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South Africa has a Constitution to be proud of. It emerged out of a consultative process that made space for everyone, and it is a rigorous and comprehensive document. We need to celebrate it on the occasion of Human Rights Day.

But we also need to evaluate how far we have come since the fight for freedom and democracy was finally won in 1994 in giving life to it.

When measuring the ANC government's activities, policies and approach against the principles of the Constitution, it becomes clear that South Africans are not living in the kind of state that it envisages and represents.

Over the next three months the Democratic Alliance (DA) will produce a detailed report on how these principles have been and continue to be eroded, and we will make the case for how the Constitution - when given life in government policy, legislation and action - can become the centre of a truly free, compassionate, and human rights-based South Africa.

While all of the rights enshrined in the Constitution are significant, the ones that the DA has expanded on below are those which we believe are at the core of the rights-based society that South Africa should be:


An open society

Access to courts and fair legal process

The Constitution provides for a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as one of the core components of the justice system, to ensure that criminals are convicted and the innocent protected "without fear, favour or prejudice".

But under the ANC government, the principle of independence has been damaged by a series of overt political interventions, starting with the firing of the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Vusi Pikoli, who had charged Jacob Zuma with corruption, and ending with the appointment of the tainted but politically impenetrable Menzi Simelane as NDPP.

If we cannot be sure that those who control the legal system are incorruptible, and that nobody can be above the law, then there isn't a single constitutional right that we can be sure will be protected. This places the integrity of the justice system at the heart of the entire Constitution.

To protect their rights, the South African people also need to have direct access to the legal system, and access to courts is in itself a constitutionally-enshrined right. But court backlogs, expensive legal costs and the lack of a sound Legal Aid board have hampered the ability of the most marginalised citizens to have access to courts. Furthermore, the powers of the courts have been diminished by the government's continuing failure to enact court rulings.

Personal freedom and security

The Constitution requires that a police service be in place to prevent, combat and investigate crime and uphold and enforce the law. But most South Africans live in a state of almost constant fear and suspicion. There were 18 148 murders last year, equating to 50 every day. South Africa has the reputation of having the highest crime rate in the world for a country not at war.

The police service is moribund in the face of this onslaught. In 2008/2009, the SAPS had a 27% detection rate for murder and a 13% detection rate for robbery with aggravating circumstances.

While not being able to catch criminals, police officers are becoming increasingly inclined to abuse the rights of others, including innocent civilians; the Independent Complaints Directorate received 6 119 complaints of police misconduct last year, of which 2 285 were criminal complaints.

Freedom of speech and expression

The Constitution gives clear and explicit recognition to the right to freedom of speech, movement and expression, and these rights in themselves also enable us to compel the state to protect other rights.

Yet the assault on Chumane Maxwele, who was picked up off the side of the road for making a gesture at the presidential cavalcade, and the recent assault of a journalist by the President's VIP unit after he had taken photos of the presidential motorcade, represents the growing threat to these rights by an arrogant and out-of-touch government.

There is also a persistent effort on the part of members of government to limit the boundaries of free speech through legislation. An amendment to the Film and Publications Act allows for pre-publication censorship of certain publications. In addition, while the Protection of Information Bill - which would have criminalised the publication of "sensitive information" if it were deemed to threaten the "national interest" - has been withdrawn, it is part of a dangerous pattern of limiting freedom of expression.


An opportunity society

Education

Education is not only a constitutionally-entrenched right in itself, but it is also the door to the understanding of all other rights. Yet in South Africa, while most children are in school, the quality of the schooling that most receive is so dismal that they would be better off staying at home. Overall, only 22% of South African children reach relatively low international benchmarks, and the Department of Education's own research shows that most grade 6 children are three years behind where they should be. Apartheid lines still define access to quality education. While one out of 11 white learners obtained an A aggregate in matric, only 1 in 640 black learners did.

Thus the school system, which is supposed to give poor children the means to move up in the world, in fact holds them back.

Land reform

The Constitution commits the state to taking measures to "foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis", and to a land restitution process. These are fundamental to opening up South Africa's economy to all.

But it is estimated that while R70-billion will be required to finalise all currently outstanding land claims, the annual budget for land reform averaged less than R5-billion per year over the last decade. A target of redistributing 30% of arable land by 2014 was set; but only 6% has been redistributed so far.

Where land reform and restitution programmes have been implemented, they have tended to be a dismal failure. 90% of farms which have been redistributed have collapsed, and have largely been abandoned.


A society for all

Housing

Section 26 of the Constitution places a positive duty on the state to "...take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation" of the right to housing. This duty was expressed succinctly in the Grootboom and Soobramoney cases, where the state was taken to court for failing to deliver on this right. Tragically, Irene Grootboom died despite having won her case, still without a house.

More than seven million people continue to live precariously in shacks or derelict buildings or on the street. The government's efforts have made little dent in the massive need, and where houses have been built, they have been of a sub-standard quality.

The failures are as a result of widespread corruption, and a housing model that is neither sustainable nor affordable, because it places priority on expensive houses for a few.

Welfare

The Constitution gives every South African the right to "social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependents, appropriate social assistance". Children receive special protection.

However, while a comprehensive grants system is in place, and most people who qualify receive a grant, the government fails in providing real services to those in need.

South Africa needs around 66 300 social workers, but it has only 5 600 - 10% of what we need.

In South Africa today an average of 21 crimes against women are committed every hour. But there are only 96 shelters for abused women around the country, and the government scrapped the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units (FCS) three years ago.

The National Lottery was created with the objective of providing support to NGOs doing much of the welfare work that the government is not doing. Yet it emerged last week, during court action by two charities who could not obtain Lotto funding, that it was sitting on R6bn in unallocated money.

Health

The Constitution gives everyone the right to health care services. However, while South Africa spends more on health than most other countries in the world, we have one of the poorest outcomes.

South Africa is one of twelve countries in the world where the infant mortality rate is rising. Those who can afford to obtain private medical care do so, because the public system is plagued by a desperate shortage of doctors and nurses, medicine run-outs, outdated equipment, dilapidated facilities and a multitude of other problems.

Environment

The Constitution affords everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.

But the condition of the South African environment is deteriorating. Increasing pollution and declining air quality are harming people's health. Natural resources are being exploited in an unsustainable way, water quality is declining, and land degradation is becoming an increasingly serious problem.

South Africa has the means and the ability to become the kind of society in which we can all prosper, be safe and follow our dreams. To build this society we need to direct our energies towards making our Constitution not just a memorial to our past, but a living, breathing blueprint for South Africa's future.