Helen Suzman Foundation

29/04/2026

[STATEMENT] HSF has acknowledged that the Department of Home Affairs has commenced nation-wide consultations on the future of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits. Read more:

The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) acknowledges the nationwide consultation process that being undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs on the future of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP). These consultations follow the 2023 High Court judgment in Helen Suzman Foundation v Minister of Home Aff...

31/03/2026

HSF welcomes the steps taken toward legal compliance of SANDF deployment after submitting letter to JSCD raising concern. Read our press statement here:

On 12 March 2026, we issued a press statement highlighting the fact that the Minister of Defence has failed to issue a notice in the Government Gazette, within 24 hours of Presidential authorisation of deployment of the SANDF in co-operation with the police. The issuing of such notice is a requireme...

19/03/2026

[ANNOUNCEMENT] HSF has submitted a letter to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) on non-compliance. Read our letter here:

17/03/2026

[VACANCY] We are looking for an experienced bookkeeper to join the team and oversee our financial management. Application deadline is 25 March 2026. Find the details here:

The Helen Suzman Foundation is recruiting for the position of a bookkeeper. The role will report to the Executive Director and ensure sound financial governance, compliance with donor and statutory requirements, and provide strategic financial support to the Executive Director and the Board.

16/03/2026

[ANNOUNCEMENT] Meet our new researchers, Vuyani Ndzishe and Ipeleng Motuba. HSF is excited to have them join the team and enrich our work with their unique backgrounds and experience.

Learn more about them here:

Vuyani Ndzishe is a Researcher at the Helen Suzman Foundation. His work focuses on constitutional governance, the rule of law, and the functioning of democratic institutions. He previously worked at the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit at the University of Cape Town as a Research and Advocacy I...

12/03/2026

[MEDIA STATEMENT] HSF expresses concern over lack of procedural compliance in the deployment of SANDF in Gauteng.

Yesterday saw boots hit the ground in Gauteng on military deployment as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's plan to battle illegal mining and gangsterism - however HSF has noted a lack of procedural compliance in the deployment. Read our statement here:

On 12 February 2026, the President announced that he had directed the Minister of Police and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to develop a tactical plan on where South African security forces should be deployed in the Western Cape and Gauteng to deal with gang violence and illegal mi...

23/02/2026

On this day, 23 February 1962 — exactly 64 years ago — South African parliamentarian Helen Suzman delivered a powerful condemnation of the Immorality Act in Parliament.
Speaking as a lone Progressive Party MP in an overwhelmingly apartheid-era legislature, Suzman denounced the law for the suffering it inflicted on ordinary people and for turning law enforcement officers into intrusive “peeping” agents of the state. The Immorality Act criminalised intimate relationships across racial lines, intruding deeply into private lives and reinforcing the racial hierarchy at the heart of apartheid.

Suzman argued that the legislation brought misery, fear, and deprivation rather than moral order, and she challenged the government’s justification for using the law to police personal relationships. At a time when dissent in Parliament was rare and often politically dangerous, her intervention stood out as a direct moral and constitutional challenge to apartheid policy.

Her speech formed part of a broader pattern of resistance in which Suzman consistently used Parliament as a platform to expose the human cost of apartheid laws, including pass laws, detention without trial, and forced removals.
Today, 64 years later, Helen Suzman is remembered as one of apartheid South Africa’s most principled parliamentary critics, and her condemnation of the Immorality Act remains a key moment in the long struggle for human dignity, equality, and personal freedom in South Africa.

21/01/2026

[ICYMI] The HSF hosted a webinar discussing the protracted causes of over-crowding in South African correctional centres and potential solutions for addressing this crisis. Joined by Inspecting Judge Lee Bozalek (JICS), Prof Thabiso Matshaba (UNISA) and Doreen Gaura (Just Detention International), watch the discussion below:

Helen Suzman is often credited with visiting political prisoners during the height of Apartheid. Her visits to Robben Island and elsewhere in the country di...

09/01/2026

[WEBINAR] In 2026, it will be 21 years since President Mbeki appointed a Commission of Inquiry into alleged incidents of corruption, maladministration, violence or intimidation in the Department of Correctional Services, commonly known as the “Jali Commission”. The Jali Commission concluded, amongst others, that the “issue of overcrowding can clearly be regarded as a State violation of the basic human rights of prisoners, which is unconstitutional and cannot be condoned in our new democracy”.

Join us for a webinar discussion on why overcrowding continues to plague South Africa's prisons with our speakers Judge Lee Bozalek (Inspecting Judge for Correctional Services), Prof TD Matshaba (Department of Corrections Management, UNISA) and Ms Ms Doreen Gaura (Senior Programme Officer at Just Detention International).

We will be live on Facebook and other platforms with our speakers and a Q&A on 20 January 2026 at 12:00 - 13:00 SAST.

12/12/2025

The Helen Suzman Foundation is recruiting for 2 new researchers.

See the details here:

The Helen Suzman Foundation is recruiting for the positions of 2 researchers. The roles will report to our senior researcher and assist in the HSF’s mission to ensure that key institutions in South Africa’s constitutional democracy are strengthened and protected.

03/12/2025