Human rights: SA still has a long way to go to get it right

A lot of progress had been made to entrench human rights culture in SA but there are areas of concern that give an impression of regress in some of the achievements since 1994.

Political analysts and human rights advocates believe the recent police excesses in dealing with protesting students and incidents such as the Marikana massacre, the police killing of civil rights activist Andries Tatane and the death of little Michael Komape in a school pit latrine toilet, were among the low points in the new constitutional democracy order.

South Africa commemorates the 61st anniversary of the Sharpville Massacre, renamed Human Rights Day, on Monday – but many believe human right needs had been overshadowed by disappointments from the state.

Political analyst prof Dirk Kotze blamed the violation of human rights by the police on their training that was “militarised” and inherited from the former apartheid police force.

Kotze said the Saps training and policing in general were not geared towards respecting human rights. Instead, it was based on the use of violence. “Many police officers have grown up in the old culture – they learned it from the apartheid police and even the young recruits are trying to imitate their seniors who know only violence as the way to deal with protests,” Kotze said.

The plight of Michael Komape, who drowned in a pit toilet at school in Limpopo, made international headlines. Gender-based violence has increased, despite the efforts by the state to fight the scourge.

All these undermined the government’s efforts to promote human rights through providing efficient public services.
According to Priscilla Isaacs, DA MP and party spokesperson on education in the Northern Cape, the right to equality
was one of the most violated.

In her contribution to the Human Rights Day debate in the provincial legislature this week, Isaacs said people were often excluded from socioeconomic development based on their race, gender, or disability, among others.

“We have a promise in our constitution and in educational policies that every child has the right to education. We should acknowledge and rejoice in this. But we should also acknowledge that more must be done to improve the quality of education … for every child,” Isaacs said.

The Foundation for Human Rights said Covid-19 gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) had even worsened for
many women who were locked in their homes with their abusers. The victims were prevented by the pandemic restrictions from leaving their homes to seek shelter or assistance.

“The increase of GBVF during the lockdown has shown how the Covid-19 pandemic is another example of women and girls being forced to live in fear, even in their homes.”

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