The dark secret of South Africa - Human Rights Violations, up close.

WRITTEN BY: SHARANYA RAMESH

ROLL NUMBER - 3760

As much as every government tries to paint a rosy picture of their country, there are always the dark secrets that somehow find their way out. In the case of South Africa, there are the human rights violations which have gone unnoticed for a long time. However in recent times, there has been a surge of media reports that cover the various human rights violations in South Africa.
Human rights are the basic rights that everyone has, simply because they are human. The list of human rights protected in South Africa is contained in the Bill of Rights, Chapter 2 of the South African Constitution, the highest law in the country.

These human rights violations are not just violent actions but also aspects such as no accessibility to basic needs such as a water, shelter and electricity.

To deal with this issue, the human rights commission was created.
In accordance with the Constitution and the Human Rights Commission Act of 1994, the tasks of the Human Rights Commission are to:
- Develop an awareness of human rights among the people of South Africa.
- Make recommendations to the state to improve the carrying out of human rights.
- Undertake studies and report to Parliament on matters relating to human rights.
- Investigate complaints of violations of human rights and seek appropriate relief.
The Commission works with government, civil society and individuals, both in South Africa and internationally, acting as both a watchdog and a visible route through which people can access their rights.

The South African Human Rights Commission kicked-off its 2012 Human Rights Month Campaign at the Rammolutsi Township in Viljoenskroon in the Free State. In an attempt to further advance the Commission’s Poverty and Inequality Strategy, this year's theme is Water and Sanitation in South Africa – A question of Accessibility. Despite the achievements that have been made in the provision of access to water and sanitation, the Commission is however concerned about the quality of the service. The Commission carried out investigations in the areas of Makhaza in the Western Cape and Rammolutsi in the Free State and made specific findings on the inadequacies in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation.

Subsequent to this, the Commission’s Section 5 Committee on Governance and Basic Services made further recommendations that the Commission must find ways to ensure government accelerated service delivery.
Human rights violations were also seen during the football world cup that South Africa hosted. In an effort to “clean the city”, there have been reports that police forces had used brutal measure to make the homeless shift or move away. Reports of molestation, violence and other such brutalities were also seen. there has been an increase in police brutality towards street traders, the homeless, refugees and migrants living in townships, or slums. In order to present a clean and beautiful host nation to the world, police have attempted to remove the ugly or unpleasant aspects of the country by raiding and destroying informal housing. Such actions are in violation of South African law that prohibits forced eviction.

A lot of the times, human rights violations in South Africa go unnoticed because of how much South Africa advertises its good aspects such as tourism destinations etc. However, human rights violations still exist in this country and it is time that people started taking notice of it.