Democracy is the notion that the majority should have supreme power to rule and make decisions that will shape the country’s future. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasises that government authority should be based on the will of the people. However, the government has not consistently upheld this principle for the past 30 years.
The apartheid regime was opposed by international law due to its human rights violations, as the fundamental purpose of international law is to safeguard human dignity and protect individual rights. The transition from apartheid to a new government system should have eliminated inequality, discrimination, and the uneven distribution of public services. However, due to increasing mismanagement of state funds by public servants and the slow eradication of inequality, this was not the case.
Gaps in Service Delivery
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) highlights that all people have the right to self-determination, allowing them to freely determine their political status. The ICCPR promotes free voting and elections, but many have criticised irregularities on the part of officials that are entrusted with protecting their human rights. The criticism about irregularities was disregarded. This shows that the Independent Electoral Commission does not support and protect democracy, which however is the main purpose of a chapter 9 institution. South Africa’s public institutions appear to be slow in prioritising the interests of its citizens. The ICCPR states that no one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The South African Police Service does not obey that rule, even though it is supposed to protect the citizens. The Marikana massacre demonstrated the incompetence of the government in safeguarding human rights, as 34 individuals were killed, but no one was held accountable. International law stipulates the importance of the right to life and human dignity which are also the cornerstone of the Constitution of South Africa. Still, public officials are failing to uphold this principle.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) ensures that State parties to the present covenant acknowledge the fundamental right of everyone to be safe from hunger. South Africa faces severe food vulnerability, with up to 20 million people affected, including millions of children who go to sleep hungry every night. However, in the South African context the triple threat of poverty, unemployment, and inequality is exacerbated. Consequently, this undermines the democratic gains the country attained in 1994.
The ICESCR recognises the right to education for children. Still, the education system is negatively affected by issues such as poor infrastructure, that deny many children the ability to access their right to education. For the past 30 years, the ANC has led South Africa, and it is stated in the ICESCR that state parties must ensure that the human right to education is accessible. According to Ellis (2024), thousands of children from the Eastern Cape endure long exhausting walks to school, often through rivers, resulting in a high drop-out rate. Poor water and sanitation are also a negative contributing factor to the education system. Think of the number of cases of pupils falling into the pit toilets that are being used in schools, mostly in rural areas. There is a lack of transparency and accountability from public servants, creating a perpetual state of unresolvable challenges. The state parties to the covenant acknowledge everyone’s right to fair and favorable work conditions, including fair wages, equal pay for equal work, and safe working conditions. However, the Department of Statistics South Africa (2020) has reported that female workers earn about 30% less than their male counterparts. The salary gap indicates the government’s inability to ensure equality.
African National Congress in Action.
According to the rankings, the ANC has been positioned 16th among approximately 7000 organisations perceived to be corrupt. This suggests a possible correlation with the perceived lack of democratic progress in the country over the past 30 years (Mthembu, 2024). Despite having held political power for three decades, the ruling party has yet to adequately address certain historical injustices that remain unsolved to this day. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination emphasises that state parties should strongly condemn racial segregation and commit to preventing, prohibiting, and eliminating such practices in their jurisdictional territories. Orania, a small town in the Northern Cape, has become a predominantly white-dominated area many years after the fall of apartheid. The town has the old apartheid flag and its currency, which shows the racial division that it is promoting, and the government has allowed that to occur in a democratic country. Orania’s appeal to the high court in the early 2000s has remained uncontested, and the ANC government’s inaction on this matter suggests a lack of attention to the appeal, enabling the continued promotion of division and racial segregation by Orania’s residents.
Maladministration
Most public officials prioritize vested interests over national priorities. This poses a significant challenge to democracy. The government’s cabinet, predominantly consisting of long-serving leaders, has been criticised for its inadequate response to corruption while simultaneously constraining the opportunities for young, qualified individuals to contribute to human rights advocacy and advance meaningful reforms. The United Nations Charter has had a profound impact on the drafting of the South African Constitution, as both documents converge in their objectives to tackle global issues and improve the quality of life for citizens of South Africa and the world. The preamble of the Constitution pledges to establish a united, democratic, and just society, yet the government is not guaranteeing the supremacy of the Constitution, as it has been violated multiple times.
Overall, this evaluation and analysis demonstrates the significant correlation between international law and its profound impact on shaping South Africa’s democratic trajectory over the past 30 years. The interplay between international law and South Africa’s Constitution is intended to guarantee the existence and realisation of democracy, thereby enabling citizens to experience its benefits. However, South Africa’s progress towards becoming a fully-fledged democratic state, in accordance with various international treaties and conventions that underpin democratic governance, has been significantly impeded over the past 30 years by a plethora of negative factors that have severely hindered the government’s ability to effectively implement and uphold these principles.
This is the second of three essays on the theme of South Africa and international law submitted to the Daily Friend on behalf of students in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg by assistant lecturer Ndzalama Mathebula.
[Photo: United Nations]
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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