Strategic Litigation in South Africa and Uganda: Shared Perspectives and Comparative Lessons

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
John C Mubangizi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
South African Constitution ◽  
Strategic Litigation

Abstract The South African Constitution, particularly its Bill of Rights, is regarded as one of the most progressive in the world. The Ugandan Constitution, adopted around the same time as its South African counterpart, also has a Bill of Rights. Lawyers and advocacy groups in both countries have taken advantage of their constitutions to challenge the government to enforce several rights ranging from health care services, education, water and sanitation, to housing and social security, albeit at a lower scale and with less impact and significance in Uganda than South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and determine the constitutional impact of strategic litigation in South Africa and Uganda. The paper begins with a conceptual context of strategic litigation. The specific reasons for the choice of the two countries are highlighted before focusing, in a comparative way, on some relevant organizations and the various court decisions that have emanated from strategic litigation in both countries. The paper identifies similarities and differences between Ugandan and South African approaches to strategic litigation. Conclusions are then made after highlighting the comparative lessons that both countries can learn from each other, but also what other African states can learn from these two countries’ experiences.

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

South African Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Nganje ◽  
Odilile Ayodele
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The World ◽  
Role Conception ◽  
The Government

In its foreign policy posture and ambitions, post-apartheid South Africa is like no other country on the continent, having earned the reputation of punching above its weight. Upon rejoining the international community in the mid-1990s based on a new democratic and African identity, it laid out and invested considerable material and intellectual resources in pursuing a vision of the world that was consistent with the ideals and aspirations of the indigenous anti-apartheid movement. This translated into a commitment to foreground the ideals of human rights, democratic governance, and socioeconomic justice in its foreign relations, which had been reoriented away from their Western focus during the apartheid period, to give expression to post-apartheid South Africa’s new role conception as a champion of the marginalized interests for Africa and rest of the Global South. Since the start of the 21st century, this new foreign policy orientation and its underlying principles have passed through various gradations, reflecting not only the personal idiosyncrasies of successive presidents but also changes in the domestic environment as well as lessons learned by the new crop of leaders in Pretoria, as they sought to navigate a complex and fluid continental and global environment. From a rather naive attempt to domesticate international politics by projecting its constitutional values onto the world stage during the presidency of Nelson Mandela, South Africa would be socialized into, and embrace gradually, the logic of realpolitik, even as it continued to espouse an ethical foreign policy, much to the chagrin of the detractors of the government of the African National Congress within and outside the country. With the fading away of the global liberal democratic consensus into which post-apartheid South Africa was born, coupled with a crumbling of the material and moral base that had at some point inspired a sense of South African exceptionalism, Pretoria’s irreversible march into an unashamedly pragmatic and interest-driven foreign policy posture is near complete.

An Analysis of the State’s Obligation to Provide Access to Sufficient Water: A South African Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 127-140
Author(s):  
Desan Iyer ◽  
Dev Datt Tewari
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Running Water ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Policy Frameworks ◽  
The World ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Progressive Policy ◽  
South African Constitution

Abstract Many people in Africa, and around the world, do not have access to pipe or running water despite efforts being made to actualise socio-economic rights. South Africa is no different. The advent of the South African Constitution, as well as a strong commitment to advancing social and economic rights and values, has seen post-apartheid reforms in South Africa as well as an evolving water framework being confronted with new binary challenges. The era of social change has consequently underscored the need for an urgent redress of incongruences that still exist in respect of access to sufficient water. Despite South Africa adopting progressive policy frameworks for water in recent times, stark inequalities between communities in respect of access to sufficient water remain a contentious issue. The article will seek to analyse the developmental mandate of local government’s responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and giving effect to a key socio-economic right in South Africa.

scholarly journals Towards A Bill of Rights for a Democratic South Africa

1991 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 21-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albie Sachs
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
World Community ◽  
African People ◽  
Constitutional Level ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual

All revolutions are impossible until they happen; then they become inevitable. South Africa has for long been trembling between the impossible and the inevitable, and it is in this singularly unstable situation that the question of human rights and the basics of government in post-apartheid society demands attention.No longer is it necessary to spend much time analysing schemes to modernize, reform liberalize, privatize, or even democratize apartheid. Like slavery and colonialism, apartheid is regarded as irremediably bad. There cannot be good apartheid, or degrees of acceptable apartheid. The only questions are how to end the system as rapidly as possible and how to ensure that the new society which replaces it lives up to the ideals of the South African people and the world community. More specifically, at the constitutional level, the issue is no longer whether to have democracy and equal rights, but how fully to achieve these principles and how to ensure that within the overall democratic scheme, the cultural diversity of the country is accommodated and the individual rights of citizens respected.

Equality and Non-Discrimination in the South African Constitution

2000 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-71
Author(s):  
Joan Small ◽  
Evadne Grant
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
The Law ◽  
South African Constitution

Equality occupies the first place in most written constitutions, but in South Africa, its importance is magnified both in terms of the text of the Constitution and in terms of the context in which that Constitution operates. The Bill of Rights is expected, in South Africa, to help bring about the transformation of the society. These expectations of transformation through the operation of the Bill of Rights are informing the development of the law in relation to equality and non-discrimination by the Constitutional Court. The concept of discrimination is uniquely defined in the South African Bill of Rights. The Courts are struggling to give legal effect to the terminology. The test developed by the Court to interpret the equality clause, it is submitted, is comprehensive and informed. But the application of the test is sometimes problematic. This paper addresses the evolving concepts of equality and discrimination in South Africa and discusses some of the difficulties with certain aspects of the test for discrimination, including the concepts of unfairness and human dignity, which have caused division among the judiciary.

scholarly journals An Empirical Study of Service Delivery within the Provincial Hospital of Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa-A case Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 439-448
Author(s):  
A. Deen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
South African ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Provincial Hospital ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Key Participants

Health care services are an essential component of South African government policy and this is regulated by the Health Act, Act 61 of 2003. The study explores the services offered by the Provincial Hospital KwaZulu Natal, South Africa in relation to service delivery and management practices. The key participants to the study are the patients and staff of the hospital. A structured questionnaire to the patients and departmental heads of the hospital was applied. A structured interview was conducted with strategic level management of the hospital. The results of the study were organized thematically and were triangulated between the results of the various data collecting instruments. A presentation of graphs and tables would be used to facilitate the results of the data. The paper provides sound conclusions and recommendations for efficient and effective management and service delivery within the provincial hospital and which are applicable to many of the provincial hospitals in the country.

scholarly journals SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE (SANDF) DROPS CHARGES AGAINST HIJAB-WEARING OFFICER: CASE IN POINT SOUTH AFRICA

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-206
Author(s):  
Ashraf Booley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The People ◽  
Great Debate ◽  
The Status ◽  
Religious Statement ◽  
The Veil ◽  
South African Constitution ◽  
First Time

Over the last few decades, a piece of fabric has become a powerful and divisive symbol worldwide. Since the tragic events of 9/11, this piece of fabric has become a topic of great debate, at local, national, regional and international level. The veil as worn by some Muslim women has assumed iconic proportions around the globe. To some it symbolizes piety to others, oppression. To some it is a rejection of Western morality to others, a rejection of modernity. To some, it is a religious statement supporting Islam as a way of living; to others, a political statement supporting violent Islamists. These disparate attributions exemplify the power of nonverbal communication and support the maxim that words and objects contain no inherent meaning; only people assigned meaning. This article discusses the status of religious rights and freedoms under the South African Constitution. One aspect of this change is the change that has affected the various religions, cultures, and customs in South Africa. It is therefore, viewed by many as a constitution for the people of South Africa which includes a Bill of Rights. Historically speaking, for the very first time since colonialism, all religions were guaranteed the of religion. Furthermore, religions, cultures and languages are deep-rooted in the various constitutional provisions, namely, sections 9(3), 15(1) to (3), 30, 31, 185 and 234 respectively. These constitutional provisions are solidified by section 7 which obliges the state to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the provisions set forth in the Bill of Rights. The article concludes with an argument for the recognition of plurality of religions and religious legal systems in South Africa.

scholarly journals Fostering Entrepreneurship Education among Women and Girls in South Africa: Destroying the Gendered and Encultured Patriachies

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 227-236
Author(s):  
Tirivangasi H M
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Black People ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
African Women ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
The South ◽  
The World ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
The Government

Gender inequality has been in existence in as much as the humans themselves. The South African women and girls like many other societies around the world are also suffering from the lack of opportunities whilst men still receive favorable treatment. The government of South Africa engaged in the promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as part of empowerment projects for the Black people since the attainment of democratic rule in 1994. Entrepreneurship continues to play an integral role in the South African economy as well as the economies of many developing countries around the world. The creation of new Small and Medium businesses activities contributes to economic growth, job creation, better livelihood of people involved and the communities which surround them. However, there has been a lack of women participation in entrepreneurship businesses in South Africa. Women continue to shy away from starting SMEs. Research reveals that an approximately 6, 2 percent of South African adult women were involved in SMEs in 2015. This is an appalling situation if South Africa is going to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG, goal number five encourages States to ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. The aim of this paper is to identify challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in South Africa, which makes their survival difficult within a patriarchal society.The empirical analysis is based largely on data from information available from sources such as journals, dissertations, thesis, books, conference reports, internet sources, and policy briefs relating to women and entrepreneurship.  

The Independence of Transkei - a Largely Constitutional Inquiry

1978 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Harvey ◽  
W. H. B. Dean
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
White Population ◽  
The World ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

The South African commitment to racial separation is well-known. The deep historic roots of apartheid, the religious fervour with which it is justified by its proponents, and the rapidly growing weight of criticism by which it is condemned throughout the world have served to make it a familiar ideology and policy. Less well-known is the extent to which separation in a relatively superficial, transient context – in stores, theatres, parks, some hotels and restaurants – has been eroded in recent years. Least familiar, despite the substantial propaganda of apologists for the system, is the transmutation of the negative commitment to apartheid into an affirmative effort to foster and guide what the Government labels ‘separate development’. One of the most significant achievements thus far of this policy was the birth on 26 October 1976 of Transkei, presented to a doubting world by its South African parent as a sovereign, independent nation in which its African citizens could work out their destiny, just as the dominant white population of the Republic of South Africa assert an entitlement to realise their own.

scholarly journals The Perception of Professional Nurses About the Introduction of the National Health Insurance (NHI) in a Private Hospital in Gauteng, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 234-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.K. Molokomme ◽  
E. Seekoe ◽  
D.T. Goon
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Gauteng Province ◽  
Care Services ◽  
African Health ◽  
Professional Nurses ◽  
The Government

Introduction:Based on concerns raised by professional nurses working in a private hospital that hinge on financial implication of the NHI, the state of public health sector and implications of the NHI to the South African health system prompted the need to determine their perceptions on the introduction of the NHI in a private hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa.Methods:A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design using a semi-structured individual interview schedule was conducted. Coding and thematic analysis of data were done. The sample was purposive, consisting of 18 professional nurses from a private hospital in Gauteng, South Africa.Results:Findings indicated that they acknowledge the principles of the NHI such as a right to access healthcare, equity, affordability, efficiency, effectiveness and appropriateness. However, there were concerns on the Department of Health’s ability to ensure adequate human resources, sufficient equipment, safe infrastructure, meeting the national core standards which are still hampered by challenges experienced in public hospitals. Participants indicated that the government is not ready for the implementation of the NHI, based on the perceived non-transparency on outcomes from NHI pilot sites.Conclusion:General views concerning funding challenges, based on perceived mismanagement of funds and irregular expenditure as well as poor communication with all stakeholders involved in the implementation of the NHI were raised. The NHI is not only about financing, it involves service delivery, management and governance of health care services. There is a gap in information available to healthcare workers concerning the implementation of the NHI in South Africa.

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