Campaigns
Taxpayers will not foot the bill for SAPS members that are in custody for a violent crime – whether it is for their legal costs or for their salaries. We demand that their suspensions must at least be without pay and ideally that their employment with the SAPS are terminated as soon as possible.
We demand an end to police brutality after a video showing a shocking incident of a group of armed police officers dragging a man from a blue VW Polo and seriously assaulting him and two others went viral. The officers have since been identified as being Paul Mashatile’s SAPS VIP protection team.
Siphokazi Booi (27), was brutally murdered, dismembered, and set alight by her boyfriend. Show your support against GBV and stand with Action Society on 27 June 2023 by leaving your name (and video if you like) on this page supporting a mass
gathering in Paarl on 27 June 2023 at Paarl Regional Court.
IPID is South Africa’s police watchdog. Its mandate is to investigate any misconduct or criminal activity committed by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Municipal Police Services (MPS).
Recent events have highlighted the need for IPID to be fully independent and constitutionally enshrined as a Chapter 9 institution. This is important to ensure that IPID is not subject to political influence and that police misconduct and criminal activity can be effectively investigated and addressed.
Sign our petition if you agree that IPID should function independently from corrupt ministers
Violent criminals should not be considered for public office in a democratic society that prides itself on fundamental values such as “human dignity” and “freedom from violence”.
Including violent criminals into the political process makes a mockery of the high standards needed for an office bearer and inflicts further insult to their victim’s injury.
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE HAS BEEN A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM IN SOUTH AFRICA AND IS ON THE RISE.
According to the latest crime stats, many women in South Africa will face gender-based violence in their lifetime. Therefore, every one of us women must stand up and take a stance. Women must arm themselves against crime
Apart from pointing out all of Cele’s failures, Action Society actively promotes Cele’s removal as Minister of Police. Our petition has garnered support from more than 200 000 people.
In fact, Action Society officially lodged a formal request for the termination of Cele with the Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, in July 2022 and is awaiting further steps.
During the first nine months of 2022, we saw the murder of 864 children, the attempted murder of 909 children and 5 502 cases of assault to do grievous bodily harm towards children.
Action Society wants accountability and action by petitioning for no bail for perpetrators of violence against children.
SUCCESS
If the status quo concerning appointments of SAPS leadership remains unchanged, we will see more cadre deployment by the ANC. It seems the ANC does not want the SAPS to function properly, because then they will be exposed for the far reaching and massive corruption they have been involved in as the ruling party. The SAPS, especially members who risk their lives daily combatting crime, deserves leadership with integrity, something the ANC cadres are deprived of.
The President must fire Khehla Sitole immediately
SUCCESS
The President needs to fire Khehla Sitole immediately. He has failed to act on various serious allegations and findings of criminality against the National Commissioner of Police for too long.
SUCCESS
Action Society is pleased to confirm that the Public Protector has committed to investigate whether there is failure by the SAPS to address the administrative backlog of DNA tests; and if such conduct by the SAPS, Minister of Police and the DNA Oversight Board amounts to maladministration.
SUCCESS
In South Africa, only about a third of children have daily contact with their biological fathers.
This is an important contributing factor to the state of our society and all the social challenges we face in South Africa today.
Law-abiding citizens that are organising and mobilising themselves should pave the way forward for a safer KZN and even more so, South Africa. Action Society encourages communities to organise and mobilise against crime within the framework of the law.
Action Society has once again become aware of the atrocities committed against children after the arrest of a farmer and a prominent member of the Swellendam community. Action Society demands that child pornography be declared a priority crime and that the register for sex offenders be made public. We also call for double life sentences for child pornography.
Fellow South African, please partake in the simple, digital process to vote and comment on the GBV amendments before 9 October 2020. We ought to know who the sex offenders are.
South Africans have until 9 October 2020 to submit their comments and support online regarding the life-changing GBV amendment bill proposals. People who rape women should be added to the NRSO.
Use this important opportunity to make a difference in the history of South Africa. Vote and comment online to change legislation regarding sex offenders.
Action Society joint forces with DearSA to encourage you to bring about change. Your opinion matters.
Please vote or comment on the GBV amendment bill.
Know your neighbour
One assumes that their loved ones are surrounded by people that are “safe”, but are we? Do we truly know our neighbours? Are there persons in our close community who are listed on the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO)?
In 2007 the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) was established in an effort to “curb the prevalence of sexual offences in South Africa”. The database was implemented in 2009 as a safeguard to keep record of sexual offenders who have been convicted of raping minors or mentally disabled persons. Names of sex crime perpetrators who were declared psychologically unfit to stand trial are also included on the list. Convicted offenders are not allowed to work with, adopt or apply to be foster carers of children.
Support Action Society in our call to the South African Government to make the NRSO publicly available to ensure transparency and the safe-keeping of our children and other vulnerable parties.
Cleanup our state hospitals
We need state hospitals with high standards of service delivery. An efficient workforce will help us to bring our state-owned medical institutions to an acceptable level of functionality after decades of deterioration.
With the appointment of qualified, responsible and accountable management and staff, South Africa can turn around the neglect which led to 3 832 deaths in Gauteng state hospitals in 2018.
We can stop the sexual assault of a 2-year-old in a Covid-19 isolation ward of the Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital.
We can stop rats drinking bloody water from blocked drains at the Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth.
Privatise the NRSO!
Action Society is proposing to the government that the NRSO should be privatised in order to make it credible and useful. The registrar of the NRSO in August 2020 admitted that it has not been updated since its implementation in 2009.
Although numerous requests for NRSO clearance certificates have been logged, the register was not able to aid employers with accurate information. Consequently there is no control over whether teachers or caretakers in our children’s classrooms are convicted sex offenders or not. Not to mention the status of adoptive or foster parents.
By means of a partnership with the government we can transform the management of the NRSO so that it becomes effective and a reliable tool in protecting our vulnerable parties. Action Society’s expertise, insight and case studies can be utilised to overcome the many obstacles the NRSO is struggling with, one at a time.
Abandoned children – Be the change in someone’s life-story
A Child born in South Africa has a high risk to be abandoned by his or her mother within six days after birth. Annually more than 3,500 babies are found in sewer pipes, garbage bins, isolated fields and even buried in shallow graves because their desperate mother, due to circumstances, could not offer them a future.
In light of World Adoption Day this month Action Society would like to create awareness about the problem and offer solutions. A great start is to remodel the stigma regarding abandoned children. Mothers who realise they are not capable of taking care of their babies or to raise their child needs support and guidance. It is unjust and unacceptable to abandon a vulnerable baby — left to their own fate. They were not given a choice to existence. Mothers need to take responsibility for their actions.
Action Society calls on the government to take hands with successful non-government projects and to open pregnancy crisis centres to address this problem. Saving these babies is a great first step. Action Society however acknowledges the long term effect as these children struggle to process emotional scars. This should also not discourage people to adopt.
Reopening of schools 2021
Action Society calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa not to postpone the 2021 school year. Schools and their respective governing bodies should rather be given the opportunity to take this decision based on their own merits.
This follows the government’s decision to postpone the start of the 2021 academic school year to 15 February 2021.
Each school’s circumstances are different. Therefore they must be granted the opportunity to decide for themselves how they will organise and handle the Covid-19 situation to benefit both learners and teachers. Many lessons to overcome obstacles have been learnt during the 2020-lockdown period.
The pressure group, which fights for the rights of the vulnerable people in our society, is aware that many scholars do not have access to the internet, smartphones or printers for distance learning. It is also in these communities where a day at school means access to that child’s only meal for the day.
With an already struggling economy, few parents can afford nannies or caregivers. Children are forced to stay at home alone while parents go to work. Often they are left in the unreliable care of individuals who abuse them.
We understand that it is a complex decision to consider all the risks at stake. Government leaders have an obligation to weigh up the costs and collateral damage of their policies, particularly for those who are most vulnerable, such as small children, the elderly and those in poverty. Our priority however is the welfare and safety of school-going children.
