The struggle over the Kashmir valley has been one of the most prolonged disputes of the last century. Since the controversial arrival of Indian forces in Kashmir on 27 October 1947, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir (often referred to simply as Kashmir) has been divided by a ceasefire line or Line of Control (LoC) between sides under Pakistani and Indian control, respectively. Since 1947, India and Pakistan have failed to reach a consensus on the territory of Kashmir. Instead, they have fought three wars (1948, 1965, and 1971), and almost had a nuclear showdown in 1999 (known as the Kargil War). There have been two United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefires, in 1949 and 1965 and 58 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions (Wheeler, 2010: 319-344). Most recently, the world witnessed another stand-off between the two nuclear arch-rivals in a suicide attack in the Pulwana region on 14 February 2019, in which 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed (Herrara, 2019).

Those who attended the interviews met, on Saturday 21 February 2020 in Atlantis, to discuss what happened and the way forward. We concluded the following. We were;
• excited to attend and observe the interviews
• disturbed by the unfriendly welcome received
• ignored and felt excluded from the process
• intimidated by the cold treatment received

We decided to take the following action;
• Draft a statement of complaint to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, The Committee on Social Development and The Premier
• Launch a petition to rally children to support and demand the right to take part in any proceedings of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament; especially if it concerns and affect children.

The right to participate is an important right of children. It includes the right to be informed, consulted and take part in decisions that concern and affect children. Child participation rights are interlinked to children’s basic rights to be provided with care and services, and their rights to protection.

The statement and petition will be sent to the Speaker and Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament; and the Premier of the Province.

We call on children (persons under 18 years), to support his statement and petition.

Community:

Lack of transport as no vehicles are willing to regularly travel the road to collect community members. Community members must hitch hike, walk or bike (for those that have) the 20km to the dirt road.
School busses - the school busses do not operate effectively and often break down on the road leaving children without the basic right of access to education. Furthermore, for the busses to travel on the road, the road should be in an acceptable condition (which it is not) as to insure the safety of children using the service in the area.

Business

Ezemvelo Nature Reserve employs 10 permanent staff and makes use of numerous contract workers during the course of the year, thereby making a substantial contribution in terms of salaries. The road is having an adverse impact on on income as the reserve relies on tourism to fund its operations. With the road in the current condition, we are experiencing loss of clientele who simply will not travel on the road to our property. For example, we hosted an event this year that only drew in 50% of the previous years visitors numbers. When visitors were asked, some said they would not return due to the state of the road.

NPO

Furthermore, Ezemvelo is owned by a section 18 PBO, not for profit organization. The organization educates previously disadvantaged youth at university level (Maharishi Institute.) The above capital impacts from the road directly impact the PBO as they are responsible for covering any losses accrued by the business.

Vehicles

Further capital impact is seen in inputs to vehicle maintenance. Constant repairs to suspension, tyres and other parts (well above normal) are required due to the poor condition of the road.

One of our flagship campaigns is the “The Cry Of The Girl Child” campaign. Through this initiative we recognize and provide a platform and
channel for the young people we work with. Through this platform the young people voice and tackle the
emotional and general challenges that the girl child faces. We are extending this campaign by including the HEPAR petition.

It is estimated that over 40% of South African women will be raped in their lifetime.Rape has become a norm in South Africa.Rapists are captured,imprisoned for a while then released.The imprisonment time is inadequate.When rapists are eventually released early,it causes emotional harm to the victims.Worst case scenario that is predominant currently is rapists are not captured and are able to walk freely.This is main reason why victims don't report or the the law is undermined.We are appealing the harshest punishment to rapists,from forced penectomy, to damaging their genitals to never have sexual intercourse,to life imprisonment.

Plastic never goes away.
Plastic is a durable material made to last forever, yet 33 percent of it is used once and then discarded. Plastic cannot biodegrade; it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces.

Plastic spoils our groundwater.
There are tens of thousands of landfills across the globe. Buried beneath each one of them, plastic leachate full of toxic chemicals is seeping into groundwater and flowing downstream into lakes and rivers.

Plastic attracts other pollutants.
Manufacturers' additives in plastics, like flame retardants, BPAs and PVCs, can leach their own toxins. These oily poisons repel water and stick to petroleum-based objects like plastic debris.

Plastic threatens wildlife.
Entanglement, ingestion and habitat disruption all result from plastic ending up in the spaces where animals live. In our oceans alone, plastic debris outweighs zooplankton by a ratio of 36-to-1.

Plastic piles up in the environment.
Americans alone discard more than 30 million tons of plastic a year; only 8 percent of it gets recycled. The rest ends up in landfills or becomes 'litter', and a small portion is incinerated.

Plastic poisons our food chain.
Even plankton, the tiniest creatures in our oceans, are eating microplastics and absorbing their toxins. The substance displaces nutritive algae that creatures up the food chain require.

Plastic affects human health.
Chemicals leached by plastics are in the blood and tissue of nearly all of us. Exposure to them is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments.

Plastic costs billions to abate.
Everything suffers: tourism, recreation, business, the health of humans, animals, fish and birds—because of plastic pollution. The financial damage continuously being inflicted is inestimable.

The South African public, therefore, wishes that you should provide us with the reason why South Africa remains a member of this organisation; and or why it is necessary that we should be bound by their wildlife trade decisions that work against South Africa’s - and Africa’s - better interests.