Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu
THE issue of human rights abuses has been one of the critical subjects in South Africa’s political history. The Khoisan communities were on the receiving end following the arrival of the whites on the shores of this country. The slaves also saw their human rights being violated.
White expansion from the Cape of Good Hope saw the rights of black people being violated. The beginning of apartheid in 1948 and subsequent discriminatory legislation saw the human rights of the oppressed people being trampled upon.
Given this context, it did not come as a surprise when Nelson Mandela emphasized human rights in his 1993 article which was the foundation of South Africa’s foreign policy agenda. Having been the victim of human rights abuses, Mandela pleaded with the world to respect human rights. Within South Africa, he was to be the champion of the respect for human rights for all South Africans.
This 2025 human rights month gives us time to reflect.
Chapter 2 of The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa clearly captures the country’s focus on human rights. Sec 7(1) states that “This Bill of Rights is the cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of our human dignity, equality and freedom.”
Among the rights listed in the Constitution are the following: equality, human dignity, life, citizenship, political rights, freedom of expression, freedom of association, etc. Anyone who violates these rights is deemed to be in contravention of the Constitution.
To ensure that the country protected human rights under the new political dispensation ushered by the 1994 general election, Chapter 9 institutions were established. One of them was the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) (Sec 184).
According to Sec 184(1) (a) this Commission was tasked inter alia to “promote respect for human rights and a culture of human rights.” Furthermore, Sec 184(1) (b) stated that the Commission was tasked to “promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights.”
Now, if these measures were put in place so many years ago, why do we still talk about human rights today? Put differently, to what extent have human rights been respected and protected? Even more importantly, to what extent has the SAHRC lived up to its expectations in terms of being the vanguard of these human rights?
Surely, these are not simple questions to answer. It depends on who the respondent is and the context within which such a response is provided.
Recent action by AfriForum and Solidarity to fly to America to complain about the alleged violation of the human rights of the Afrikaans-speaking whites in general and white farmers, in particular, is a clear demonstration of the complexity of the questions posed above. In their view, the signing of the Land Expropriation Act is a violation of the human rights of white farmers who are going ‘to lose their land.’ As to how this land was obtained in the first place is none of their concerns. In other words, according to these organisations, the SAHRC has failed to protect the rights of white farmers.
Secondly, AfriForum has been vocal about the murder of white farmers. Noticeably, they are silent about the murder of black people who are mistaken for monkeys, hippos, etc.
This should not come as a surprise. In its mission statement, Afriforum states that its mission is “to activate minorities in South Africa, ‘particularly Afrikaners’, outside of party politics to participate in public debate and actions, enabling them to enjoy a meaningful and sustainable life in peaceful coexistence with other communities.” Their primary constituency is the Afrikaners.
But even outside of this racial approach to the subject at hand, there are other examples which show that South Africa still has a long way to go in respecting human rights. This submission is confirmed by protest marches across the country where people complain about lack of basic services such as water, houses, and electricity. The rights that people are fighting for are enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The conditions in some of our schools are disappointing. There are schools which have no necessities such as toilets, proper classrooms, laboratories, and libraries. Learners at these schools are expected to perform at the same level as their counterparts in properly resourced schools. The human rights of these learners are being violated by the government. Some schools are closed (especially in rural areas). This forces learners to walk long distances to and from school every day regardless of any adverse weather conditions. Their human rights are being violated.
Two questions are worth asking at this juncture. Firstly, what makes it difficult to respect people’s human rights? Secondly, what should be the way forward?
On the first question, there are various reasons. One is balancing the rights of different interest groups whose needs are not the same, for example, black and white. Another reason is the lack of resources to enable the SAHRC to execute its constitutional mandate. The third reason is appointing incompetent people to occupy critical positions. Lastly is the failure to monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes meant to protect human rights.
On the way forward, a few things should happen. Firstly, a racialised response to human rights violations should be discouraged. Secondly, the government should provide adequate material and financial resources to SAHRC personnel to enable them to carry out their mandate. Thirdly, meritocracy should guide the appointment of office-bearers who serve in the SAHRC. Fourthly, all the existing programmes linked to the protection of human rights should be properly monitored and evaluated.
Failure to do these things would result in sustained complaints from different sections of society about noncompliance with Chapter 2 of the country’s Constitution. No single individual can have a silver bullet that could address all the issues ventilated above. It is only through a concerted effort by all South Africans that we can hope to achieve positive results.
PROF BHEKI MNGOMEZULU Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at Nelson Mandela University.