The Copenhagen Declaration calls for respect for democracy and the rule of law. It also calls for measures to ensure social integration of all groups particularly those who tend to be marginalised, in all aspects of society with emphasis on the economy, social intercourse and political life.

The constitutional recognition of all 11 languages of South Africa as official languages expresses respect for the culture and identity of all groups. The Constitution allows for special measures to be taken to correct past imbalances. Other measures that have been adopted are to be found in legislation such as the Labour Relations Act, 1995; the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997; the Employment Equity Bill, 1997; and Government policy generally.

The Government embarked on the immediate task of promoting legislation, establishing and transforming institutions, to lay a firm foundation for constitutional democracy. Institutions which were put in place to support constitutional democracy include::

• The Public Protector
• The Human Rights Commission
• The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities
• The Commission for Gender Equality
• The Electoral Commission
• The Auditor-General and
• The Constitutional Court

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR) were established in terms of South Africa’s Interim Constitution in order to address the gross human rights violations suffered in the country prior to 1994. The Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, which was passed in 1995, provided for the creation of the TRC.

The TRC’s objective was to promote national unity and reconciliation by "establishing as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent" of gross human rights violations which occurred between 1 March 1960 and 6 December 1993 (subsequently extended to 10 May 1994). On the issue of land rights, Parliament passed the Restitution of Land Rights Act in 1994. The act provides for the "restitution in the rights of land in respect of which persons or communities were dispossessed under or for the purpose of furthering the objects of any racially based discriminatory law". The Commission was tasked with the responsibility of receiving, investigating and settling claims.

The Constitution makes provision for a Human Rights Commission consisting of a chairperson and ten members. The Human Rights Commission launched on 21 March 1996 comprises a commission and a secretariat. The aim of the Commission is to promote respect for human rights and a culture of human rights; to promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights; and to monitor and assess the observance of human rights in South Africa. In support of the rights and objectives recognized in the Copenhagen Declaration, South Africa has signed and ratified a number of human rights basic instruments. These are outlined below:

Source: Department of Foreign Affairs (2000)

South Africa ratified all the conventions without any reservations and has recently changed its policy concerning recruitment into the army to age 18, in line with the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. South Africa has also submitted three Country Reports to International Treaty monitoring bodies, under the African Charter on Human Rights and People'’ Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The land reform program in South Africa is a comprehensive program aimed at redressing the apartheid legacies while contributing to national reconciliation, growth and development. The Department of Land Affairs has a Land Reform Program which comprises the following:

• The Redistribution Program, which seeks to provide access to land to those previously denied it as a result of past discrimination
• The Restitution Program, which seeks to restore land to those who were dispossessed of it as a result of racial discrimination
• The Tenure Reform Program, which seeks to provide, secures land rights and tenure to those whose occupation of such land is vulnerable

In the five years that the land reform program has been in operation, a total of 58,921 households have received 745 015 hectares of land in both redistribution and restitution program. Many millions more have benefited from protection that affords them tenure security.

The Land Redistribution Program, which is specifically aimed at the poor, labour tenants, farm workers, women and emergent farmers, is being implemented on a significant scale. Over 18 million hectares of land have been redistributed over the past five years. This has given individuals and groups an economic base from which to engage in productive agricultural activity, and so generate both income and employment for themselves, thereby contributing to reduced poverty and a better quality of life.

The transformation of existing laws and institutions has also required changing the criminal judicial system. The aim of such transformation is a system that embraces both women and men regardless of culture, economic status, age and other social variables. Key among the areas of transformation is:

• the transformation of the judicial system and the judiciary
• policy and administrative measures to rehabilitate victims and offenders
• engendering human rights awareness

An innovative aspect of this program is the joint venture projects - partnership between government, businesses and land reform beneficiaries. In 1994, the Restitution of Land Rights Act established a legal framework and mechanisms for restitution by establishing the Commission for Restitution of Land Rights and the Land Claims Court. A deadline for lodgement of claims was set for 31 December 1998 and 63 455 claims have been lodged. Approximately 80% of these claims are for urban areas and the majority of these will be for financial compensation. Since 1995 241 claims have been finalised representing the restoration of 311 484 hectares to 83,378 beneficiaries.

The achievement of gender equality and gender justice has been a priority agenda forming part of the on-going struggle in countries experiencing democratic transition. With regard to Government policy affecting women, South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 15 December 1995 without reservations. To this end, South Africa’s report on CEDAW was presented to the UN in 1998. With a view to implementing CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, Nairobi Forward Strategies and other international instruments dealing with women, the following activities have been given priority:

• Efforts to end violence against women
• Engendering governance and leadership
• Economic empowerment of women
• Strengthening economic capacity of women
• Reform of maintenance laws
• Public outreach campaigns;
• Promoting the advancement of women and
• Customary law reform
• Promoting and protecting human rights for women

The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act No. 120 of 1998 and the Succession (Customary Law) Amendment Bill have recently been promoted. The legislation has a significant influence on the general integration of women into society on an equal basis with their male counterparts. The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act recognizes customary marriages as equally as civil marriages. It removes the minority status to which women married under customary law were previously subjected to. It also equalizes the rights of men and women and protects women from economic abuses inherent in the practice of polygamy. The Succession (Customary Law) Amendment Bill seeks to synchronize succession rights and responsibilities under customary law with the Constitution and international instruments such as CEDAW.

In addition, efforts to mainstream gender have entailed wide consultation to review the best practices that could be applied in the South African context to ensure gender transformation. The identification of best practices has been translated into a program of action, which is commonly referred to as the National Machinery for the Advancement of Gender Equality. It is composed of a variety of structures operating from the premise that transformation and reconstruction cannot be complete without the transformation of gender relations. The national machinery is composed of a multiple set of structures located at different levels of society to execute specific functions, which collectively should lead South Africa to attain gender equality. The structures within and outside Government comprise:

• The Office of the Status of Women
• Gender focal points and structures in Government departments
• Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women in Parliament
• Commission on Gender Equality
• Human Rights Commission and
• A strong women’s movement

Key among these structures is the Office of the Status of Women (OSW) and the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE). Both structures were established in January 1997 to ensure that the constitutional and transformational objectives of gender equality are translated into real and meaningful Government programs. The women’s movement requested that the OSW be located in the Office of the Deputy President with a mandate to undertake internal and external transformation of Government.

The women’s movement further recommended that the national OSW be replicated at provincial and local Government level. The OSW functions through gender focal points and structures at Government departmental level.

The OSW has recently concluded a Draft Policy on Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality. The policy is a consolidation of consultations dating back to 1990 and it embraces women’s demands and concerns into a statement of intent. It follows a basic-needs approach on the premise that the majority of women live below the poverty line. Hence, the strategies proposed in the draft policy address the meeting of basic needs and the empowerment of women. The draft policy will advance the task of Government departments to formulate their own gender policies.

The Commission on Gender Equality is charged with changing the culture and mindset of society. It developed a plan of action after a series of workshops with Government departments and organizations in civil society. It has released its first annual report, which covers issues such as the workshop on customary law, an inventory of legislation which explicitly/implicitly discriminates against women, and advocacy for anti-discriminatory legislation.

Women also feature prominently in the constitutional requirement that the composition of the public service be broadly representative of South African society. The primary objective of the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (1995) is the creation of a "genuinely representative public service". It sets as its key targets that within four years, 50 % representation of blacks at management level, and that during the same period, at least 30 % of new recruits to middle and senior management levels are to be women.

Parliament is clearly an important area of decision-making in the South African society. It is argued that for women to make a difference in Parliament, they need a critical mass of at least 30 %. South Africa has a 25 % representation of women in Parliament, 23 % in the provincial (state) legislature and 19 % at local Government level. This was a great achievement by the new democratically elected Government, which adopted the election system of proportional representation. This system has, in many countries, proved to be one of the best methods to facilitate the entry of women into political decision-making processes. Over and above this, the ANC adopted a quota system as a special measure to ensure representation of women in Parliament. The low local Government representation can be attributed to the constituency (ward) system, which makes it difficult for women to be elected. According to a local Government list, 28 % of those elected were women.

A program of legislative reform is successfully being embarked with all new legislation and subordinate legislation being monitored for gender sensitivity. The Domestic Violence Act, 1998 (Act 116 of 1998) was implemented on 15 December 1999. The following activities were undertaken in preparation for this:

• A national audit of domestic violence projects in the Department of Wlfare has been completed and submitted to the Department of Safety and Security
• The Department of Justice developed an integrated Implementation Plan on the Domestic Violence Act.
• At a Victim Empowerment Workshop on domestic violence a task team was formed for the implementation of business plans for training, resource directory and pilot projects.

Briefing sessions on the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act were conducted in the provinces during November and December 1999. Two hundred and thirty three social workers and South African Police officials were briefed. The Department is in the process of appointing an organization that will offer uniform training for social workers and lay counselors in the nine provinces.

The Department of Welfare has established a partnership with the National Network on Violence Against Women (NNOVAW) to develop a Resource Directory on Domestic Violence. The Directory consists of a userfriendly database for the following services:

• National and provincial NGOs and
• National and Provincial VEP co-coordinators
• Magistrates
• Police Stations
• Welfare Offices
• Hospitals, clinics, etc.
• Shelters

OLDER PERSONS

International Year for Older Persons

The International Year for Older Persons, 1999 (IYOP) was successfully commemorated at national, provincial and local level. The promotion and the protection of the rights of older persons were central to all programs and the active participation of children and young people in most of the programs confirmed the relevance and importance of an intergenerational approach to aging.

Restoration of the Dignity of Older Persons

Operation Dignity was launched in the Northern Province during November 1999. The objective of the project is to promote the restoration of the dignity of older persons through the development of community plans of action, and the establishment of humane conditions at pension pays points. It is envisaged that Operation Dignity will be replicated in all the provinces.

The following mechanisms were developed to address elder abuse, neglect and ill treatment in an effective manner:

• A national strategy on elder abuse was developed in collaboration with the Department of Health and stakeholders in the field of aging.
• Aged Persons Act (Act 81 of 1967) was amended to criminalise the abuse and neglect of older persons and to democratize the management structures of home for older persons.
• The first draft of new legislation on the Status of Older Persons has been drafted. It is envisaged that the Bill on the Status of Older Persons will be tabled during the current parliamentary session. The new legislation will replace The Aged Persons Act (Act 81 of 1967).
• Cabinet also approved the ratification of United Nations Resolution 46/91 that defines the guiding principles for Older Persons. These that will be reflected in all policies and legislation.

A conceptual framework for an integrated community based model was developed and will be tested and further developed by means of two pilot projects in the Free State. The residential care policy as well as the minimum standards for frail care and community-based care and support will be tested as part of the pilot project, which will be launched on 1 March 2000. A study to develop an appropriate model for assisted living will be piloted in Mpumalanga.

The discussion group on aging engaged in the development of a policy framework on ageing for the period 2000 - 2010. A draft South African Declaration on Ageing has been developed which will be part of the new policy framework. The policy framework will include minimum standards for residential as well community based care and support.

South Africa's first National Youth Commission (NYC) was inaugurated in Pretoria on 2 July 1996. The Commission's main objectives are to coordinate and develop a national youth policy that is sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the youth.

The NYC established the Interdepartmental Committee on Youth Affairs in 1997. Incorporating 38 Government departments and chaired by the NYC, the committee is meant to coordinate all Government youth programs, oversee program implementation and facilitate collaborative program planning and review across all relevant departments. The South African Youth Council represents non-Government institutions comprising youth, research, resource, civil, political, cultural, sporting and recreational organization not directly connected to the Government.

In recognition of the unique needs of the youth today, the Department of Welfare has strengthened relations not only with the National Youth Commission, but also with other relevant stakeholders. This has resulted in the formation of more focused clusters by departments around areas of concern of young South Africans, which will be the driving force on implementation of programs for youth.

The Department of Health in partnership with the Departments of Education and Welfare developed the policy guidelines on 'Health Promoting in Schools'. This will direct schools, communities and service providers to create schools as sectors for youth development. The crucial areas of focus of these guidelines are:

• Community involvement
• Personal skill development
• Effective support services
• A healthy supportive environment
• A healthy school policy

The National Crime Prevention Strategy identified violence prevention in schools as a major focus area. The Department of Welfare, as part of the Safety and Security Cluster of the National Youth Commission, has participated in identifying welfare initiatives for piloting in the Presidential Urban Renewal areas.

According to the White Paper on an Integrated National Disability Strategy, between five and 12 % of South African population are moderately to severely disabled. The Department of Welfare has entered into an alliance with the Disabled Children's Action Group to implement a pilot project for empowering parents or caregivers to respond to their children's needs and to facilitate their participation in society. The White Paper has developed strategies to address issues facing the disabled, such as health care, rehabilitation, public education, barrier-free access, human resource development and housing. There has been a shift in emphasis from residential care to community-based services to enable people with disabilities to live in the community. In line with the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, the National Coordinating Committee on Disability (now the South African Federal Council on Disability) was established. This Council has now moved from the Department of Welfare to the Office of the President on the Status of Disabled People. The aim of the Council is to advise Government departments and provinces on policy development for disabled people, to monitor the implementation of policies, establish and maintain a database on matters relating to disability and conduct ongoing public education and awareness campaigns (1999/2000 Annual Year Book).

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The South African Government supports the UNGA Resolution on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. As a relative newcomer, our country is in the process of developing our national capacity to manage the follow-up implementation of the Copenhagen Agreements and also supports the process at a regional level.

The sub-regional UNECA Conference on Social Development in Nairobi in March 1999 provided a framework for advancing social development in the region. One of its achievements was the identification of common constraints to the implementation of the summit commitments, namely:

• debt burden;
• over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture;
• insufficient human capacity for policy formulation, implementation and evaluation;
• lack of inadequate economic and social infrastructure in rural areas;
• the impact of HIV/AIDS; and
• ongoing social instability and civil strife in several countries of the region.

The following are amongst the most pressing issues in the sub-region:

• mobilizing sufficient financial resources to finance healthcare programs;
• strengthening institutional and human capacity;
• rehabilitating the health infrastructure;
• poor health management and information systems;
• inadequate coverage of access to health services such as immunization, drugs and healthcare facilities, especially in the rural areas;
• constraints in providing clean water and sanitation; and
• wide spread infant and under-five mortality rates, including a high maternal mortality rate.

Further to the above, declining education enrolment ratios; improving the quality of education; internal efficiency; and relevance in the education sector are challenges common to most countries. These include infrastructure constraints such as overcrowded classrooms, inadequate human and financial resources and lack of teaching materials.

Gender imbalances at all levels of the educational ladder are widespread. Economic reform programs and related cost sharing and cost-recovery arrangements often impede access, especially for poor households. Provision of free and compulsory primary education remained a major challenge for the majority of member states of the two sub-regions.

Social development and the implementation of the Program of Action of the Summit are primarily the responsibility of Governments in partnership with civil society. Furthermore, strengthened and coordinated regional cooperation and assistance are essential for its full implementation. As we review the progress since the Copenhagen Declaration, we should remember that any framework for social development must take into account our national and regional differences. Regional as well as sub-regional organizations have already made great strides in establishing regional social development agendas and the international community should give these agendas.

During the UN Preparatory Meeting in May 1999 in New York, the Chairperson of the G 77 remarked that a positive regional and international enabling environment are needed to support national efforts to improve the social conditions of all peoples, in particular those living in abject poverty. Such a symbiotic relationship will ensure regional peace, stability and security. A major challenge facing Africa, is to create the foundation for sustained future growth. SADC needs to be assured of markets for their products; more favorable and hirer terms of trade; greater social sensitivity of the policies of the Bretton Woods Institutions; intensified stronger debt relief efforts; and transfer of appropriate technology, knowledge and information for capacity building for social development. These conditions will promote the sustainable growth needed in our region and will strengthen our efforts at poverty reduction, achieving higher levels of social services and generally improved life expectancy.

Investment in the social sector remains an essential element of any national and regional development. It has been established that Africa needs to sustain an average annual growth of 7% to achieve the global target of halving poverty by 2015. However, most of the macro-economic policies of African countries have been described as being inadequate to sustain this level of growth, thus calling into question the long term sustainability of the socio-economic progress of some countries, including their efforts at poverty eradication and the provision of social services. Not only are their efforts to achieve universal and equitable access to quality education and health services for all threatened, but also the contribution these services make to poverty alleviation, the goal of full employment, social integration and generally more socially and economically productive lives. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation by all, reduced infant and maternal mortality as well as malaria mortality and morbidity are still high on the social agenda of developing countries.

South Africa urges a holistic, multi-pronged and broad-based approach to poverty. This approach will include, at the international and regional level, improved conditions for trade, a reversal of the declining trend in ODA from the agreed target of 0.7 % of the GNP of donor countries; and support for national micro-credit schemes. While acknowledging the need for the mobilization of a substantial volume of new and additional resources to developing countries, these countries are nevertheless not relieved of the necessity to pursue sound economic policies as empirical evidence suggests that aid can be an effective investment when a recipient country has put growth-enhancing policies into place. For sustainable development, countries must put greater emphasis on growth strategies that attract foreign investment as a start to alter the present skewed economic relationship between developed and developing countries, ODA must be seen as complementary to growth strategies rather than an end in itself.

Africa's average growth rate between 1995 and 1998 was approximately 5 %, the best performance in two decades. Although promising, the current growth rates are not sufficient to impact positively on the poverty levels and other social problems. While the developed countries could contribute to the "African Renaissance", it is the Africans that can bring about positive change in the Continent. The main ingredient for the attainment of such a goal is the integration of African economies. This could be effected by a shift in paradigm with regard to the importance of African regional integration and by African countries beginning to look for dynamism in their economies for cooperation on bilateral basis as well as at regional level. African countries should work as a team while simultaneously sharing the experiences and technologies but also speaking with one voice when interacting with international institutions.

Governments have a major role in promoting social integration, including the investment in social institutions and strengthening of such institutions that can enhance social cohesion. Civil society and the international community should support the integration process, notably the interests of vulnerable groups such as youths, women, the elderly, the disabled and minorities should be protected in a participatory approach, involving Government, civil society and the international community.

It is important that SADC Member States continue to pursue strategies to protect the rights of vulnerable groups and should view actions to achieve gender equality as contribution to that process. In the context of the emergence of what has been termed the feminization of poverty, it is important for Member States to also acknowledge and address the gender impact of macro-economic policy on poverty and equality between women and men, particularly as it relates to the distribution of productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services.

Components of South Africa's Anti-poverty program can be distinguished as the promotion of economic stability, providing basic needs, providing social safety nets, development of human capital and employment creation. The country, however, realizes that it will not prosper in the midst of regional poverty. Whilst there are numerous challenges for poverty eradication, the following have been prioritized:

The measurement of poverty: inadequate and very often inappropriate data seriously hamper the targeting of public resources to the poorest of the poor and negatively impact on the monitoring of poverty trends in the country.

Decentralization and poverty: many developing countries, including South Africa, have developed sophisticated decentralized political frameworks for cogent reasons. However, they have not yet managed to ensure that sub-national Governments, especially local Governments have the capacity (human, financial etc) to effectively undertake poverty alleviation programs.

Building partnerships with civil society: a strong civil society is an essential component of any development strategy, given its role in keeping the state accountable, promoting the necessary reforms and complementing state efforts to protect the poorest and the mostvulnerable. While our infant democracy has been blessed with a robust civil society we have some way to go in developing effective partnerships for poverty eradication with non-Governmental organizations.

Resource allocation: the need to increase significantly the resources allocated for social development should be addressed through a number of inter-related strategies, namely:

• Refocusing of Government budgets away from what many of us consider wasteful and unnecessary expenditure (e.g. military expenditure) towards social programs.

• Reprioritization of the social sector budget, for instance away from higher education and in health, away from curative, tertiary health services towards preventative primary health care. In many developing countries, the main beneficiaries of public-funded higher education and tertiary health care tend to be non-poor.

• The increased use of user fees for social programs, for those who have the ability to pay. However, user fees must be imposed in a way that does not increase inequity in social development spending; and

• Beyond implementing user fees, it is necessary for the social sector to seek alternative sources of funding. One option is the raising of an earmarked national tax for the social sector or some aspect of the social sector such as education.

There is an onus on South Africa and on our partners in the SADC region to engage in co-operative ventures to share ideas on, inter alia, poverty data collection, poverty monitoring and the development of appropriate and feasible policies for the region. South Africa can not prosper in a regional and continental context of poverty and underdevelopment. Regional co-operative initiatives must be seen therefore within the context of both enlightened self-interest and the desire for broader social and economic development in our region.

At the Consultative Conference in Durban, from 7 to 8 December 1999, SADC Ministers responsible for social development had expressed their firm commitment to social development through effective policies, programs and adequate resources. The priority targets for the region were HIV/Aids, poverty reduction and social integration, particularly of marginalised groups. The meeting recognized that in order to achieve these goals and targets in the region close collaboration within and among Governments and international development partners would be required.

At the SADC Council of Ministers on 17 and 18 February 2000 in Mbabane, Swaziland, the Ministers noted the importance of having a forum to address issues of social development at the regional level. Council re-affirmed the role of South Africa in coordinating regional preparations for the UN Special Session. A SADC Ministerial Working Committee was appointed and on 30 to 31 March 2000, the Ministers adopted the SADC Position on Social Development for distribution at the UN Preparatory Committee in New York from 3-14 April 2000 as well as the UN Special Session in Geneva in June 2000. A SADC Program for Action for social development was also adopted at this meeting (Annexure 1).

In February 2000, Minister ZST Skweyiya, Minister for Welfare, Population and Development was elected as Chairperson of the UN Commission for Social Development. South Africa will serve in this position for the next four years to come.

Contents   |    Chapter 1   |   Chapter 2    |   Chapter 3   |   Chapter 4   |    Chapter 5   |   Chapter 6   |    Chapter 7   |   Appendix