Deputy Speaker, in the 1980s hon Eric Mtshali taught me and other lawyers that in the new South Africa we must guarantee, not just protect, workers' rights.
These wise words of our veteran, hon Mtshali, should apply with equal force to the rights of women, children and people living with disabilities. Spurred on by these wise words, I decided to title my address, "Working together to guarantee the dignity of all".
Slavery and colonialism forcibly deprived black people of their human dignity and they were treated as subhuman beings. On 21 March 1960, apartheid security forces shot and killed 69 peaceful demonstrators who were demonstrating against the inhumane apartheid system. This massacre is commemorated annually as a reminder that we must act more decisively to combat racism, discrimination and intolerance. Today we honour the people of Sharpeville who were gunned down in cold blood by the apartheid security forces.
On Monday, 21 March 2011, we paid tribute to the patriots who lost their lives in this massacre. In memory of these patriots, we must remind ourselves that their protests were part of a broader struggle for freedom and justice, informed by the moral vision expounded by the founders of our democracy from the close of the 19th century.
In his exposition of this moral vision, Rev John Langalibalele Dube called for a new African society that is spiritual, humane, caring and prosperous. Pixley ka Isaka Seme embraced this vision in his oration titled The Regeneration of Africa, in which he also called for a unique civilisation for Africa and Africans.
In 1919, the then president of the ANC, Sefako Mapogo Makgatho, outlined the mission of the ANC as being, amongst other things:
To destroy racism and to create on its ruins a nonracist South Africa with traditional democratic rights that would be available to all, irrespective of race, colour, religion, sex, possession, formal education ...
Hardly two years thereafter, in 1921, Rev Z R Mahabane observed in his speech titled "We are not political children", that African people had been rendered landless, voteless, homeless, hopeless, degraded and dehumanised. Thus, in 1923, he told the national conference of the African National Congress that given these conditions, the ANC must strive to recover the humanity - ubuntu botho - of African people as a prerequisite for the recovery of all South Africans, both black and white.
At its 1923 national conference, the ANC adopted its first Bill of Rights, the first on the African continent, which reasserted African humanity and the right of African people to participate in the economic life of the country.
In 1943 the ANC amplified the social and economic clauses of the 1923 Bill of Rights in its African claims. The African claims demanded the right of African people to self-determination and human rights such as education and health care.
African people had participated in World War II on the side of the Allied forces, hoping that in the event of victory they would be granted these rights. President Theodore Roosevelt of the US and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, however, denied Africans their rights on the grounds of the colour of their skin.
Both the UN Charter of 1945 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 failed or neglected to extend the right of self-determination and human rights to African people. In 1948 the National Party came to power on the platform of racism and racial discrimination.
Notwithstanding the racially discriminatory policies and laws of the people of European descent, the ANC stood firm by its mission of creating a nonracial and democratic society based on the common humanity of all South Africans, both black and white.
No wonder that in 1955 the Congress of the People, led by the ANC, adopted the Freedom Charter, which reasserted the right of the people of South Africa, as a whole, to land and its natural resources; and the right to establish a nonracial, democratically elected government, justice for all and equal opportunities for all. Thus the Freedom Charter provided an alternative vision to apartheid in South Africa.
In his keynote address at the commemoration of National Human Rights Day at the Athlone Stadium here in Cape Town, President Jacob Zuma reminded us that the Freedom Charter -
... still remains an inspiring and visionary document that has shaped the development of democracy in South Africa and also forms the basis of our democratic Constitution.
The Freedom Charter and African claims are amongst key human-rights-based documents in the country's history and national archives.
There can and should be no doubt in the mind of anyone in this House that the ANC was the architect and guarantor of a human rights culture and it remains its reliable custodian and protector.
The democratic breakthrough of 1994 enabled South Africans to collectively affirm belief in inalienable human dignity and its inherent values of equality, freedom and justice for all. These basic rights are not manna from heaven. They are the product of protracted struggles of the people of Sharpeville, Langa, Boipatong, Matola, Sekhukhuneland, Pondoland and other parts of the country. This must be asserted and protected at all times.
The founding President of the Republic and our icon, Nelson Mandela, realised that citizenship rights alone could not and would not fully restore human dignity and its inherent basic human rights. In particular, he realised that the legacy of apartheid colonialism imposed on us a moral, political and constitutional duty to free and develop the full potential of all South Africans to enable them to work together for the improvement of their quality of life.
In his own words, Madiba said:
The new Constitution obliges us to strive to improve the quality of life of the people. In this sense, our national consensus recognises that there is nothing else that can justify the existence of government but to redress the centuries of unspeakable privations, by striving to eliminate poverty, illiteracy, homelessness and diseases.
Spurred on by these wise words of our icon, President Jacob Zuma ably linked the restoration of our human dignity to decent education, health care, safety and security, rural development and land reform. The declaration by President Zuma that 2011 is a year to create decent jobs and transform the economy reveals a deep-seated conviction that the unbearable socioeconomic conditions in which the black majority live in this country must change, and change faster.
Hence the President called on all of us to work faster, better and smarter to speed up service delivery to the people of South Africa as a whole, especially people living in townships, informal settlements and rural areas.
The creation of jobs and the transformation of the economy is the surest way of restoring and protecting the human dignity of all South Africans, both black and white, and to guarantee it by extending socioeconomic rights to all our people in terms of our justiciable Bill of Rights. Our government stated unequivocally that human rights are women's and children's rights and that human rights are workers' rights. It is this conviction that led Mrs Albertina Sisulu and Sister Bennett Ncube to stand up for women and children's rights in the second half of the 80s. They established the National Children's Rights Committee and partnered with Unicef, a UN agency, to protect women and children's rights.
Spurred on by these veterans of our struggle for freedom, our government, Lead SA and the National Interfaith Movement, yesterday, 23 March 2010, launched a Bill of Responsibilities here in Cape Town. This Bill will ensure that every school and house of worship becomes a site for human and people's rights education.
On Sunday, 19 March 2011, the Roman Catholic Church in Midrand issued a pastoral letter endorsing this Bill of Responsibilities and advocating the cultivation of rights and responsibilities in the minds of our children. This Bill will truly and certainly inculcate the values of human dignity, equality and freedom, and build the character of our children.
This Parliament should commend President Zuma's administration and its media and social partners for this giant step in defence of human dignity.
The policy imperatives of this activist Parliament include public education. Each parliamentary constituency office, PCO, like every family and school, should become a site for human and people's rights education. Every PCO outreach programme should include a human rights education aspect to empower our people to stand up for their rights and to explode the myth that human rights take away the authority of parents over their children.
The other policy imperative of this activist Parliament is to guarantee and enforce public involvement and participation through various programmes such Taking Parliament to the People, people's assemblies and sectoral parliaments.
The widespread service delivery protests in some provinces suggested that, as public representatives, we have not used these programmes optimally and to ensure that we maintain contact with our people, especially women and youth in rural areas, townships and informal settlements. We allowed a social distance to grow between us and the masses of our people.
To remedy this situation, this House resolved to establish a nation- building and heritage committee. It will intercede and intervene with the executive, other organs of the state and business on behalf of the masses of our people. The committee will enable us to interact, inter alia, with rural women and youth, students and all sectors to ensure, as the President called upon us to do, that we know where the people live, how they think and what they want, as well as ensure that we minister to their needs.
This activist Parliament is an integral part of our rights-based constitutional order and must serve as a guarantor of human and people's rights and close the gap between government and the people, to ensure that no one takes the law into their own hands out of desperation or ignorance.
This activist Parliament has a primary responsibility of building cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. It will use partnerships, as the hon Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe often advises, to participate and contribute to nation-building and deepening and entrenching the culture of democracy and human rights.
This year's international commemoration has a special focus on the people of African descent. Hon members will recall that in 2009 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution making 2011 the International Year for People of African Descent. At the centre of this resolution is the promotion of the economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights of the people of African descent, as well as their participation and integration in all aspects of society.
The commemoration must remind us not only of the persistent exclusions and marginalisation of people of African descent in some African countries, but also in the diaspora. Many of these diaspora Africans are the progeny of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, one of the greatest stains on the human conscience.
Statistics bear out the enormity of this crime against humanity. It is believed that 14 million Africans were transported to America as slaves and another 14 million to the East. In America alone, the number of the descendants of the African slaves exceeds 200 million and many of them live under dire circumstances.
In her article titled "African descendants suffer prejudice rooted in the atrocity of slave trading", Navi Pillay observed that dispora Africans -
... are often among those who are affected the most by poverty, unemployment and precarious living conditions. This is not a mere accident of fate.
We must recognise that at the root of this deplorable reality is structural discrimination that had its origins in places like Goree Island. Indeed, the legacy of the slave trade persists in many of today's practices. We see reflections of discrimination against African descendants in racial profiling, over-representation in prison populations, and poor access to quality education, justice and health services. All these obstacles, created by prejudice, intolerance and inequality, deny millions of people their universal human rights.
The resolution on the International Day for People of African Descent confirms the legitimacy of our affirmative action legislation and programme as mechanisms to reverse discrimination.
As recently as April 2009, at the Durban Review Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, 182 countries agreed that a renewed commitment was imperative to counter these scourges.
In memory of the heroes and heroines who fell in the struggle for the protection of human dignity and its inherent and inalienable rights in Africa and the diaspora, let us take this opportunity to express solidarity with people of African descent and generate long and overdue remedies that can address their plight and entitlement to a life of dignity and prosperity.
These international developments pose a challenge to this Parliament to strengthen its committee on the Interparliamentary Group on International Relations, PGIR, and to reinforce our participation in international fora and use the PGIR as a report-back mechanism to this Parliament.
The ANC calls on this Parliament to assume responsibility for a politically driven public education programme including workers', women's and children's rights. We believe that the phasing out of the public democracy offices and channelling of resources to politically driven public political education will stand us in good stead.
The ANC calls on Parliament to make resources available for mechanisms to interact and intercede with the executive, other organs of state and business on behalf of the people.
Addressing the NCOP, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe reiterated and emphasised the centrality of an activist Parliament in ensuring that we deliver quality services to our people, so that their human dignity can be deepened and entrenched in our motherland. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, it is an honour for me to participate in this important debate on human rights. As we marked the 51st anniversary of Human Rights Day on 21 March, we acknowledge what we as a nation have achieved thus far.
We have a Constitution that safeguards the Bill of Rights. We have Chapter 9 institutions that ensure that those rights are protected and promoted. Chairperson, the question, however, that we need to ask ourselves today, is: Are we still on track or have we lost focus? The bold answer is: No. We are not on track and we have completely lost the plot.
South Africa was hailed as a beacon of hope and champion of human rights, post-1994; however, in recent years we have seen our human rights record fall in disgrace.
The fundamental pillar of our foreign policy has been the promotion of human rights. Since 1999, the shift has been to economic diplomacy, which has seen South Africa enter into relations with very questionable countries who are world-renowned for human rights abuses, like China, North Korea and Zimbabwe.
Our track record in the United Nations Security Council leaves much to be desired. We hope that we use this new term of office to redeem our pride. We have been quiet about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, where human rights abuses are still continuing as we speak.
Our support to Libya and our stance on the Ivory Coast are a case in point to illustrate that South Africa has lost its human rights moral high ground. Chairperson, our Constitution ensures freedom of speech and freedom of association and assembly, while we still observe acts of political intolerance like the one on Human Rights Day in Athlone, Cape Town. Furthermore, our Constitution says that: South Africa belongs to all who live in it and respect human dignity and equality.
Yet, we observed very brutal acts of violence against foreign nationals with acts of xenophobia in 2008. The South African Human Rights Commission reflects that:
The deepening levels of inequality, continued unemployment and structured poverty, are endemic in South African society and exacerbate an already fragile tension.
People resort to violence to resolve their issues or to get the authorities' attention on poor service delivery. Social conflict and discrimination are a source of concern in South Africa and this should be changed by holding the government accountable.
Chairperson, we cannot celebrate dignity and equality while South Africa is the most unequal society in the world and people are still trapped in poverty. We don't have access to basic services like water, roads, housing, electricity and education. All these basic services are enshrined in our Bill of Rights, yet people still struggle.
They feel that their dignity is compromised and they are less equal than others. People feel poverty, not freedom, because of unemployment. Poverty still remains our biggest enemy and is the one that erodes a sense of dignity and self-worth.
Peace in Africa and the world is important. Hence, we call upon the government to champion the ratification and implementation of the African Union, AU, Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. This charter promotes adherence to universal values and principles of democracy and respect for human rights, for the attainment of peace, security and democratic governance in Africa, which will erode all the conflicts that we are experiencing in Africa.
The DA's open opportunity society for all ensures that opportunities are open for all South African citizens irrespective of race, gender or class, where an individual's dignity and worth are protected. The DA believes in equality before the law, respect for individual rights, upholding of the Constitution and the rule of law. This ensures that there is recognition of dignity, equality, freedom, justice and peace.
In conclusion, Chairperson, South Africa should understand its role in the international community and we should be taking our role very seriously as the biggest democracy and champion of human rights in Africa and the beacon of hope for the world.
We need to work hard to remedy our dented international image by upholding our founding principle of promotion and protection of human rights, thereby ensuring dignity, equality, freedom, justice and peace for all. Democracy, good governance and respect for human rights will make us achieve the African agenda. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, our Constitution has received international recognition as one of the best in the world. It recognises and guarantees the inherent dignity and equality of every citizen. It represents a complete break with the past, which was characterised by disregard for human dignity, inequality before the law and oppressive rule.
Our Constitution states, and I quote:
Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.
Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
To understand the significance of this provision of our Constitution, we need to look a bit closer. "Inherently" means the right to enjoy opportunities, to participate in politics, to meet in free assembly, to elect a government and to return to a home and family after an honest day's work.
While everyone in our country can vote, not everyone has a job; while people can live where they choose, most people do not have a decent roof over their heads; and while many people are becoming very rich, the majority cannot find jobs. This needs to be changed.
Poor persons in our country are still largely marginalised. They're vulnerable, they're hungry, and unable to provide for their families. Many people lack knowledge, skills and access to resources. Poor people do not feel empowered or dignified; and many of them feel let down and experience a sense of despair.
An unskilled labour force is one of the greatest dangers to our country's future. We have tens of thousands of people who can be labelled as discouraged job seekers. They live their lives in drawn-out despair.
On the occasion of this debate on human rights today, we should pause and reflect deeply on this theme of inherent dignity and equality. Such reflection should underscore the importance of upholding our promises to the poor and being their champions. After all, we are the custodians of our Constitution and all that it guarantees.
As it stands, our country is the most unequal in the world. On the other hand, our Constitution guarantees the greatest equality for all. It is inconceivable that guaranteed freedom equates with unrelieved misery and bondage.
Today, let us join forces to eradicate poverty so that we fulfil our constitutional mandate to give all South Africans their fundamental right to enjoy dignity and equality. Let us live up to our promise to the people and ensure their enjoyment of their human rights. I thank you.
House Chairperson and hon members, Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya have happened as a direct result of the human response to the suppression and erosion of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of those countries. So did Sharpeville and the subsequent uprisings in other South African black townships 51 years ago.
The national liberation project should be credited for putting in place a Constitution and democratic institutions that entrench, safeguard and guarantee all citizens' rights and liberties. However, a critical social question persists as to whether the country is succeeding in harmonising the prerogatives of the state with the rights and inherent dignity of all citizens.
Wise counsel has it that we are struggling to effect this harmony, and simply because we have ignored the divine national project initiated by the first President of a liberated South Africa, Mr Nelson Mandela. As one of the South Africa's visionary leaders, Mr Mandela believed that a postapartheid South Africa should first embrace and make national reconciliation and nation-building the cardinal prerequisites to attain a peaceful and prosperous society; one that will recognise, respect and uphold the fundamental rights and freedoms of all South Africa's diverse people.
In his wisdom, Mr Mandela was empirically convinced that our particular history of repression has left the people with a bitter legacy exhibited through their anger, hatred, intolerance, suspicion and fear. Until these social demons have been exorcised from the entire body politic, the people will endlessly mill around at the crossroads of mistrust, accusation and counteraccusation, devoid of peaceful families and communities.
Today I must say, as a consequence of our own intransigence, the country faces a widespread resurgence of racism, discriminatory practices and the possibility of permanent polarisation of racial and ethnic groups. We have turned on their heads some of the noble ideas coming out of the period of enlightenment on the moral values of liberty, equality and tolerance, championed by the likes of John Locke, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, only to pursue the cause that inevitably perpetuates and deepens socioeconomic inequalities and injustices against the poor majority of our country's men, women and children.
Karl Marx himself became sceptical of what he termed, "the false messiahs of socialism" who confused the people because of their ambivalent economic policies. We have not been spared this kind of ordeal, hon members.
The political and moral philosophy of ubuntu, the quintessential guardian and protector of human rights and freedoms, was handed down to Africans by among others, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Credo Muthwa and many other African philosophers and thinkers. We have today subverted these ideals, yielding to moral and political decadence, with violence, crime and corruption eating away at the socioeconomic rights and dignities of citizens.
Our country, I must say, will have to undergo radical and painful paradigm shifts, compelling us to put reconciliation at the core of our public policies to take us beyond the dogmatic creed of past miracles and the fantasies of a rainbow nation.
In this way we will truly uphold the rights and freedoms of all our citizens and maintain confidence in the democratic institutions of the state. Therefore, this august House should seriously opt to become the custodian and the champion of the project on national reconciliation and peace-building to heal our land. I thank you. [Applause.]
House Chairperson, Human Rights Day is a time for us to take stock of how far have we come since 1994 in advancing the human rights of all South Africans. We believe that in some areas we have made significant progress, while in others we have not moved fast enough. Alarmingly enough, in some areas like health we have gone backwards.
We call upon everyone involved to recommit ourselves to entrench human rights for all. Many brave people fought for these rights that are contained in our Constitution. It is our duty to take forward the legacy by standing up for human rights, both here and abroad. I thank you.
House Chairperson, hon members, it is altogether fitting and proper that we commemorate the fateful events that took place in Sharpeville on 21 March 1960, where the South African Police opened fire on unarmed people who were marching peacefully against repressive pass laws. They injured and killed many of them.
Former President Thabo Mbeki's speech, "I am an African", aptly summarises the courage of our people during the struggle for liberation when he says:
I am born ... of a people who would not tolerate oppression. I am of a nation that would not allow that fear of death, torture, imprisonment, exile or persecution should result in the perpetuation of injustice.
Human Rights Day should serve as a reminder of how courageously we as the people fought for all the rights and freedoms we now enjoy. Our people's fight for liberation was in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, as adopted on 10 December 1948, which says:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
We are often flabbergasted by the extent to which many among us very so often take the freedoms and rights we enjoy for granted.
Human rights and the freedoms that underpin our democratic society depend on a culture of tolerance. It was sad to see President Zuma, our Head of State, failing to intervene or strongly condemn the shocking intolerance demonstrated by a section of ANC supporters when they booed the ID leader, the hon Patricia de Lille, during her speech at Athlone Stadium during the Human Rights Day commemoration on Monday this week. Why should our hard- earned democracy ... Thank you. [Time expired.]
Ngithokoze Sihlalo, angithathe lelithuba ngithi kini noke maLunga ahloniphekileko wePalamende ngiyanilotjhisa, akwande! [Thank you, Chairperson, let me take this opportunity to greet all hon members; good day.]
It is fitting that this debate occurs a few days after the commemoration of 21 March 1960, and the annual celebration of 21 March, since the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994, as national Human Rights Day.
Hon Prof Ben Turok, Member of Parliament, in the introduction of the book titled The Historical Roots of the ANC, writes as follows:
After the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, black South Africans were governed as conquered, colonial peoples who could claim no rights.
Before the dawn of democracy, which is 27 April 1994, there were human wrongs in this country, in that there were no human rights. There were injustices; frequent states of emergencies and detentions without trial; solitary confinement accompanied by torture: people placed in what were called "waarheidkamers"[truth rooms]; the hit squads of notorious places like Vlakplaas; and the disappearance of our loved ones, the whereabouts of whom still remain unknown even to this day. There was oppression of person by person, exploitation, deprivation and so on and so forth. As we commemorate Human Rights Day these days, we pause and remember our fallen heroes and many who still bear the scars and feel the pain caused by the human rights abuses of the past. We remember people like the human rights lawyers, Griffiths Mxenge and Victoria Mxenge, who were bludgeoned to death by the forces of evil. May their souls rest in peace. [Applause.]
People who protested unarmed at Sharpeville in 1960 were still busy singing, "Nkosi sikelel' i-Afrika; Morena boloka sechaba sa heso; Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika; Hosi katekisa Afrika", God sen Afrika", all of which means: God bless Africa.
Before they had completed this prayer the police, who were by then enforcing and protecting the policies of the day, opened fire. The commission, headed by a judge, found that most people had gunshot wounds in their backs. This is because they were already running away when the police shot at them.
I personally had an opportunity to serve as a member of the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC. This commission was established as an opportunity for South Africans to say, "Let bygones be bygones".
Wat verby is, is verby. [Let bygones be bygones.]
On the one hand, victims of gross human rights violations came forward and told painful stories about their experiences; on the other hand, only a few perpetrators came forward and told half-truths when they were supposed to make a full disclosure. A number of them never came forward. They are still roaming the streets of our country.
As we commemorate Human Rights Day, we remember that the Preamble to the TRC Act provides as follows:
Since the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act No 200 of 1993), provides a historic bridge between the past of a deeply divided society characterised by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice, and a future founded on the recognition of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence for all South Africans, irrespective of colour, race, class, belief or sex.
The Preamble continues:
And since the Constitution states that there is a need for understanding but not for vengeance, a need for reparation, but not for retaliation, a need for ubuntu but not for victimization.
The Preamble to the interim Constitution states as follows:
Whereas there is a need to create a new order in which all South Africans will be entitled to a common South African citizenship in a sovereign and democratic constitutional state in which there is equality between men and women and people of all races so that all citizens shall be able to enjoy and exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms.
What we need to do is to work together in striving for inherent dignity and equality. We need to work together to protect human dignity for all. A question arises as to who should work together. An answer to this can be found in considering the role of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary - in other words the three arms of government.
One should also pose a question and ask: What is the role of civil society in protecting dignity and equality for all? The functions and governing principles of state institutions supporting constitutional democracy - Chapter 9 institutions or the watchdogs on human rights - are clearly spelt out in the Constitution.
In this debate, I would like to reflect on the progress that has since been made so far to enhance access to justice. I shall do so by highlighting some of the important legislative interventions that were taken jointly by the three arms of government, geared to improve the administration of justice. I also want to refer to the role that was played by the liberation movements and civil society, and the contribution of peace-loving countries, both on the African continent and abroad during the dark days of apartheid.
I am also posing a question to civil society and professional legal bodies such as the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, Nadel; the Black Lawyers Association, BLA; Lawyers for Human Rights, LHR; the Legal Resources Centre, LRC; and the Black Sash, etc. I remember the role that was played by one of the organisations that was very popular and that amalgamated to form Nadel - the Chief Whip, the hon Mathole Motshekga, can tell you more about it. This was the Democratic Lawyers Congress, DLC, and its slogan was, "No lawyer shall be free until Nelson Mandela is free". In Pretoria ya-Tshwane, they were called diloyara tsa mzabalazo [activists' lawyers].
Batjho thina-ke. [Iwahlo.] [They referred to us. [Applause.]]
What is currently their role in realising socioeconomic rights? It is because the harassment on farms and evictions and denial of the right to vote is still the order of the day in some places. Farm dwellers and workers say that they do not know these human rights and freedoms that we are talking about and busy celebrating. When it is election time, these farm dwellers are forced to work overtime; otherwise they will be evicted and be told to go to Mandela if they complain.
Domestic workers who qualify to vote where they work and sleep are given leave and sent away from towns during local government elections as a strategy to deprive them of their right to vote where they reside and work most of the time.
During the course of this week, two important occasions are taking place, namely the launch of the Bill of Responsibilities and the launch of the report on South Africa's children. In fact, this second one is happening today in Midrand, and it is a review of equity and child rights. This is highly commendable.
I would like to quote from section 9 of the Constitution - you know, it is a handy book which can just be put in the pocket and whenever one is being challenged one can just take it out and quote from it. Section 9 on equality states that:
Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
Similarly, when one looks at section 10, on human dignity, it states the following:
Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.
Regarding the role played by Parliament and the executive, let me deal with the equality that was brought about by the establishment of the civil jurisdiction for a regional court division. I was personally tasked to ensure that the Bill in this regard is passed into an Act of Parliament. I want to thank the former chairperson of the Justice portfolio committee, hon Yunus Carrim.
It is important to place the extension of civil jurisdiction to the regional court within the context of the transformation of the judiciary, which finds reflection in the Constitution.
The structure, jurisdiction and functions of the magistrates' courts derive from the Magistrates' Courts Act of 1944.
Before August 2010, the regional courts had the jurisdiction to adjudicate only in criminal matters. Services relating to civil law were a preserve of the High Courts, while divorce courts were designed to adjudicate over divorce matters of the blacks.
The legislation was the culmination of endeavours to increase the powers of the regional courts since 1987. The Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act will, in the medium to long term, reduce the workload of the High Courts. Attorneys will have the opportunity to represent their clients in matters where they would ordinarily brief counsel. This will, in turn, reduce the cost of litigation and thereby increase access to justice. I had the opportunity to be invited, firstly, to the 12th and later the 14th Annual Miller Du Toit Cloete/University of the Western Cape Faculty of Law Family Law Conferences that were held in 2008 and 2011. I spoke about the civil jurisdiction of regional courts initially, while it was the subject of a Bill and as late as last week on Friday, 18 March 2011, when it was already enshrined in an Act of Parliament.
I pointed out that it is important that the anomaly that previously existed was eventually redressed by the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act of 2008, which abolished the Administration Amendment Act of 1929, which had established the divorce courts exclusively for blacks.
By virtue of this Act, the divorce courts were integrated into the structure of the regional divisions and 62 seats of regional civil courts were established countrywide to adjudicate over divorce and civil disputes from R100 000 up to and including R300 000.
Before the changes brought about by this amendment, litigants had no choice but to litigate cases in the High Court. In circumstances where the jurisdictional amount of a course of action exceeded R100 000 and the parties did not consent to the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court, it was not feasible to abandon a substantial portion of the claim. Since the promulgation of this Act, litigants have a choice of litigating in the regional court or the High Court. The following are important implementation steps that seek to ensure that the transformative goals envisaged in this significant legislation will be realised. I will mention just a few because of a lack of time: additional posts of 21 regional magistrates were created, and 62 registrars and assistant registrars were appointed for each of the 62 seats.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development has further proclaimed the monetary jurisdiction of the 62 regional courts, which I have alluded to above. The Minister has further approved new rules of courts made by the rules board to facilitate the adjudication of civil disputes by the regional courts, as well as to harmonise the rules of the magistrates' courts with those of the High Courts as far as it is practically possible.
An additional five posts for family advocates were created and those posts were advertised by the Office of the Family Advocate. This increases the capacity of the Office of the Family Advocate to handle family matters in the regional courts.
The Act brought fundamental changes, which require massive training and reskilling of magistrates and court personnel to implement. All the above initiatives indicate the commitment by all role-players to ensure that the civil justice machinery benefits the ordinary people who yearn for equal justice.
There are, nevertheless, challenges in the implementation of this legislation which require concerted efforts by all role- layers involved in the justice system value chain. These challenges, however, are not insurmountable.
Let me just reflect briefly on the conference that I alluded to above. It had a session on jurisdictional issues in child and family law after the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act. Participants spoke about their experiences and the challenges they encountered on the ground in the implementation of this piece of legislation. The conference undertook to submit a report to both the Justice portfolio committee and to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Working together we can protect equality and human dignity.
I have been reliably advised by the policy unit of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development that it will undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of this legislation, which will identify possible solutions that need to be implemented by all involved to perfect the system. I am confident that the outcome of the conference will assist the department in providing solutions to some of the challenges that were highlighted during the frank but robust debates during that conference.
The national holidays should be observed, commemorated or celebrated for the real purpose or significance of the particular day. Esikubonileko Sihlalo, kukuthi sibone ezinye iinhlangano zisebenzisa ilanga laka-21 kuNtaka ukobana zikhambe ziyo khankasela amakhetho wabo masipala namkha wamakhansela. Sibona abanye baya eSiyabuswa, nabafika khona ngeSiyabuswa basahlela ihlangano ye-ANC, bakhwela bezehlela. Abazi bona iSiyabuswa yakhelwa ebudisini obungangani.
Abantu abamaNdebele bebahlala e-Doornkop nge-Middleburg eMhluzi, lapho kubizwa nge-Steve Tshwete Municipality namhlanje. Abantu labo basuswa ngekani ma-forced removals. Nabalako ukusuka, kweza ama-bulldozers, babasusa ngekani babasa ngeSiyabuswa. Namhlanjesi sibawa bona iinhlangano ezifana nalezi zenze irhubhululo zithole bona iKosi ekungiyo iKosi yamaNdebele ngubani?
Sibone unamfazi bambathise ingubo yesikhethu, unokhethwako, ngarareka ngathi babake! Ubamkhulu walala angakaboni. Abakhabe baphethe esikhathini esigandungileko azange nangalinye ilanga bawahloniphe amaKhosi wendabuko nanyana wemvelo. Bebathi nabakhuluma ngamakhosi waphetjheya, bawabize ngama- Kings, bathi u-King George kodwana bathe nabafika ephasini le-Afrika, bahlisela ubujamo bamakhosi phasi bawa biza ngabo-Chief. Nangabe kuyiNgwenyama bathi, Paramount Chief. Kubayini u-George angabizwa ngo- Paramount Chief naye ngokwakhe. [Ihlombe.] [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Emaswapheleni, ngifuna ukutjho bonyana ngiyabawa esitjhabeni sekhethu bonyana singadoyiswa babantu, babalalelise kuhle. Begodu siyabawa esitjhabeni sekhethu kobana mhlana amalanga amasumi nabunane 18 kuMrhayili basebenzise ilungelo lokukhetha ngendlela efaneleko. Lelilungelo leza budisi. Kwaphalaka iingazi, abobaba basukela amakhaya wabo, batjhiya abomma nabantwana bayokulwela lelilungelo lokukhetha. Abantwana batjhiya abazali babo baya emazweni laphe bangaziwa khona bayokulwela lelilungelo lokukhetha. (Translation of isiNdebele paragraphs follows.)
[What we have seen, Chairperson, is that some of the political parties use 21 March to go and campaign for the municipal elections or for their councillors. We have seen some in Siyabuswa and when they arrived in Siyabuswa they attacked the ANC, and they said whatever they wished to say. They do not know that Siyabuswa was built under conditions of hardship.
The Ndebele people lived in Doornkop near Middleburg in Mhluzi under the jurisdiction of the Steve Tshwete municipality. Those people were forcibility removed, and when they resisted the removals bulldozers were called in and took them to Siyabuswa. We are appealing to such political parties to go and conduct research in order for them to find out who the real king of the Ndebele people is.
We saw a white woman wearing a traditional Ndebele blanket. I was shocked to see that and I immediately realised that my grandfather passed on without seeing anything. Those who were in power previously did not even on a single day respect our traditional leaders. When they referred to the western kings, they addressed them as kings. They would say King George, but when they arrived in Africa they degraded our kings to the level of a chief. If it were the king they would call him a paramount chief. Why is George not also called a paramount chief?
Lastly, I would like to appeal to the nation not to be misled by other people. They must listen carefully. I am also appealing to the nation to use the opportunity of 18 May to exercise their right to vote in a proper manner. This right came under very difficult circumstances. There was bloodshed; fathers left their homes and their wives and children to go and fight for this voting right. Children left their parents and fled to other countries they did not know to fight for this voting right.]
The national anthem ends with the words:
Let us live and strive for freedom, in South Africa our land.
I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, this year's topic for our human rights debate is "Recognition of inherent dignity and equality: The foundation of freedom, justice and peace".
In a year that sees a municipal election being held, it is most appropriate that Parliament debates the protection of dignity and equality for all South Africans and behaves in a manner that exemplifies a Parliament that is committed to the protection of the fundamental values of freedom, justice and peace.
Allow me to use this opportunity to remind South Africans how important the right to vote is. Too many South Africans have lost their lives to ensure that we have this right, for us not to exercise it. We have a responsibility to ensure that we do not waste our most valuable right.
The Preamble of our Constitution states, and I quote:
We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
Our diversity is a great strength and we as South Africans, must stand firm and refuse to allow any person, regardless of his or her position in government, to allow in any way that rifts be caused on the basis of race, culture or ethnicity.
Freely elected South African public representatives adopt our Constitution, which entrenches our right to equality, human dignity, life, freedom, security of person, freedom of association and political rights, amongst other things.
It gives me great pleasure to remind the House that in the very province in which our President intimated that anyone not voting ANC would not make it to the proverbial Pearly Gates, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs declared Baviaans municipality, the only DA-run municipality in the Eastern Cape, to be the best service-delivering municipality in that province. It is quite simple. Service delivery ensures protection of human rights. Where services aren't delivered, human rights are not protected.
We as South Africans must stand tall and stand proud. We have one of the world's finest constitutions. Embrace it and, above all, protect it!
We are South African, we are the rainbow nation, we are the very meaning of the word "ubuntu". South Africans, demand your right to a government that delivers for all. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, events around the world, particularly in North Africa, highlight the critical need for innovative ways to drastically reduce unemployment which forces masses of people into situations where they are no better off than they were before 1994. Education without employment negates human rights and we all know that the state alone cannot create six million jobs. Many are warning that if we wish to avoid unrest in South Africa there is limited time. Dignity and equality are simply not possible without opportunities to earn a decent salary. Dignity and equality also come at a high price when people become angry and desperate and react violently.
As a speaker and writer, Prof Barry Fletcher points out that we could benefit from a closer look at the East. China's standard of living, for example, has vastly improved and its employment rate is about 96%. Key to this could be that China recognised it had to create cities as places of industry and employment, rather than fearing the unstoppable move of rural people to cities. We should celebrate cities and create more of them to absorb this ready workforce.
South Africa has the potential for many more cities and city ports with resources such as water, power, and road and rail infrastructure. Cities like Kimberley should not be dying when their resuscitation would mean better lives for so many. Cities are the places where industries are situated and where employment is created.
We may not have the financial resources for rapid-fire, China-type acceleration - but we could have. Japan will in all likelihood rebuild quickly and efficiently despite its appalling economic deficit. It will do so using the world's resources and capital. Foreign countries and multinational companies will produce the finance and own much of the development.
Similar development in South Africa would require tax benefits, including tax holidays. For new businesses, where there was no business and therefore no tax before, a tax holiday for a few years is of little consequence, but will ensure a healthy fiscus in years to come.
There can be no freedom, justice or peace without dignity and equality. There can be no dignity and equality without employment opportunities. Thank you.
Chair, this year's Human Rights Day celebrations come after a seminal Constitutional Court judgment with regard to Glenister President of the Republic of South Africa and others. This judgment is important for the human rights culture we are seeking to build for two reasons. Firstly, the supremacy of our constitutional order, as opposed to the whim of the executive, was deeply embedded in our politics. One man was able to overturn the decision of the ruling party at its Polokwane conference, awaken the legislature to its constitutional obligations, and remind the executive that the constitutional values cannot be compromised at the altar of temporary convenience. Secondly, the reason why this judgment is important for human rights is that it is said in the judgment itself, commenting on the Hawks, that:
The appearance or perception of independence plays an important role in evaluating whether independence exists or not.
The quote emphasises that not only is the legislative guarantee of independence a sufficient parameter, the public's perception of such independence is also equally important.
This is very important as it also applies to our Chapter 9 institutions, which are aptly called state institutions supporting constitutional democracy. These bodies are to protect our human rights as citizens against the state's excesses. Not only must these institutions be independent in law, there must also be a public perception that they are indeed independent.
All measures must be taken to safeguard their independence, mainly against political interference. As such, it should be of concern to every democrat that, soon after the Office of the Public Protector published a scathing criticism against the police commissioner, it was visited by SAPS intelligence agents. This was criticised by almost everyone.
However, the ruling party, swiftly after this, wants to engage the Public Protector on this report. What form will this engagement take? That's still a question for us all. What is clear is that the executive should not bargain or barter on issues of constitutional principle.
Members of the executive can read the report themselves and consider its legal implications. If they have an issue with some of these aspects of the report, there are legal mechanisms available to remedy the situation rather than wanting to engage the Public Protector in a way that could be interpreted as sheer intimidation.
It is not only legislative independence that matters, the perception of such independence is also essential. We are digressing rather than moving forward in building our human rights when the government through its actions creates an environment that implies that our Chapter 9 institutions are not sufficiently insulated from political interference.
Another condition related to the public perception of the independence of our institutions has to do with the cadres whom the ANC has placed in charge of these institutions. What should be important is that we have independent - minded people in the Chapter 9 institutions who will protect these institutions and our citizens, and not be compliant to the ANC or any other political party.
It is fortunate that we have a resilient Public Protector who refuses to defer to and be cowed by the executive. But we must remember that in future we could have a cadre deployee whose political interests will be to further the whims of the ruling party against constitutional prescripts. I thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon members, in 1955 the ANC sent out 50 000 volunteers countrywide to collect "freedom demands" from the people of South Africa. This became the Freedom Charter, the statement of the core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, Saca, which consisted of the ANC and its allies, the South African Indian Congress, Saic, the South African Congress of Democrats, SACD, and the Coloured People's Congress,