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Purpose: This paper aims to explore the role played by the National Archives of South Africa in human rights promotion and protection. The study examined the challenges that archivists encounter when undertaking archival functions, such as acquisition, appraisal and access provision, that contribute to forming documentary archives crucial for human rights promotion and protection. Design/methodology/approach: A review of literature dealing with acquisition, appraisal and access was used in this research. It was supplemented with interviews. Findings: This paper provides recommendations of benefits in the field of archives management with a focus on the areas of acquisition, appraisal and access. The transformational discourse in the jurisdiction of archives management challenges archival institutions to be active players in selecting historical and cultural archives' significance that is significant in human rights protections. However, despite judicial requirements that recommend the importance of archives, there is evidence that archival functions such as appraisal, acquisition and access are not being fully used, resulting in national archives institutions that are subject to irregularities that contribute to an unbalanced archives collection. Research limitations/implications: The paper was limited only to the National Archives of South Africa. Practical implications: The paper makes practical implications concerning the acquisition, appraisal and providing access to human rights records. Social implications: Sufficient funding resource allocation ought to be provided to advance human rights promotion. Originality/value: This paper offers informed recommendations to address the challenges of acquisition, appraisal and access provision of archive materials. The availability of archives materials reinforces the community by aiding to protect legal rights and prevent human rights violations. It was, thus, necessary to establish whether the National Archives of South Africa is actively building the archives collections that are important for human rights promotion and protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) are integral to and manifest in LGBTIQ rights including homosexuality and same-sex marriage. International law promotes these rights and prohibits discrimination on these grounds. Many western countries endorse these rights and prohibitions in parliamentary legislation or judicial fiat. In comparison with all other jurisdictions worldwide, and within the African sub-region, only South Africa specifically prohibits unfair direct or indirect discrimination based on "sexual orientation" in its national constitution. This paper explores African approach to SOGI and LGBTIQ rights including homosexuality and same-sex marriage. It argues that despite the threat of homocapitalism, prevalent Afrocentrism and religions reject these form of "new rights" for being immoral, ungodly, unnatural and un-African, thereby underlining the limits of human rights in the sub-region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews South Africa’s efforts to realise the right to water from a welfare policy perspective. ‘Free basic water’ (FBW), initially a water sector policy, was later recognised to be part of the country’s wider social protection framework. However, while the principle of providing poor households with free basic services has been sustained, FBW has not provided reliable access for many of its intended beneficiaries. Analysis of the policy, implementation and performance of the programme identifies unresolved policy tensions between welfare objectives and other government priorities, reflected in the choice of targeted rather than universal welfare strategies. It is concluded that these welfare policy tensions have weakened the outcomes of the free basic water policy which are more usually blamed on operational and institutional failures. While the FBW principle is generally accepted, practical performance is often weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the rule of law test to emergency regulations adopted to combat a national disaster in South Africa. A declaration of a national state of disaster, such as a pandemic, triggers emergency powers which enable the executive to mitigate the disaster, assist and protect the public, provide relief, and protect property. However, emergency powers provide a pretext for the executive to limit constitutional rights and to curtail the enjoyment of freedoms. These unprecedented powers also pose a risk of arbitrary exercise of public power, which can only be prevented if the promulgation, administration and enforcement of emergency regulations conform to the principles of legality, rationality and proportionality. These principles are understood as tenets of the rule of law in South Africa. They require a strong commitment to respect, protect and promote human rights at a time when they are most vulnerable to violation by the State. Given the role of the judiciary in the maintenance of the rule of law, and the litigation against the emergency regulations adopted in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper also discusses the ensuing case law to illustrate the practical application of the rule of law test to a national disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of rapid technological innovation and expensive new products, the paper calls for the generation of real-world data to inform decision-making and an international discussion on the affordability of new medicines, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. Without these, the challenges of health judicialization will continue to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the human rights principles established in South Africa's Constitution, there have been recurrent waves of xenophobia throughout the country's history. Foreigners who live in South Africa have been perceived as the victims of xenophobia and South Africans as the perpetrators. This paper aims to problematise the usage of the 'ubuntu' ideology as a utopian African ethic to promote 'universal' African humanism. It seems that apartheid's heritage, which produced the present-day South Africa in which these xenophobic events occur, is often overlooked when South Africans are characterised as xenophobic and in need of ubuntu salvation. The study makes the case that colonial and political issues, which continue to have an impact on high levels of poverty and unemployment, should be considered as ongoing contributors to xenophobia. Several anti-immigration organisations have emerged as discussion points in the country. This study will only concentrate on one of these: Operation Dudula. This paper critically examines the reasons why Operation Dudula is continuing to expand despite protests from civil society organisations. This paper demonstrates, via media stories, how the media primarily portrays the organisation as vigilante that vex ubuntu and African unification. The paper makes the claim that marginalised South Africans are 'Native Foreigners', as opposed to simply perpetrators, drawing on Neocosmos' idea of native foreigners. Instead of being considered as a problem that needs ubuntu's salvation, the paper argues that anti-immigrant organisations should be understood as a sign of unsolved colonial and political problems that need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) provides a normative framework for upholding the fundamental human rights of its citizens, day labourers represent one of the most disenfranchised and marginalised sectors of the South African economy and remain entirely at the mercy of prevailing market forces. This paper is based on a qualitative study that was conducted in the city of East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa to develop a comprehensive understanding of the precarious circumstances in which day labourers are obliged to eke out a meagre subsistence through short-term employment. A person-in-environment framework was used to evaluate the findings from a thematic analysis of the data that was obtained from individual interviews with eighteen day labourers who had no other forms of income. The findings were used to formulate recommendations for social work practice, specifically with respect to the role of social workers in the formulation and implementation of policies to include day labourers among the vulnerable segments of the population whose well-being the profession is dedicated to improving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The global spotlight is increasingly shone on the situation of women in the male-dominated prison environment. Africa has observed a 24% increase in its female prison population in the past decade. This year is the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 2010. Design/methodology/approach: Using a legal realist approach, this paper examines South Africa's progress in adopting the Bangkok Rules. This paper documents the historical evolution of the penal system since colonial times, focused on the development of recognition, protection and promotion of human rights of prisoners and an assessment of incarcerated women's situation over time. Findings: The analysis of the human rights treaties, the non-binding international and regional human rights instruments, African court and domestic jurisprudence and extant academic and policy-based literature is cognizant of the evolutionary nature of racial socio-political dimensions in South Africa, and the indeterminate nature of application of historical/existing domestic laws, policies and standards of care when evaluated against the rule of law. Originality/value: To date, there has been no legal realist assessment of the situation of women in South Africa's prisons. This paper incorporates race and gendered intersectionality and move beyond hetero-normative ideologies of incarcerated women and the prohibition of discrimination in South African rights assurance. The authors acknowledge State policy-making processes, and they argue for substantive equality of all women deprived of their liberty in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spawned human rights challenges. This article recounted the experiences of the victims through anecdotal evidence and analysed them in the human rights context. The paper found that the victims of the disease are ostracised by their families and communities. The article also discussed the remedies available to the victims both by way of fundamental right enforcement and under general civil claims. The paper concluded that the exclusion of the victims from the benefits enjoyed by other members of the community on account of their health status amounts to discrimination which is prohibited under human rights precepts. Such conducts instil fear and anxiety and could deter the victims from voluntarily disclosing their health status, which would invariably aggravate the spread of the disease in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon tax has attracted attention as an instrument of climate action for transiting towards the objective of stabilising global temperatures below 2 °C. Its significance as a response to climate change is, however, disputed. Also, its possible implications on key fundamental human rights of poor populations are rarely discussed. South Africa enacted a Carbon Tax Act in 2019 amid the challenge of poverty and its commitments to both climate actions and human rights. This paper interrogates the significance of the Carbon Tax Act and clarifies the potential implications that it may have on key human rights of poor populations. It recommends the need to channel the revenue generated from the implementation of the Carbon Tax Act to address its potential adverse impact on human rights of poor populations in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African Customary law and the South African common law enjoy equal recognition in the South African legal system. However, their equal status results in various conflict situations between them, especially in the South African criminal law. This paper shows that the indigenous belief in witchcraft (including witch-killings), the indigenous belief in the tokoloshe and the use of muti-medicine (including muti-murders), as well as the indigenous custom of ukuthwala, can result in the commission of common law and statutory crimes in South Africa. These are then known as "culturally motivated" crimes. In addition, this paper shows that the indigenous beliefs and custom above can also violate fundamental human rights entrenched in the South African Constitution. In this regard, this paper also outlines the consequences that an accused can face for infringing upon a victim's fundamental human rights through the commission of a culturally motivated crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper was to conduct a legal-realist assessment of the South African prison system response to COVID-19. Severely congested and ill-resourced prison systems in Africa face unprecedented challenges amplified by COVID-19. South Africa has recorded the highest COVID-19 positivity rate in Africa and, on March 15th 2020, declared a national state of disaster. The first prison system case was notified on April 6th 2020. Design/methodology/approach: A legal-realist assessment of the South African prison system response to COVID-19 in the 12 months following initial case notification focused on the minimum State obligations to comply with human rights norms, and the extent to which human, health and occupational health rights of prisoners and staff were upheld during disaster measures. Findings: A legal-realist account was developed, which revealed the indeterminate nature of application of South African COVID-19 government directives, ill-resourced COVID-19 mitigation measures, alarming occupational health and prison conditions and inadequate standards of health care in prisons when evaluated against the rule of law during State declaration of disaster. Originality/value: This legal-realist assessment is original by virtue of its unique evaluation of the South African prison system approach to tackling COVID-19. It acknowledged State efforts, policymaking processes and outcomes and how these operated within the prison system itself. By moving beyond the deleterious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the already precarious South African prison system, the authors argue for rights assurance for those who live and work in its prisons, improved infrastructure and greater substantive equality of all deprived of their liberty in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we share some personal reflections of straddling different research roles in a doctoral study entitled Queering Sex Work and Mobility in South Africa. We highlight the importance of using a Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) methodology when conducting studies with migrant and mobile sex workers as it offers participants an opportunity to express their lived realities and embodied knowledge(s) beyond linguistic barriers. Through our reflections, we demonstrate that marginalised communities can become co-creators in knowledge production processes, not just the givers of stories (aka 'poverty porn') but integral members of the research team who actively contribute towards the conceptualisation, data collection, analysis, publishing and distribution of scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing delivery in South Africa continues to dominate conversations on human rights and social development. Using a social development lens, this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study that aimed at exploring the housing experiences of social rental housing (SRH) beneficiaries and how this interlinked with human rights and social development in South Africa. Using the purposive sampling method, the study selected three social housing institutions (SHIs) in Gauteng and two in the Western Cape province. With each SHI, a focus group discussion was conducted with its tenants to establish if there are any linkages with human rights and social development. Participants shared positive sentiments relating to SRH. The authors of this article note that SRH is implemented from a rights-based perspective, in line with international law and the social development perspective. In concluding the article, the authors provide policy recommendations for government and civil society actors operating in the arena of SRH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 25 years, South Africa's regional and global stature has been in flux. Although there is continuity in its foreign policy objectives, there have been changes in emphasis and application. These changes, together with shifts in the domestic political and economic landscape, have impacted negatively on South Africa's international relations. President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his 2018 State of the Nation Address, boldly proclaimed a 'new dawn' for South Africa. A key aspect of the intended new dawn is the repositioning of South Africa regionally and globally. This paper examines the shifts and the continuity in South Africa's foreign policy, and the reasons for its waning global and regional stature. The paper argues that South Africa is once again in a position to be a norm- and agenda-setter, especially in relation to peace and security, but that this will be a lost opportunity if there is a lack of the necessary reflection, visioning and redress needed for transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 1966, the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) re-emerged in exile in London. The arrival of Dennis Brutus, the coloured Rhodesian-born activist, poet, and educator, into the British capital provided the stimulus to renew calls for the exclusion of apartheid South Africa from international sport. In the years 1966–1970 that marked Brutus's exile in Britain, SANROC elevated apartheid sport to the world's attention. As this paper contends, SANROC's success in discouraging foreign contact and competition with racialist sporting organisations, teams, or individuals from South Africa rested largely on Brutus's ability to position himself at the nexus of an emergent human rights discourse that dominated the agendas of state institutions and international organisations throughout the 1960s. Brutus skilfully tethered the issue of racism in South African sport to broader discussions of human rights. SANROC's anti-apartheid activism, however broad its transnational horizons, must also be read in its national context. As this paper will further contend, a deeper comprehension of the political and racial climate of 1960s Britain is central to understanding Brutus and SANROC's experiences in exile in the years 1966–1970. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides social workers an opportunity to redefine their contributions pertaining to socioeconomic development, human rights and the environment. This is specifically so for social workers in South Africa, whose contributions have been narrowed. Therefore, this paper identifies potential contributions by social workers in relation to the SDGs using cultural complexity thinking in a diverse country. The paper also points out difficulties faced by social workers on their contribution in the SDGs in a culturally diverse South Africa. The paper concludes that social workers must stand alongside their service users as partners in contributing to justice and equality by achieving the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to mental healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is one of the greatest challenges in public health today. One suggestion for improving accessibility is through collaboration between biomedical practitioners and traditional healers. This paper reviews studies of traditional healers' and biomedical practitioners' perceptions of collaboration. We conducted a systematic review of online databases, selected journals, and reference lists for relevant studies. Eligible papers were assessed using a tool designed for this review for quality and study characteristics, and qualitative data demonstrating participants' views were extracted. A total of 14 papers from seven countries were included. The published literature on this topic is relatively homogenous and studies are of variable quality. The findings suggest that, despite differing conceptualisations of mental illness causation, both traditional healers and biomedical practitioners recognise that patients can benefit from a combination of both practices and demonstrate a clear willingness to work together. There are concerns about patients' safety and human rights regarding traditional methods and some healers are sceptical about the effectiveness of Western psychiatric medication. Despite keeping the inclusion criteria open to all LMICs, 13 of the studies were conducted in Africa, seven of which were in South Africa. This limits the applicability of the findings of this review to the wider LMIC context. The paper concludes with recommendations for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human rights are an increasingly common language of advocacy for civil society organisations, but are these groups using the same words to mean different things? Although the spread of human rights has been well examined, little attention has been paid to the content of these rights as understood by civil society actors in diverse settings. Focusing on this gap in the literature, this paper examines how personnel in human rights-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Botswana and neighbouring South Africa perceive human rights. Drawing on interview-based case studies of two human rights-based organisations operating at the national level, I analyse how activists draw on domestic context to interpret human rights. This paper argues that personnel in these NGOs understand and articulate human rights in distinct ways that are shaped by and responsive to the contexts in which they live and work. Emerging from a more homogenous consensus-based culture, Botswana respondents are more likely to integrate cultural concepts, emphasise inclusion and understand human rights as timeless and innate. Reflecting South Africa's progressive constitution, unequal society and a history of struggle, South African respondents highlight contrast, agency, change over time and the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the history, current status and possible future directions for intellectual disability (ID) policy and practice in South Africa (SA). Design/methodology/approach: The paper was developed by academics and practitioners in the field of ID in SA. A review of the literature, accompanied by a joint writing and discussion process was carried out to identify critical issues in the development of ID services, specifically facing the challenge of moving from racially based provision towards equitable services for all citizens with ID. Findings: Progressive policy has replaced practices of scientific racism which were previously used to support the establishment of white supremacism. This positive move is still in process and has not resulted in the immediate establishment of human rights. A vibrant civil society is engaging with this task currently. Research limitations/implications: The findings point to the need for a human rights approach that takes into account the postcolonial context of SA. Practical implications: There is a need for continued advocacy that is inclusive of people with ID and their families. Social implications: Continuing engagement between government and civil society is recommended to ensure the achievement of human rights for citizens with ID. Originality/value: This paper is of value to ID researchers and practitioners from the global South as it describes a non-western context that might have resonance with other low and middle income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research at multiple sites and "talking across worlds" have generally been important in feminist and geographic scholarship. Some studies have examined methodological dilemmas endemic to research involving multiple locations. Other studies have drawn on multi‐sited research including perspectives of participants and researchers beyond a single site. Most of these studies have explored how groups, individuals and discourses move between local and transnational spaces. However, evidence on how such methodologies improve our understanding of transnational concepts is still scarce. This paper draws on two research projects on women's human rights activism in Honduras and South Africa and explores how multi‐sited research improved the understanding of "women human rights defenders." In Honduras, activists in various women's groups have identified themselves as women human rights defenders since the coup d'état in 2009. This identity enabled them to integrate women's rights into a broader international human rights agenda. In South Africa, activists mostly use the term to influence decision‐making at international organisations and to build alliances with activists globally. This multi‐sited research reveals that women's human rights concepts are not "given." Rather, activists' lived experiences on multiple scales shape the way they understand and "translate" such concepts. This paper draws on two research projects on women's human rights activism in Honduras and South Africa and shows how multi‐sited research methodologies can improve our understanding of transnational concepts. It reveals that women's human rights concepts are not "given." Rather, activists' lived experiences on multiple scales shape the way they understand and "translate" such concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the socioeconomic and health security ramifications of the COVID-19 sickness since the beginning of the year 2020, the discovery of vaccinations has been a huge breakthrough. The international community and national governments' common commitment to preserve citizens' right to the greatest attainable health standards have fuelled the urgent need for vaccine development. Even though any COVID-19 vaccination should be seen as a global public good, the African continent has lagged in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccines. The human rights implications of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out on the African continent are examined in this research, which is based on secondary data sources and focuses on Zimbabwe and South Africa, two neighbouring Southern African countries. The research demonstrates that the African continent is confronted with a slew of concerns, including vaccine accessibility, price, and transparency. The paper also reveals a conflict that has arisen between governments' recommendations that everyone is vaccinated to protect all members of society and the freedom of some members of society to interpret the vaccine through the lens of their religious and cultural beliefs, including their freedom to express their beliefs and choose whether or not to be vaccinated. This circumstance is providing and will continue to pose a significant challenge for African governments in their efforts to implement mass immunization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the devastation caused by COVID-19, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and vaccine research and development (R&D) have been occupying a prominent position in the field of global health diplomacy (GHD). Most countries, international organizations, and charitable organizations have been engaged in the R&D of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure timely affordability and accessibility to all countries. Concomitantly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides some provisions and enforcements regarding copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and industrial designs. Given these safeguards, it is considered that intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become major barriers to the affordability and accessibility of vaccines/medicines/technology, particularly to the developing/least developed countries. Realizing the gravity of the pandemic impact, as well as its huge population and size, India has elevated this issue in its global health diplomacy by submitting a joint proposal with South Africa to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a temporary waiver of IPRs to ensure timely affordability and accessibility of COVID-19 medical products to all countries. However, the issue of the temporary waive off had become a geopolitical issue. Countries that used to claim per se as strong advocates of human rights, egalitarianism, and healthy democracy have opposed this proposal. In this contrasting milieu, this paper is aimed at examining how the TRIPS has become a barrier for developing countries' development and distribution of vaccines/technology; secondly, how India strategizes its role in the WTO in pursuant of its global health diplomacy? We conclude that the IPRs regime should not become a barrier to the accessibility/affordability of essential drugs and vaccines. To ensure access, India needs to get more engaged in GHD with all the involved global stakeholders to get strong support for their joint proposal. The developed countries that rejected/resisted the proposal can rethink their full support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the state's response to students' claim for free education that has rocked South African tertiary institutions since 2015. These responses have been characterised by the enforcement of a de facto state of emergency materialised by an extreme securitisation/militarisation of campuses and other public spaces, resulting in human/student rights and the rule of law being brought to a standstill. The paper further discusses the background to the #FeesMustFall protest and attempts to understand why the crisis was addressed only more than two years after it erupted. The article proceeds by looking into the aftermath of the fees must fall campaign characterised by an escalation of security mechanisms which succeeded in turning the campuses into camps where fact and law are merged into one another and where a state of emergency has lost its exceptional character and became the new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children have the right to be brought up in safe environments. However, this right is often infringed by people who are supposed to provide love, care, and protection to children. These people can include biological fathers, step-fathers, brothers, cousins, aunts, mothers, and uncles. Violation of children takes place in a variety of ways, however, for the purpose of this paper, the focus is on child sexual abuse within the family system. A literature review is adopted as the methodology for the discussions in this paper. The purpose of this paper is firstly to demonstrate that child sexual abuse happens within the family system in South Africa, and secondly, to argue that the prevention of child sexual abuse should start within the family system and this can be achieved by conducting educational social group work sessions on child sexual abuse with the family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's (SA) National Health Insurance Policy (NHIP) underpins the establishment of a unified health system in the country based on the principles of social solidarity, progressive universalism, equity and health as a public good and a social investment, underscoring the values of justice, fairness and equity. The right to health contains both freedoms and entitlements with the latter providing for equality of opportunity to allow for everyone to enjoy the highest attainable level of health which is analogous to an ethically acceptable minimum standard of quality (EAMSQ). Inequalities in health coupled with striking increases in the cost of healthcare have inevitably stimulated debate on the role of justice and its requirements of particular societies. The level of access is dependent on distributive justice principles. This takes into consideration available social resources and a fair approach to the process of decision-making, necessitating another critical process; that of priority setting, which ranks services according to their importance and hence determines the distribution such that both winners and losers are created. Priority setting is assisted by the right to health principle. Health equity is central to the understanding of social justice with priority being given to the worst off. The aim of the paper is to develop a set of ethical elements of the EAMSQ, which aligns with the Constitution's commitment to the right to healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive education is a contested domain with positions ranging from strident opposition through cautious support to strong advocacy. Some stakeholders have taken a middle-of-the-road position because while they endorse the human rights discourse that makes inclusion a global imperative, they are caught up in a dilemma between their aspirations and the realities at school level which leave them uncertain of exactly what gains and losses might be involved in a total commitment to inclusive education. This paper reports on the findings of a study that investigated perceptions of selected primary school teachers on inclusive education in order to gain an understanding of the connection between learner support and experiences in the inclusive classroom. In-depth interviews were conducted with 9 teachers at two schools in a site-based study augmented by responses to questionnaires administered to 59 teachers across four schools in one of the district municipalities in South Africa. The study, informed by a realist philosophical perspective, adopted a mixed methods approach and a convergent parallel design. Teachers' commitment to a human rights discourse was evident. The pragmatic realities which, in teachers' experiences, constitute the major impediments to thorough-going and successful inclusive classroom practice are time, class size and insufficient training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focusing on the culture of ukuhlola. Ukuhlola is a part of the cultural practices for virginity testing. There is a debate among the chapter 9 institutions that protect constitutional democracy in South Africa on the constitutionality of certain cultures including Ukuhlola. The South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), as one of the chapter 9 state institutions supporting constitutional democracy, is mandated amongst others to promote respect for human rights and cultural practice. It also promotes the protection, development, and attainment of human rights. It is within this mandate that the Human Rights Commission has observed the debates surrounding the prohibition of Ukuhlola (virginity testing) in the Children's Bill. Ukuhlola has been historically regarded as a vital social tool to bring pride to virgin girls, the parents, and the community. Ukuhlola is still practiced in some of the communities in South Africa, Nguni communities. Ukuhlola culture originated from the Zulu culture and is prevalent mostly in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The motive was to receive the full lobola (the eleventh cow). Ukuhlola practice phased out during the past century but has gradually made a return in various areas of South Africa, including Kwazulu-Natal, in recent years. South Africa's Moral Regeneration Movement has decided to use the return of ukuhlola of teenage girls as a tool to fight against women's abuse, teenage pregnancies, and HIV& AIDS. However, gender equality is a chapter 9 organization meant to protect the fundamental human right, while the South African Constitution is the supreme law of the land. And any law that is inconsistent with the Constitution is unconstitutional. This article investigates whether the practice of ukuhlola could pass the constitutional muster. To achieve this objective, the article considers fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The article also considers various case law, journals, textbooks, and internet sources on application and protection of the rights. After considering the fundamental rights and applicable sources, the article concludes that the practice of ukuhlola is indeed unconstitutional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do global development goals translate into local action? How do such goals support or undermine already existing efforts, at the local level, to build robust and sustainable communities? In this article we examine the experience of a women's cooperative vegetable farm in rural South Africa, considering the on-the-ground consequences of high-level planning for development and, in particular, the measurement and accountability demands associated with such initiatives. We focus on the broad aims of Sustainable Development Goals 2 (to end hunger) and 5 (to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment). We explore farmers' responses to external demands for measurement and accountability, some of which they are not well equipped to meet and others of which collide with their own priorities to support their households and wider community. We find a major problem of translation between global goals and the needs of people on the ground: far from resulting in material support for small-scale farmers, the daily burdens of the 'audit society' directly impede aims like ending hunger and achieving gender equality. The first section of the paper briefly canvasses recent efforts at global goal setting, considering the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and SDGs in turn. The longer second section offers the case study of the women's farm, examining how the measurement demands related to global goals impact locally generated priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continued use of corporal punishment in some South African schools and the reasons advanced for it make this subject topical even now, twenty years after the abolition of this practice. Corporal punishment is a worrying issue among human rights activists and scholars. This paper reports on contestations and paradoxes regarding the use of corporal punishment arising from a qualitative study in two high schools, and the implications thereof for school leadership. Data was generated through interviews with the principals, selected teachers and learners. These participants were purposively selected with the understanding that they were information-rich regarding the issues at stake. The paper was informed by a two-pronged theoretical framework, involving the social learning and distributed leadership theories. The former was adopted to seek explanation regarding the use of corporal punishment, while the latter served as a lens through which to draw implications for school leadership. Findings show that on the one hand, some community members at the two schools saw corporal punishment as an acceptable, tried and tested disciplinary measure, and that on the other hand, it is viewed as a form of violence, and a thing of the past. Overall, it seemed that the two schools were failing to root out the use of corporal punishment. The paper argues leadership to be the missing link in the two schools' apparent failure, and that the stronger and more distributed leadership was, the more likely corporal punishment would be to be eradicated, and other disciplinary means practised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If gender is neglected in the design and implementation of mainstream social welfare models, unequal social and economic outcomes for men and women tend to be reproduced. This paper contributes to debates about how social protection can contribute to promoting gender equality by considering the gendered redistributive and transformative effects of three types of social security instruments in South Africa: social assistance, unemployment insurance and public employment programmes. All the instruments have some pro-poor and gendered design innovations. The Child Support Grant has had better outcomes than the other instruments, but redistributive and transformative gender effects across the social security spectrum are disappointing. Limited social transformation is largely due to implementation inefficiencies and unresponsive institutions. To serve both economically redistributive and socially transformative ends, gender-sensitive synergies between social security instruments and with other multisectoral interventions could be strengthened, such as access to social services (especially quality child care) and access to basic services (such as water, electricity, transport and internet services). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land reform in South Africa has failed to meet its objectives. The intended beneficiaries often do not have their land reform needs met. Failures may be attributed to multiple sources. We propose a conceptual framework to assist governments conducting land reform projects. It draws on aspects of human rights, good governance, and pro-poor policy. Existing frameworks are combined with these aspects to derive the conceptual framework. By using the framework, development projects in South Africa and similar contexts may become more Successful, Sustainable, and Significant. The paper holds interest for land tenure and cadastral systems researchers and developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a black student threw faeces at a statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, it sparked the formation of #RhodesMustFall, a black radical student movement that sought to address systemic racism at the white liberal university through its demand to decolonize the institution. #RhodesMustFall adopted a decolonial framework centred on Black Consciousness, Pan-Africanism and Black radical feminism, but simultaneously rejected human rights discourses embedded in South Africa's progressive constitution. This paper examines the arguments developed by #RhodesMustFall in its rejection of human rights, including the idea that human rights is incapable of contemplating the non-human: an entity, often a black body, that takes on human characteristics but is not recognized as human. Drawing on empirical data, including 46 interviews with #RhodesMustFall student activists, this article considers how social movements shape conceptualisations of race in post-apartheid So uth Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the extent to which South Africa utilises positive economic statecraft to promote human rights in the region – that is, the degree to which it mobilises its economic engagement to affect a desirable political outcome in its foreign engagements in Southern Africa. The country's reaction to crises in Zimbabwe and Swaziland over the past 20 years is a strong indicator of the limits of South Africa's statecraft in this regard. These engagements highlight the inevitable clash between the country's principled preference for ‘non-interference’ in the affairs of sovereign states and its constitutional mandate to respect and promote human rights. Despite eschewing the role of ‘regional hegemon’, there is an expectation that South Africa will play an integral role in securing regional stability. Yet there is little evidence to suggest that the country chooses to approach resolving regional challenges with a co-ordinated political and economic approach. This paper argues that, to be more effective in spreading a progressive regional agenda that encourages democracy, governance and human rights, South Africa needs to incorporate a stronger element of positive economic statecraft in its foreign policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pre-1994, South Africa was a country riddled with inequality and discrimination stemming from the policy of ‘apartheid’. Since 1994, there have been considerable efforts made to enable the country to move toward becoming non-racial and democratic, with a culture of human rights and social justice. One of the primary tasks of the new democratically elected government was a reform of the education system. Specialized Education was initially neglected, but then in 1996 a National Commission was appointed to investigate Special Needs in Education and Education Support Services, of which the author was one of the co-ordinators. The timeline for the full implementation of the resulting White Paper 6 on Inclusive Education is 20 years. Inclusive Education in South Africa aims to meet the needs of all learners by addressing barriers to learning, welcoming diversity and fostering maximum participation by all in the culture of the school. This article, based on the author’s experience, will discuss the challenges for implementation of the policy in one of the South African districts which field-tested the recommendations in White Paper 6, a district with diverse contexts, the emerging promising practice, and the implications for specialized support professionals, in particular the role of school psychologists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inclusive education in South Africa has not been promoted as simply one more option for education but as an educational strategy that can contribute to a democratic society. After the end of the Apartheid era the new democratic government committed itself to the transformation of education and key policy documents and legislation stress the principle of education as a basic human right as enshrined in the Constitution. White Paper 6: Special Needs Education, building an inclusive education and training system (2001) provides a framework for systemic change for the development of inclusive education. As a philosophy, the concept of inclusive education in the South African context embraces the democratic values of equality and human rights and the recognition of diversity. Research however indicates that multifaceted societal changes, encompassing educational reforms and contextual changes, including the management of diversity in schools, have had a negative impact on the implementation of inclusive education. After ten year of democracy, the enduring tension between changing the structure of education and changing the process of education is still influencing progress. Enhancing the recognition and acceptance of the basic rights of all South African children to be accommodated in inclusive school communities therefore remains a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the litigious politics of the South African shack-dwellers’ movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, this paper enquires into the knowledge dynamics implied by the governmentality literature’s take on the (neo)liberal deployment of (human) rights. It suggests that by implicitly constructing the freedom of codified rights as illusionary and opposed to the reality of neoliberal rationalities of government, this scholarship posits a cognitive hierarchy between agents of government and the governed, and thus reproduces the power dynamics that it seeks to criticise. Interweaving a presentation of Abahlali’s self-articulation as knowledgeable and rightful subjects with Jacques Rancière’s notion of ‘literariness’, the paper accounts for codified rights’ potential to enable the disruption of such dynamics, and traces the governmentality literature’s suspicion towards this potential back to its textual methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper details findings from an evaluation of a gendertransformative sexual and reproductive health and rights group education programme facilitated with young men aged 15-24 years in South Africa. A total of 475 young men participated in the group education programme. A self-administered pre- and postquestionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of the participants, and focus group discussions were facilitated. A total of 265 young men completed both the pre and post-questionnaires. Findings from the surveys as well as the focus group discussions showed positive changes in gender equitable attitudes, contraception and condom use. Results indicate that the young men who participated in the group education learned to identify harmful gender norms and actively questioned these constructs both within their personal lives and in the broader community. The intervention enabled some participants to envision alternative versions of masculinity and femininity, thus enabling them to adopt a new way of being, with transformed attitudes concerning household and gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disability is emerging as a human rights issue of public concern, rather than an individual tragedy requiring medical attention. The issue of sexuality remains relatively neglected in this agenda, particularly as regards the exploration of the complexities of sexuality encountered by disabled people themselves. This paper focuses on the experiences of sexuality of disabled people and parents of disabled children in settings of poverty in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Three individual interviews and two focus groups were conducted with disabled adults and parents of disabled children. Thematic analysis of the interviews identified three principal themes (1) sexuality development in the family of origin, (2) sexuality in the community and (3) adult sexuality and creating families. Each of these larger themes encompasses various sub-themes that are discussed in the findings. The paper concludes that while sexuality is a very difficult aspect of life for a disabled person due to myths and discrimination against disabled people, it is also an important arena for affirmation and establishing self-worth. It is therefore critical to consider the development of a healthy sexuality amongst disabled people and the promotion of their sexual rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many low- and middle-income countries are experiencing an epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases. This has negative consequences for their human capital development, and imposes a growing economic burden on their societies. While the prevalence of such diseases varies with socioeconomic status, the inequalities can be exacerbated by adopted lifestyles of individuals. Evidence suggests that lifestyle factors may explain the income-related inequality in self-reported health. Self-reported health is a subjective evaluation of people's general health status rather than an objective measure of lifestyle-related ill-health. Method: The objective of this paper is to expand the literature by examining the contribution of smoking and alcohol consumption to health inequalities, incorporating more objective measures of health, that are directly associated with these lifestyle practices. We used the National Income Dynamic Study panel data for South Africa. The corrected concentration index is used to measure inequalities in health outcomes. We use a decomposition technique to identify the contribution of smoking and alcohol use to inequalities in health. Results: We find significant smoking-related and income-related inequalities in both self-reported and lifestyle-related ill-health. The results suggest that smoking and alcohol use contribute positively to income-related inequality in health. Smoking participation accounts for up to 7.35% of all measured inequality in health and 3.11% of the inequality in self-reported health. The estimates are generally higher for all measured inequality in health (up to 14.67%) when smoking duration is considered. Alcohol consumption accounts for 27.83% of all measured inequality in health and 3.63% of the inequality in self-reported health. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that inequalities in both self-reported and lifestyle-related ill-health are highly prevalent within smokers and the poor. These inequalities need to be explicitly addressed in future programme planning to reduce health inequalities in South Africa. We suggest that policies that can influence poor individuals to reduce tobacco consumption and harmful alcohol use will improve their health and reduce health inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a body of theoretical work, and some empirical research, which suggests that non-disabled people assume people with physical disabilities are not suitable romantic partners, do not have sexual drives or desires, or are not sexually active. It has also been proposed that people with physical disabilities face barriers to sexual healthcare access which are structural as well as social. The present paper explores non-disabled South Africans’ beliefs concerning the degree to which non-disabled respondents enjoy sexual and reproductive rights, and benefit from sexual and reproductive healthcare, compared to people without disability. Using a survey, we asked 1989 South Africans to estimate the degree to which people with physical disabilities and people without disability have sexual rights, and benefit from sexual and reproductive healthcare services, respectively. Respondents were more likely to support the idea that the population without disability were deserving of sexual rights compared to people with physical disabilities. Respondents were more likely to rate the degree to which people with physical disability benefit from sexual and reproductive healthcare as less than that for people without physical disabilities. These findings provide some of the first empirical support that non-disabled people perceive people with physical disabilities as having fewer sexual and reproductive rights, and deriving less benefit from sexual and reproductive health services, than the population without disability. To have diminished sexual rights, and benefit less from sexual and reproductive healthcare, we suggest, evinces a negation of the sexual and reproductive needs and capacity of people with physical disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The diagnosis of AIDS in 1982 in South Africa was followed by a rapid rise in the number of people living with the virus and dying from AIDS-related illnesses. The 2016 report by the Statistics South Africa indicated that about 7.03 million South Africans were infected with HIV/AIDS — the highest rate in the world. Despite the emergence of effective drugs in the mid-1990s, medical treatment remained unavailable in South Africa, particularly in public hospitals. This prompted civil society groups to establish platforms to discuss health policy change in South Africa. Prominent among these was the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), formed in 1998, which aimed to advocate for improved HIV/AIDS health service delivery. The efforts succeeded in shaping the current HIV/AIDS policy through various initiatives such as the use of constitutional law in legal action against profiteering drug companies. This paper examines the role of civil society, and particularly the TAC engagement with the state in health policy making, and the subsequent implementation of health policy on HIV/AIDS in post-apartheid South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several years South Africa has experienced economic growth that could be expected to have filtered down to the poor in the form of access to rights. Constitutionalism, characterised by separation of powers with checks and balances coupled with human rights monitoring institutions, provides an enabling environment for growth to reach the poor. Yet, despite the existence of this environment in South Africa, an increase in access to rights has not been seen. Th e paper thus investigates the challenges faced by democratic institutions in ensuring that growth reaches the grassroots in terms of human rights. Th is paper analyses the relationship between rights and economic growth, examines the South African context, and shows that constitutionalism failed to transform growth into rights for the needy. It goes on to assess the impediments faced by democratic institutions in translating growth into access to rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crimes of sexual violence are known to result in rather difficult court experiences for survivors, and the conviction rates are also disappointingly low. These issues, however, are compounded when the rape survivor has an intellectual disability. Courts seem to require more of them than they do from non-disabled survivors. The paper discusses the hurdles faced by intellectually disabled complainants when attempting to give evidence against those accused of assaulting them. Their competency as witnesses is questioned, as is their ability to take the oath, and their understanding of such abstract concepts as 'truth' and 'lie' are interrogated. The paper also examines some of the international perspectives on this matter, although there is little research done specifically on intellectually disabled adult rape survivors. The extent to which current approaches are fair, and in line with basic human rights, is raised since access to the courts ought to be made easier, rather than more difficult for those with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Besides the right to freedom, human rights can be seen as a basic requirement also for the maintenance of human dignity and the opportunity to thrive - particularly in the case of children with disabilities. It is imperative to explore primary caregivers' awareness of the human rights of their children with intellectual disabilities in view of the role they may play in either facilitating or restricting these rights. This paper explores the awareness of 219 primary caregivers of the human rights of their children with intellectual disabilities. Method A descriptive survey design was used with a custom-designed questionnaire that employed a deductive content analysis based on the articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. Comparisons were drawn between the awareness of primary caregivers from urban and those from rural areas. Results The majority (85.5%) of participants agreed that their child with intellectual disability had rights. Three broad kinds of right were mentioned (in descending order): provision rights, protection rights and participation rights. Participants from both urban and rural areas mentioned education (a provision right) most frequently. However, participants from urban areas were more aware of the different rights that existed than were their counterparts from rural areas. Conclusion Primary caregivers in both rural and urban areas are aware of the rights of their children with disabilities, although there are significant differences between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part of the debate on the impact of privatisation in and of education lies in determining against which standards of evidence should the phenomenon be assessed. The questions ‘what impacts of privatisation in education are we measuring?’ and its corollary ‘what education system do we wish to have?’ are crucial to determining the response. Hence, some of the disagreements surrounding the analysis of empirical evidence on privatisation in education come from differences in the normative framework chosen. Some may, for instance, give a higher weight to equality and equity concerns, while others will consider choice as a structural principle. These disagreements have fundamental implications as to how research is done, interpreted, and used by policy makers, in particular in the Global South where the issues are especially acute. How can we reflect on these key disagreements? This article contends that human rights law, and in particular international human rights standards, as a universally agreed legal normative framework, must be considered and should be a cardinal reference to reflect on privatisation in education, and can provide a useful tool to provide a third way to reflect on this polarised debate. This stems in part from the fact that all countries in the world are party to one or more international treaties protecting the right to education and are thus legally bound to enforce it. However, the human rights framework contains inner tensions, that give it richness, but also require analysis to be able to use it. On one hand, it guarantees the right to mandatory and free quality education for all without discrimination, requiring that education systems ‘do not lead to extreme disparities of educational opportunity for some groups in society at the expense of others’, while on the other hand, it provides for the liberty of parents to choose or establish a private school—which may be a source of inequality. This paper gives a preliminary assessment of this tension by providing an overview of what we know of the normative human rights framework, as a first step towards a broader project aiming at developing comprehensive guidelines unpacking the normative framework on the right to education relevant to privatisation. It is hoped that this preliminary assessment can help to reflect on some of the fundamental debates with regards to the effect of privatisation of education in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]