The top five most violated human rights in South Africa are:
- Equality (749 complaints)
- Unfair labour practices (440 complaints)
- Ongoing lack of access to health care, water, food, and social security (428 complaints)
- Violations of the right to just administrative action (379 complaints)
- Violations of rights in relations to arrest and detention (409 complaints)
During 2015-2016, the Commission received a total of 9 238 complaints; with Gauteng recording the highest number of complaints (1110), followed by the Western Cape (670) and KwaZulu-Natal (581). Since 2012, these three provinces have consistently received the highest number of complaints of all 9 provinces. One noticeable change in the number of complaints received by the Commission in 2016/2016 is a marked increase in the number of complaints recorded by the North West provincial office.
Equality
Equality is a foundational value of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. Section 9 of the Constitution guarantees the right to equality for all; it further prohibits unfair discrimination on 16 grounds, including colour, culture, belief, conscience, sexual orientation, marital status, race, and gender, among others. In 2015/2016, the Commission received a total of 749 complaints related to equality; of these, 505 were human rights violations related to race.
The right to equality remains the right most frequently litigated by the Commission in the Equality Courts. Most of these cases involve the use of the “k-word” and other derogatory comments with racial undertones, such as use of the terms “baboon” or “monkey”. In the 2015/2016 financial year, 31 of 54 matters litigated by the provincial offices related to the right to equality and hate speech.
After race, discrimination based on disability and ethnic origin account for the largest numbers of equality-related complaints received by the Commission.
Structural Inequality
That unfair labour practices; widespread lack of access to health care, water, food, and social security (Section 27 rights); violations of the right to just administrative action; and violations of rights in relation to arrest and detention; account for the remaining top 5 human rights violations reflects the reality that formal equality (laws and policies) alone cannot guarantee the realisation of human rights. These violations indicate that structural and systemic inequalities – historic hierarchies and power relations that underlie our society and our economy – continue to disproportionately prejudice certain sectors of society, and thwart the attainment of the foundational values of our Constitution.
Labour related human rights violations account for the second highest human rights violations received by the Commission, after equality. Most of these cases relate to unfair dismissals and other unfair labour practices; which speak to widespread discrimination in the workplace.
Violations of the right to Section 27 rights – healthcare, food, water, and social security – account for the third highest human rights violations. The Commission has seen a significant increase in the number of complaints relating to these rights since 2012. This increase is tied to the insufficient or lack of service delivery experienced by innumerable communities in South Africa.
The Right to Just Administrative Action is enshrined in the Bill of Rights. This guarantees that everyone is entitled to administrative actions that are reasonable, lawful and procedurally fair; and compels all those tasked with public administration, whose decisions affect members of the public, to act within both the spirit and the letter of the law. Most of the human rights violations received by the Commission relating to Just Administrative Action concern decisions made by government departments, such as the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Social Development.
Most of the complaints received by the Commission relating to the Arrests and Detentions, emanate from inmates in correctional centres requesting copies of trial transcripts and requesting assistance for appeals or protesting living conditions.
To supplement the statistics and date contained in the Annual Trends Analysis Report, the Commission is also releasing 3 research briefs on Race and Inequality 2013 – 2017, on Disability and Inequality in South Africa 2013 - 2017, and on Gender and Inequality in South Africa 2013 – 2017.
Read in conjunction with the Annual Trends Analysis Report, these 3 research briefs provide a succinct overview of the state of reported human rights violations and inequality in South Africa.
Ends/
Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission
For more information, please contact:
Gail Smith - SAHRC Spokesperson. Cell: 060 988 3792 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Gushwell Brooks - Communications Co-ordinator. Cell: 082 645 8573 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.