State failed to deal with colonialism, apartheid legacy, say unions

Cape Town - As the nation observed Human Rights Day in honour of those who lost their lives in the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, unions and civil society maintain that successive government administrations have failed to deal with the essence of colonialism and apartheid as human rights violations endured by vulnerable and marginalised communities continue.

On March 21, 1960, 69 protesters were shot dead, and 180 wounded, by apartheid police in Sharpeville for protesting against unjust pass laws.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said this year’s Human Rights Day came at a time when the country continued to battle several human rights challenges, including climate change related disasters; a power crises, gender-based violence; high levels of unemployment which exacerbates poverty; rampant corruption; lack of service delivery, racial tensions; violence and crime, especially against women and children; discrimination against persons with disabilities and sporadic attacks on non-nationals.

“The commission calls on all South Africans to hold fast to their fundamental freedoms in all that we do, and at all times to be reflective that together acting with dignity and respect, we will get through these challenges, and emerge a nation proud of its human rights culture and importantly united in our diversity,” the SAHRC said.

Cosatu said there was rising discontent, and a growing sense of alienation, frustration, and despair among the youth, the unemployed, and the working poor.

“The mainly black majority suffers from extreme landlessness, the nation is sinking under the weight of corruption and the economy is a victim of illicit outflows of billions.

Nowhere are human rights more at risk than on farms, where workers enjoy the fewest rights and are the most exploited and abused,” Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said.

Professor Lukas Muntingh, director at the Dullah Omar Institute at the University of the Western Cape said in a situation of low trust, the state suffers a legitimacy deficit and it would have difficulty in pulling together the different elements in South African society to be more effective in a combined way.

“Even though accountability is a founding value of the Constitution, it is perhaps the one most deeply wounded over the past decade. On the road to consolidation, restoring accountability must be central. Accountability requires transparency with regard to the rules that apply as well as the performance delivered.”

Speaking during the official Human Rights Day commemoration in De Aar, Northern Cape, President Cyril Ramaphoa said March 21 was a day to celebrate the great progress made as a nation in building a democracy founded on equal human rights for all people.

Ramaphosa said successive administrations have done much to ensure the progressive realisation of the rights for all South Africans since the advent of democracy.

“The expanding provision of basic services to households has been one of the most important interventions to improve the lives of all South Africans.

“According to Statistics South Africa, access to water and sanitation, electricity, housing and other services like waste removal has increased steadily over the last three decades,” he said, adding that two million indigent households received free basic services.

“Yet, despite this progress, there are still many people who do not have access to all of these services. Many people live in informal settlements without adequate housing, water or sanitation.”

Ramaphosa also said the provision of the services was unreliable in some municipalities and that water was at times not provided or was of poor quality or refuse was not collected.

“The failure to provide adequate services consistently is a human rights issue. That is why we are working to improve the functioning of local government, which carries the greatest responsibility for the provision of these services.”

He said South Africa cannot claim to be a country that respects human rights if it did not do everything in its power and within resources to ensure that all citizens have access to land, housing, food, water, health care and education.

“On this Human Rights Day, let us affirm our determination to realise the rights of all the people who live in this country.

“In doing so, we will give effect to the promise of our democratic Constitution, and we will be paying the greatest tribute to the visionary leaders who wrote the first South African bill of rights one hundred years ago,” he said.

Policy analyst, Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said the active ingredients the nation needed were absent.

“Even though the solid foundational values inherited from the pioneers of our constitutional democracy remain intact. To mask its impotence, the government mostly ignored the crumbling state apparatus to focus on eye-catching slogans… instead of rallying the nation to work collaboratively to rebuild local communities and the economy. This tinkering could not hide the fact that the government failed to prevent the average household from suffering the most significant fall in income, the increasing crime rate and deepening poverty. This staggering lack of progress in realising the National Development Plan and the UN Strategic Development Goals makes most South Africans feel they are not enjoying all the human rights they are entitled to,” he said.

Cape Times