To be sure, in the same year Mandela delivered this speech, the Constitutional Court issued its most famous decision: S v Makwanyane. In concurring with the majority judgment that outlawed the death penalty, several justices grounded their reasoning in the then-emergent constitutional value of Botho/Ubuntu. Justice Pius Langa put it neatly: “[Ubuntu] is a culture which places some emphasis on communality and on the interdependence of the members of a community. It recognises a person's status as a human being, entitled to unconditional respect, dignity, value and acceptance from the members of the community [that] such a person happens to be part of. It also entails the converse, however. The person has a corresponding duty to give the same respect, dignity, value and acceptance to each member of that community. More importantly, it regulates the exercise of rights by the emphasis it lays on sharing and co-responsibility and the mutual enjoyment of rights by all.”

Thirty-one years later, we seem to have forgotten this notion of freedom as/for responsibility. From everyday infractions of by-laws and traffic rules, a lack of basic decency and civility in civic discourse, seemingly institutionalised public-sector corruption and bribery, vigilante groups preventing sick children and pregnant mothers from accessing health care services, extortion rings in schools, against small traders, and against families organising funerals, to endemic gender- and sexuality-based violence, we seem to live out freedom as self-interest and selfishness, regardless of the consequences for the broader society. 

We often speak of the human rights that we have gained since the dawn of democracy and the adoption of South Africa’s interim Constitution in 1993, but we seldom (if ever) talk about our responsibilities as humans vis-à-vis one another. We’re quick to point fingers at the state (deservedly) for its failure to meet its constitutional duties and obligations to ensure the realisation of human rights, but how often do we treat others with human dignity and equality, and recognise their right to freedom and security of their person? 

If we look purely at our education sector, as an example – a microcosm of South African society – in the month of March alone (Human Rights Month, no less), there were at least four reported incidents that should have made us all question where we are as a society and whether we, ourselves, are living up to the values enshrined in the same Constitution that entitles us to our human rights. On 8 March 2026, eight-year-old Imibongo Ntamehlo from the Eastern Cape took her own life because she could no longer endure the bullying, humiliation and beatings she faced at the hands of her schoolmates. Imibongo informed her mother of the bullying, who then addressed both the children and their parents. Yet the bullying continued until it was brought to a devastating end by Imibongo herself. In the following week, a teacher at Tetelo Secondary School in Soweto, Mpho Ramapatsi, was arrested and suspended – following community pressure – for administering 92 lashes with a pipe to a Grade 11 pupil for exceeding the word count in an essay assignment. The learner was so severely beaten by her teacher that she was hospitalised and is currently undergoing trauma counselling. In the same week, a Grade One teacher in the Western Cape filmed one of her students sitting without lunch, his hands over his face, while the rest of his classmates enjoyed a pie and juice because his mother was unable to afford the R40 contribution towards the lunch. The teacher disseminated the video and was subsequently suspended following community uproar. In the last week of Human Rights Month, a learner in KwaZulu-Natal choked his principal with his own tie after his cell phone was confiscated. A charge of common assault has been laid against the learner.

Schools are meant to be safe environments, yet, like our society, they can be violent and emotionally damaging spaces due to the behaviour of learners towards other learners, educators towards learners, learners towards educators and educators towards one another. As important as it is for the various provincial Departments of Education, the South African Police Service, and the Department of Social Development to respond to the incidents and tragedies mentioned above, it is equally important that we, the members of these communities and schools, take a look at ourselves too. 

The South African Human Rights Commission has become increasingly aware of the rise in bullying and violence in schools. For that reason, this Freedom month, the Commission has launched its Learner Rights-and-Responsibilities Campaign. This campaign, which emanates from the Commission’s constitutionally compliant Model School Code of Conduct, is aimed not only at teaching learners about their rights but also at emphasising their responsibilities towards one another and other school staff. The Commission will visit schools to introduce the Campaign through information dissemination, in the form of posters and pamphlets, as well as through interactive exercises with learners. The campaign aims to address learner misconduct, including bullying and other forms of violence, misuse of social media, smoking cigarettes, vapes and other drugs, vandalism of school property and disrespect for school staff, service providers and the broader community. The campaign seeks to contribute towards the growth of responsible, mature and active citizens.

As we mark the milestone of 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution, we must do more to internalise Madiba’s words and adopt an Afrocentric notion of human rights and freedom. A Botho/Ubuntu-infused understanding of human rights is neither uncompromising majoritarianism nor a compromise of individual freedom. Coming from a long history of colonisation, dehumanisation, division and infantilisation, Botho/Ubuntu reminds us that decolonisation is ultimately about responsibility, self-actualisation, maturity and the forging of harmony and interdependence: a person is a person through other persons. 

Tshepo Madlingozi
Commissioner: Anti-Racism, Education and Equality
South African Human Rights Commission

Lee-Anne Germanos Manuel
Research Advisor
South African Human Rights Commission