Mr Chairperson, twelve years since South Africa achieved democracy, the harsh laws that denied so many the right to basic human rights have gone, but many more challenges remain for us today.
The realisation of strong human rights principles, the fight against poverty, including the fight for a safer South Africa, is a fight that we must wage with diligence and vigour, and one that we cannot afford to simply continue fighting half-heartedly.
South Africa has one of the few constitutions in the world that include economic and social rights in its Bill of Rights. Some of these rights are: the right to housing, the right to basic health care, the right to adequate food and the right to education.
Human rights are those basic and fundamental rights to which every person, for the simple reason of being human, is entitled. Yet, so many people in South Africa are denied these basic rights due to extreme poverty. People who don't have access to the labour market and little or no basic access to services and resources today, nearly 13 years since the dawn of democracy, remain severely disempowered.
A recent report by the United States Department of State Human Rights reported that the magnitude of crime in South Africa should be considered a human rights violation. Among the crimes it notes as human rights violation, are over 23 500 children raped and over 1 000 children murdered. The report states that the number of violations can be laid at government's door because it fails to provide a safe and secure climate.
The SA Human Rights Commission will celebrate Human Rights Day 2007 by embarking on a week-long Human Rights Week campaign, which we all applaud. On its website, the SA Human Rights Commission states:
This year, the commission has identified the destructive effects of crime on South African society as needing immediate and urgent attention. Due to its cross-cutting nature, the impact of crime is felt across all socioeconomic fields, jeopardising the universal benefits of the Bill of Rights.
Most importantly, it says: "The achievement of equality, eradication of poverty and the deepening of democracy cannot be realised in the context of the high crime rate."
Today, in remembrance and honour of those who lost their lives during the Sharpeville uprising, we must renew all efforts to promote human rights and intensify the struggle against poverty. What we see in Zimbabwe today is what we saw in Sharpeville in 1960. Such inhuman violations must never set foot on African soil again. Otherwise, we will be judged as spectators when our neighbour's house is on fire. I thank you, Sir. [Applause.]