Violation Of Democracy And Human Rights In South Africa

Our constitution does not ensure that democracy and human rights exist for all, in equal measure, in South Africa. Constitution refers to “a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.” It is not ensured in equal measure because certain peoples’ human rights are violated Idue to their medical and social status.

In the Life Esidimeni crisis the human rights of over 100 psychiatric patients were violated as they were denied proper health care, food and water. Dirk Groenewald described it in October 2017 as “the greatest cause of human rights violation since the dawn of our democracy”. Patients were left to starve and became dehydrated. Their human

Human rights does not exist for all as people are being discriminated against due to their race, and this is a violation of their right to equality. This was seen about two months ago when Geraldine Pillay-Viret, a former South Africa sprinter was not allowed to view a house to rent in Kempton Park, Gauteng, due to the colour of her skin. She and her husband were told that only applications from white people would be considered. This is a strong violation of her human right to equality and shows that the constitution is not ensuring that human rights exists for all, in equal measure. A 2017 study from a South African market research firm, has found that, in South Africa, men earn an average of R9,222.16 per month and women earn an average R6,88.80. This is a violation of the human right to equality as women are discriminated against due to their gender and shows that the constitution does not ensure that human rights exist for all, in equal measure in South Africa. Our constitution also does not ensure that democracy exists for all, in equal measure. The Economist Intelligence Unit, a company that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, rated South Africa as a Flawed Democracy in 2014. Although our elections are fair and free, there are a number of challenges that question our democracy. The political culture and problems in the functions of governance has resulted in a loss of trust of the democratic system by the citizens. The innumerable scandals that have plagued the government recently has not helped our democracy. Issues of state capture where private families have influenced the appointment of ministers and who have been involved in massive fraud with state owned enterprises like Eskom. The