Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa

About Us

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) is a non-profit organisation providing professional, dedicated and expert socio-economic rights assistance to individuals, communities and social movements in South Africa.

SERI conducts applied research, engages with government, advocates for policy and legal reform, facilitates civil society coordination and mobilisation, and litigates in the public interest (the SERI Law Clinic is registered as a public interest law centre).

Our thematic areas are:

•  housing and evictions;
•  access to basic services; and
•  political space.

See the About SERI page for more background on the organisation, read our 2010/2011 Annual Report (April 2011) or check out our May 2011, August 2011 and December 2011 newsletters.

Contact Us

Campaigns

SERI is part of the ICESCR Ratification Campaign, supports the Right to Know Campaign, and is a joint initiator of Making Local Government Work: An Activist's Guide.

Latest News 

• Constitutional Court hands down judgment in Maphango case, 13 March 2012. In a majority judgment written by Cameron J, the Court found that that the High Court and SCA failed to give adequate weight to the Rental Housing Act and that the landlord’s conduct may have amounted to an “unfair practice”. The Rental Housing Tribunal is empowered to determine whether a landlord committed an “unfair practice”, and it might accordingly have ruled in the tenants’ favour. The applicants are directed to lodge a complaint with the Tribunal before 2 May 2012. >>Read the judgment here and summary of judgment here. SERI press release here.

• SERI co-hosts Africa Regional Social Rights Litigation Workshop, 12-14 March 2012. SERI - together with ESCR-Net, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) and OP-ICESCR Coalition - is hosting an Africa Regional Social Rights Litigation Workshop from 12-14 March 2012 in Johannesburg. The first day of the workshop focused on strategic litigation: challenges and opportunities; the second day focuses on enforcement and long-term strategies in national contexts: challenges and opportunities; and the third day on OP-ICESCR ratification: building a regional strategy in Africa. >>Read the workshop programme here.

• Urgent application launched in Constitutional Court in Blue Moonlight case, 8 March 2012. This application seeks to compel the City to engage meaningfully with the occupiers of Saratoga Avenue in order to give effect to the order handed down by the Court on 1 December 2011. The application also asks the Court to vary the terms of this order, to avoid the occupiers facing eviction in circumstances where the City fails to take meaningful steps to provide temporary accommodation (as required by the order) in advance of the date set by the court for them to vacate the property or be evicted by the owner, Blue Moonlight. >>Read the SERI and CALS press release here and more on the case here.

• Podcast of Stuart Wilson on Radio Today's ProBono Law show, 2 March 2012. On 1 March 2012, SERI was featured on the ProBono Law show on Radio Today, hosted by Patrick Bracher. Stuart discussed recent decisions of, and cases pending before, the Constitutional Court dealing with evictions and landlord-tenant relations. Listen to the podcast (29 mins) here.

• Short film entitled "A Fish in a Tin" on the Mchunu (Siyanda) case and AbM/SERI press release, 29 February 2012. From the makers of the documentary "Dear Mandela", comes a short film on the eviction of residents from the Siyanda informal settlement to the Richmond Farm Transit Camp near KwaMashu, Durban. SERI and Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) today published a press release highlighting the fact that the eThekwini Municipality has disobeyed a court order to provide housing and investigate related corruption. >>Read the press release here and more about the case here.

• SERI launches application to force implementation of Siyanda court order, 7 February 2012. SERI seeks an order against the Executive Mayor of eThekwini (Durban), together with two other senior officials in their personal capacities, to take all the steps necessary to implement a court order requiring housing to be provided to 37 occupants of the Richmond Farm Transit Camp in KwaMashu. If argued, the Mchunu case will be important because it will establish whether individual officebearers can be held personally responsible for the state’s failure to perform on specific obligations. >>Read more here.