Does a 2am eviction uphold human rights and forge belongingness?

Mangena told untruths that need to be challenged

- Tshepo Madlingozi

Unlawful evictions violate the rights and dignity of impoverished and vulnerable persons and it is the South African Human Rights Commission's responsibility to address such actions

(Gallo Images)

Professor Mosibudi Mangena's September 21, 2025 column in the Sunday World titled, "Declaring 'South Africa belongs to all who live in it" is stupid and counterproductive" refers.

The column raises important questions about nation building and post-apartheid belongingness that are worth debating. I will return to these issues in a moment.

Unfortunately, the good prof spoils the column with misleading statements about the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). He claims that the SAHRC came down like "a ton of bricks" on Premier Panyaza Lesufi after the premier, in Mangena's version "declared war on the proliferation of mekhukhu (shacks) in the province, many of which are inhabited by a significant number of undocumented migrants."

Mangena writes "The SAHRC maintains that Lesufi would be violating the human rights of the illegal migrants and promised to stop him in his tracks, if he dared."

These shocking and unnecessary mistruths cannot go unchallenged. The media statement issued by the SAHRC on September 7, 2025 referred to and condemned recent spates of unlawful evictions in the country. These unlawful evictions have violated the rights and dignity of impoverished and vulnerable persons. As a former minister, Mangena knows that the mandate of the commission is triggered whenever human rights are violated.