EU South African Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement: Bane or Boon for Socio-Economic Rights under the South African Constitution?

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 793-810
Author(s):  
Stefaan Smis ◽  
Stephen Kingah
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Cooperation Agreement ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
South African Constitution

scholarly journals Book Review of Socio-Economic Rights: Adjudication under a Transformative Constitution by Sandra Liebenberg

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sital Kalantry ◽  
Elizabeth Brundige
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
South African ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The South ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Economic Relationships ◽  
Socioeconomic Rights ◽  
South African Constitution

The South African Constitution is heralded for the broad protections it affords social and economic rights. In Socio-Economic Rights: Adjudication under a Transformative Constitution, Professor Sandra Liebenberg offers a thoughtful examination of the socioeconomic rights jurisprudence developed by South African courts since the adoption of the country’s current constitution fifteen years ago. In meticulous detail, she describes how the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and other South African courts has evolved in the area of socioeconomic rights. At the same time, she offers an incisive critique of this jurisprudence, identifying how it has too often been shaped by a narrow and formalistic conception of rights that overlooks their social justice purposes and reinforces deeply unequal social and economic relationships. Finally, Liebenberg offers suggestions for the future development of this jurisprudence in ways that would be more consonant with the transformative purposes of the South African Constitution.Published: Book Review of Socio-Economic Rights: Adjudication under a Transformative Constitution by Sandra Liebenberg, 34 Human Rights Quarterly 579 (2012) (with Elizabeth Brundige).

scholarly journals RETHINKING SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN AGENCY: REFLECTIONS OF A LAW STUDENT

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vuso Mhlanga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
The South ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Socioeconomic Rights ◽  
World Bank Report ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
South African Constitution ◽  
Law Student

In this article, I intend to focus on the notion of human agency. I argue that the ideologically laden concept of human agency should constitute an ideological and jurisprudential frame from which socioeconomic rights as enshrined in the Constitution should be construed. I seek to ground my submissions on human agency on theoretical perspectives which challenge the present uneven structures of power in South Africa. This essay draws from a multiplicity of disciplines such as Law, Social Sciences and Development Studies. Such a multipronged disciplinary approach to the notion of human agency furnishes a fresh jurisprudential angle to the manner in which socio-economic rights in the Constitution have been construed. The essay is alive to the March 2018 World Bank Report which sets out in clear detail the inequalities that stifle the agency of the majority of the population in South Africa.11 The essay will reconceptualise the notion of human agency in view of socio-economic rights in the South African Constitution. The philosophical contours which undergird my formulation of the concept of human agency will be discussed. In the end, I will provide some reflections regarding the way forward in an effort to engender agency on many South African citizen.

scholarly journals THE RIGHT TO MOTHER-TONGUE EDUCATION: PRACTICABLE OR NOT?

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrizell Chürr
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Cumulative Effect ◽  
The South ◽  
National Education ◽  
Mother Tongue Education ◽  
South African Constitution ◽  
The Right ◽  
South African Schools Act

Mother-tongue and mother-tongue education are recognized worldwide as one of the most efficient ways to function cognitively and socially. This article addresses the role of proper mother-tongue education with an emphasis on the importance of “language” since language is vital to a child’s right to a basic education in all its dimensions. Without mother-tongue education, every child’s right to learn and to become a skilful adult, able to participate independently in society, is at risk. The cumulative effect of the South African Constitution, the National Education Policy Act, the South African Schools Act, several international instruments and a number of ground-breaking cases, as well as the interaction between them on mother-tongue education will be examined. The implementation of certain education models will also be proposed.

scholarly journals SOME COMMENTS ON WATER RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
N Gabru
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Basic Part ◽  
The Right

Human life, as with all animal and plant life on the planet, is dependant upon fresh water. Water is not only needed to grow food, generate power and run industries, but it is also needed as a basic part of human life. Human dependency upon water is evident through history, which illustrates that human settlements have been closely linked to the availability and supply of fresh water. Access to the limited water resources in South Africa has been historically dominated by those with access to land and economic power, as a result of which the majority of South Africans have struggled to secure the right to water. Apartheid era legislation governing water did not discriminate directly on the grounds of race, but the racial imbalance in ownership of land resulted in the disproportionate denial to black people of the right to water. Beyond racial categorisations, the rural and poor urban populations were traditionally especially vulnerable in terms of the access to the right.  The enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, brought the South African legal system into a new era, by including a bill of fundamental human rights (Bill of Rights). The Bill of Rights makes provision for limited socio-economic rights. Besides making provision for these human rights, the Constitution also makes provision for the establishment of state institutions supporting constitutional democracy.  The Constitution has been in operation since May 1996. At this stage, it is important to take stock and measure the success of the implementation of these socio-economic rights. This assessment is important in more ways than one, especially in the light of the fact that many lawyers argued strongly against 1/2the inclusion of the second and third generation of human rights in a Bill of Rights. The argument was that these rights are not enforceable in a court of law and that they would create unnecessary expectations of food, shelter, health, water and the like; and that a clear distinction should be made between first generation and other rights, as well as the relationship of these rights to one another. It should be noted that there are many lawyers and non-lawyers who maintained that in order to confront poverty, brought about by the legacy of apartheid, the socio-economic rights should be included in a Bill of Rights. The inclusion of section 27 of the 1996 Constitution has granted each South African the right to have access to sufficient food and water and has resulted in the rare opportunity for South Africa to reform its water laws completely. It has resulted in the enactment of the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 and the National Water Act 36 of 1998.In this paper the difference between first and second generation rights will be discussed. The justiciability of socio-economic rights also warrants an explanation before the constitutional implications related to water are briefly examined. Then the right to water in international and comparative law will be discussed, followed by a consideration of the South African approach to water and finally, a few concluding remarks will be made.

scholarly journals The Law and Practice of Criminal Asset Forfeiture in South African Criminal Procedure: A Constitutional Dilemma

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1069
Author(s):  
Vinesh Basdeo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
The South ◽  
European Court ◽  
Proceeds Of Crime ◽  
Asset Forfeiture ◽  
South African Constitution

The deprivation of the proceeds of crime has been a feature of criminal law for many years. The original rationale for the confiscation of criminal assets at international level was the fight against organised crime, a feature of society described by the European Court of Human Rights as a "scourge" so that the draconian powers which are a feature of confiscation regimes around the world have been approved in circumstances which otherwise might have caused governments considerable difficulties before the international human rights tribunals.[1] The primary objective of this article is to determine if the asset forfeiture measures employed in the South African criminal justice system are in need of any reform and/or augmentation in accordance with the "spirit, purport and object" of the South African Constitution.[2] This article attempts to answer three questions. Firstly, why is criminal asset forfeiture important to law enforcement? Secondly, in which circumstances can property be forfeited and what types of property are subject to forfeiture? Thirdly, how is forfeiture accomplished, and what are its constitutional ramifications? 

scholarly journals Socio-economic rights and women in South Africa: nothing but a handful of feathers?

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M K Ingle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Science ◽  
South African ◽  
Gender Studies ◽  
The State ◽  
Development Studies ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
South African Constitution

The Bill of Rights contained within South Africa’s Constitution features a number of ‘socio- economic rights’. Although these rights are justiciable they are subject to various limitations. They generally entail a positive onus on the part of the state to provide some good – not immediately, but ‘progressively’. Women have a direct interest in the realization of these rights and, where given effect to, they should exert a positive developmental impact. Some authorities are, however, of the opinion that socio-economic rights are not really enforceable. This article contends that the provision of social goods, by the state, should be the concomitant of the disciplined implementation of policy. Delivery should not therefore be contingent upon the legalistic vagaries of the human rights environment.Keywords: Socio-economic rights; justiciability; Bill of Rights; development; South African Constitution; womenDisciplines: Development Studies;Human Rights; Gender Studies; Political Science

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