South Africa Human Rights
General Country Conditions:
As nations throughout the world suffer from the economic recession, many countries in Southern Africa are reporting substantial decreases in spending on HIV/AIDS. The South African government has indicated that many donor organizations are likely to suspend HIV prevention programs. This will have devastating consequences for a population already largely hit by the epidemic. The lack of political will and financial support to ensure equal access to prevention, treatment and care puts millions of Africans at risk. Over the years, Amnesty has released several reports related specifically to the lack of access to medical treatment for many South Africans, particularly those living in the most rural regions of the country.
Members of the LGBT community in South Africa, have continued to face violence and discrimination over the past year. In November, Human Rights Watch released a Report entitled "We'll Show You You're a Woman': Violence and Discrimination against Black Lesbians and Transgender Men." The report provides a stunning look at the everyday lives of lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender men while addressing a lack of adequate police protection, specifically following several public physical attacks on members of the community. Reports of attacks known colloquially as "corrective rape," continue to occur throughout the region, and place lesbian and bisexual women at increased risk of physical and sexual violence.
The political atmosphere has been increasingly active as the African National Congress, whose current leader, Jacob Zuma has been facing attacks from members of his own party. Former youth leader Julius Malema, was recently suspended from the ANC for five years after being found guilty of ‘sowing divisions and bringing the party into disrepute'. Secretary General of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, has also been making strong political statements indicating in a recent speech that the ANC would assist Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF in the upcoming 2012 elections. In a situation in which President Zuma has often spoken of seeking resolution between ZANU-PF (led by Robert Mugabe) and the Movement for Democratic Change (led by Morgan Tsvangirai), Mantashe's statements seems to represent a split in policy of the South African government.
