Question

Preface for the topic human rights in south africa

Answer 1

The mandate of the South African Human Rights Commission is a broad and comprehensive one and includes the obligation to ‘monitor and assess the observance of human rights’ in South Africa. The challenges of advancing a culture of human rights and of achieving equality in a society that is as disparate as ours must mean that the issue of social and economic rights are dealt with having full regard to the current context and developmental challenges we face. Section 184(3) of the Constitution gives power to the Commission to request information from relevant organs of state on measures taken towards the realisation of the various social and economic rights set out in the Constitution. This report covers an import period in the realisation of economic and social rights in our country -- the fifth anniversary of our Constitution. It also represents the fourth monitoring cycle of the economic and social rights monitoring mandate of the Commission. It is important to remind ourselves that the Commission is entering its second term of its mandate to monitor and assess human rights guided by two landmarks decisions of the Constitutional Court -- the Grootboom and TAC cases. With these groundbreaking cases as signposts, we are certain that we shall not falter in our mission, hence they served as building blocks in the present report. This report has benefited from many people. We would like to thank the representatives of various government departments who responded to the protocols and provided helpful information used in the development of this report. We extend our appreciation to the NORAD/Norwegian Embassy (Pretoria) for providing funding for the work towards the report and for continued support.