Hon Chairperson, it is fitting that as we discuss Human Rights Day, we look at the history of human rights. It is sad, and almost a shame, to note that it always takes a catastrophe for the people of the world to realise that they need to change how they treat themselves and their fellow human beings.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights proclamation was in 1948, a few years after the Second World War, which caused tremendous and irreparable damage and loss of human life and shook the whole planet. The rest of the world started commemorating World Human Rights Day in 1950, with us - South Africa - and many other countries as exceptions.
Coming back home, the events of 21 March 1960 in Sharpeville are events we could label as evil, except that they were the actions of humans against humans. These are events which we should keep on talking about, lest we forget.
In 2001, the government marked 21 March by unveiling the Sharpeville Human Rights Memorial on the site outside the police station where 69 black men, women and children were shot, most of them in the back, for not carrying a dompas.
Today we speak of human rights, sometimes as if they fell from the sky, yet history testifies that blood was shed, not only in our country but everywhere in the world, before people could appreciate that they had human rights and that they had a responsibility to ensure the protection of these rights.
Today it is of critical importance that we not only commemorate Human Rights Day and just reflect on the past, but that we should also stand at a place where we critically evaluate how much ground we have covered in ensuring that all our people know and understand that they have human rights. Beyond knowledge and understanding, are our people able to enforce these rights when they are being violated, particularly by authorities? Do they have meaningful access to these rights?
South Africa made great and remarkable strides with the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution. It is comprehensive and laudable. It starts by saying that the Bill of Rights is the cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. Do we all experience these? Are we really equal or are some of us more equal than others? What has the state done to respect, protect, promote and fulfil our rights, as it is required by the Constitution to do?
It is important also to look at the provisions of section 36 of the Constitution, which states that the rights contained in the Bill of Rights may be limited in terms of law where such limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic state.
Much as South Africa has been applauded for the comprehensive Bill of Rights, the masses continue to experience limitations of these rights. Such limitations are not reasonable, fair or justifiable, and include unemployment, poverty, violence against women, and lack of or poor service delivery. Thank you very much. [Time expired.]