Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission
12 OCTOBER 1999
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has noted the signs of deterioration in the human rights environment in South Africa, says SAHRC chairperson, Dr Barney Pityana.
Dr Pityana said assessments of President Thabo Mbeki's 100 days in office have focused mainly on the rhetoric of ministers and less on the need to create a rights-based and rights-sensitive society.
'What makes matters more frightening is that the government sings in unison with the opposition parties in this matter and the media, except in one or two instances, has not been sufficiently vigilant about the dangers of this trend'" he said.
The National Consultative Forum on Human Rights would play an important role in instilling the idea that human rights constitute the fundamental values of our constitutional governance, he said. "We need to inculcate the idea that human rights are a cross- cutting principle for all government departments and that all organs of state have a duty to promote, protect and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights".
A Press Conference will be held at the Parktonian Hotel on Friday, 15 October 1999, 8h00am, to report on the 31st Plenary Session of the SAHRC.
The Press Conference will precede a workshop in which the position of South Africa's various ethnic groups whose rights are not adequately provided for in the Constitution will come under the spotlight. The workshop will also be held at the Parktonian Hote l at 9.30am.
The purpose of the workshop is to report on the study that the Commission has undertaken on the rights of the various ethnic groups of South Africa. The National Department of Provincial Affairs and Local Government requested the Commission to conduct the study with a view to coming up with legal options and policies that South Africa can consider with regard to obligations towards the country's ethnic communities as envisaged in section 31 of the Constitution.
The findings of the study will assist in formulating appropriate policy on how the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities can be promoted and protected. At the workshop, there will be discussions on developments in international law, inte rpretation of our constitutional obligations and a reflection on the history and politics affecting indigenous peoples of South Africa. As a result of the discussions, the researchers will finalise the report and consider recommendations which should be pu t to the Ministry. The theoretical and international law aspects of the research will be submitted to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights in order to assist in the formulation of an African perspective on indigenous people.
For more information, contact:
SAHRC - (011)- 484 8300
Siseko Njobeni / Jeannette Campbell
083 288 3339 / 082 820 4600