliberate injury to another’s dignity by using racially offensive or obscene language or gestures.

Think back to the number of times you have heard the word ‘torture’ thrown around casually. A long wait in a queue at the licensing department, for instance, can be loosely described as torture. Sitting in a long and monotonous lecture can be described as torture. Examples like these generally evoke, at least, a mild sense of empathy that stems from their relatability. We can connect with these pains and overlook the hyperbole of describing them as torture. But what exactly is torture apart from a word we throw around almost always indiscriminately? 

Prisoners serving life sentences in prisons around South Africa are protesting continued backlogs in parole considerations, with some embarking on hunger strikes.

Last month the Wits Justice Project (WJP) sat down with James A. Kirk, assistant professor of Social Work at  New York University’s Silver School of Social Work, Marlon Peterson who hosts the podcast ‘Decarcerated’ and Calvin Moyo, a Zimbabwean graphic designer who spent two years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Arguments heard in the Constitutional Court last week may result in the Constitutional invalidity of laws relating to the prosecution of sexual assault cases older than twenty years being confirmed. The case is the result of decades of legal proceedings by lawyers for the “Frankel 8” - individuals who were sexually assaulted as children by late Constitution Hill trustee, Sidney Frankel, with some cases dating as far back as 47 years.  After Tuesday’s arguments, the Constitutional Court may soon lift the “procedural barrier” which previously made sexual assault cases older than 20 years unprosecutable.

This week, the Wits Justice Project sat down with James A. Kirk, assistant professor of Social Work at the NYU Silver School of Social Work and Marlon Peterson, who runs the podcast Decarcerated. These criminal justice activists are visiting South Africa to speak at The Global Prison Conference at the University of Johannesburg on Friday. 

WJP collaborated with Global Citizen Impact to produce multimedia piece on Victor Nkomo's story along with other prisoners in remand detention around the world.