Pretoria - Section27 has announced the appointment of Sasha Stevenson as its next executive director.
She joined the organisation in 2012 as an attorney and was later promoted to head of the Health Rights Programme, a position she held since 2018.
Stevenson assumed the role of executive director from the start of this month (July), after an extensive recruitment process conducted by the Section27 board of directors.
The organisation says she brings to her new appointment more than a decade of experience as a human rights lawyer and activist in the public interest sector.
“Her leadership is crucial to our human rights work in achieving substantive equality and social justice in South Africa.”
Prior to joining Section27, Stevenson gained experience at a commercial law firm, the Constitutional Court and the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
She holds a BA in law and politics, a BA Honours in law and politics, and an LLB, all from Rhodes University, and an LLM from the University of Cambridge.
Commenting on the appointment, Section 27 board chairperson, Alice Brown said: “We are thrilled to have a legal practitioner of Sasha’s stature, experience, and expertise in the position of executive director of this significant institution.”
She added that in addition to extensive knowledge and understanding of the key issues, Stevenson brought to the position a steadfast dedication and an unwavering commitment to human rights and social justice for all.
Stevenson succeeds Umunyana Rugege, who served as executive director of Section27 from January 2019 to earlier this year.
Regarding her appointment, Stevenson said: “I am honoured to have been appointed to serve Section27 as its executive director. The organisation plays such an important role in catalysing social justice through the use of the Constitution.
“Every day, we strive to realise the rights to basic education and health and to secure accountability and access to justice. We are fortunate to have a committed, skilled and passionate team, and together we will continue to work in the tradition of public interest lawyering to contribute to the development of a society that seeks to uphold South Africa’s constitutional promise.”
She previously worked at law firm Bowman Gilfillan as a researcher for the late Chief Justice Pius Langa at the Concourt, for the Trial Chamber of the ICC and, for a few months during the London Olympics, with barristers of Inner Temple in London.
Section27 is a public interest law centre that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa.
Section27 has secured many landmark legal victories over the years, including the latest in which it ensured free health care for pregnant women at public health-care facilities.
Another recent victory included the declaration that the Copyright Act is invalid for violating the rights of people who are blind or visually impaired.
This is a victory for people with visual disabilities, who will now be able to easily access works under copyright in accessible formats.
Section27 also represents 44 bereaved families in the judicial inquiry into the deaths of Life Esidimeni patients who died earlier.
Pretoria News