Address by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Hon JH Jeffery, MP, at the National Colloquium on Constitutional Rights Education, St George Hotel
Programme Facilitator, Dr Majodina
Judge President of the Gauteng High Court, Judge Dunstan Mlambo
Head of Delegation of the European Commission to South Africa, Ambassador Roeland van de Geer
The Director-General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Representatives from our Chapter 9 institutions
Representatives from civil society
Representatives from academia
Representatives of Legal Aid South Africa
Representatives of various government Departments,
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, friends
Welcome to the very first National Colloquium on Constitutional Rights Education – this is indeed an historic occasion, as it is a first-of-a-kind bringing together of various government departments, civil society and our Chapter 9 bodies.
Professor Marius Pieterse writes that, in South Africa, the poor’s willingness and ability to use the legal process in attempting to vindicate their rights is negatively impacted by a number of factors: lack of access to legal advice, practical barriers to access to justice – such as time, distance and language – distrust of the legal system, scepticism over the chances of succeeding with rights-claims, the high costs of litigation and, for purposes of this Colloquium, by a lack of rights-awareness.
This raises many questions. What is the extent of the lack of rights-awareness? Whose responsibility is it? And what are most effective ways in addressing challenges around constitutional rights education?
We have, from the side of Government, put particular emphasis on improving constitutional awareness and on promoting constitutionalism and social justice so as to contribute to social cohesion.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has allocated an amount of R73 million in the 2015/16 financial year to this crucial focus area to ensure awareness of the relevance of our constitutional democracy and the rights and obligations of persons in this regard.
Tim Fish Hodgson of Section 27 writes about what he calls the “right to constitutional literacy.”
He argues that the Constitution was adopted so as to establish a society based on social justice and fundamental human rights and to free the potential of each person. To accomplish this, the Constitution places a positive obligation on the state to promote all of the rights in the Bill of Rights. And he points to at least three specific rights in the Constitution which strengthen the obligation.
Firstly, the right to dignity requires that persons are equipped with the capacity to make informed, autonomous decisions and effectively participate socially and politically in society. Secondly, the right to basic education, calls for our education system to produce constitutionally literate learners because the purpose of education is to ensure the full development of a person. Thirdly, the right to access to courts is undermined if persons are unaware of their constitutional rights - they are then simply unable to rely on the courts who are the custodians of these rights.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is entrusted with promoting constitutional development on behalf of the State. The Department’s mandate, derived from the Constitution, is twofold.
On the one hand, it seeks to provide a framework for the effective and efficient administration of justice and to ensure that all people in SA are and feel safe – that is Outcome 3.
Then there is Outcome 14: The department promote constitutional development through the development and implementation of legislation and programmes that advance and sustain constitutionalism and the rule of law and support nation building and social cohesion.
There are many programmes and initiatives which seek to raise constitutional awareness. Programmes such as Know Your Constitution and SEJA (or Amarightza, as it is known) have the potential to reach millions of our people.
As an example, our Access to Justice and Promotion of Constitutional Rights Programme, which we ran in partnership with the Foundation for Human Rights, set out to contribute to the strengthening of democracy by improving access to justice and promoting constitutional rights.
Particular attention was given to vulnerable and marginalised groups, particularly those in townships and rural areas and to the building of partnerships with civil society organisations.
Nine-million people were reached through popular education programmes, 360 000 farm workers and farm dwellers have increased access to justice, and 5 400 members of civil society organisations benefited from capacity building programmes - all of them now have a greater understanding of what a living Constitution is.
Whether it’s the people in the 100 Community-based Advice Offices who ensured that more than 100 000 migrants were provided with legal support services, or the more than 1 300 civil society organisations who were involved in the programme, every single person has been empowered and has benefited from the programme.
On 10 December last year, International Human Rights Day, we launched the Socio Economic Justice for All (SEJA) programme with the Foundation for Human Rights. SEJA focuses on improved awareness of constitutional rights with more emphasis on socio- economic rights and on vulnerable and marginalised groups.
In addition, it focuses on improved and sustained collaboration between government, Chapter 9 Institutions, civil society and other stakeholders in terms of justice service delivery and socio economic rights. Strengthening the capacity, engagement and participation of civil society organisations in the realisation of constitutional rights is of the utmost importance.
Earlier this year, as part of Amarightza, a human rights dialogue was held with youth featuring active youth personalities on a range of human rights issues, including amongst others, promotion of the rights of LGBTI persons and foreign national as well as farm workers. The programme was recorded and flighted on Human Rights Day. It was re-run this past Sunday.
The 45 minute programme was aired on television nationwide and a radio script was compiled and flighted on community radio stations. The following audience numbers were reached by the programme:
- Studio audience 300
- TV audience 649 000
- Social Media 1,150 000
- Community TV audience 1 700 000
- Community Radio audience 354 000
This amounts to a total Amarightza audience of more than 3, 5 million people.
Our Department printed and distributed copies of the Constitution which are widely available. We have also translated the Constitution into all official languages and Braille. We have, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, the SAHRC and the Foundation for Human Rights launched a booklet called the Constitution Made Easy for Learners and it is envisaged that it will be distributed to Grade 12 learners throughout the country.
Our Department has, through its various branches been engaged in educating the public on the Constitution itself, as well as on constitutionally mandated pieces of legislation such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act. These three pieces of legislation have also all been printed in booklet form in all official languages.
But constitutional awareness is about much more than printing booklets. Constitutional awareness entails actively informing people of their rights. Making justice accessible and raising constitutional awareness means shaping programmes in such a way that they have the most effect. The reality is that many people live in rural areas and not all are literate. Even for those who are literate the Constitution is not always that easy to understand. One has to therefore tailor-make constitutional awareness programmes in a way that reaches people.
Government’s most important partner in the quest for accessible justice is civil society. And we are planning to work even closer with civil society on various constitutional literacy initiatives in future. Civil-society organisations in South Africa often have greater success in promoting human rights awareness than government alone is able to achieve.
We fully understand the value and the contribution made by civil society. As Ban Ki-Moon said –
“A free and independent civil society is the foundation for healthy, responsive governance at the local, national and global levels.”
Mark Heywood, writing in an article called “Quo vadis, Civil Society,” says, that civil society is often the only part of society that does something for nothing. “It doesn’t bill by the half-hour; shuffle people in and out of consultation rooms with not a lingering thought for their wellbeing once the bill is paid…”
Ironically, he overlooks that Government does the same. But there are also challenges facing civil society. Funding and resources are ever-present concerns.
And Heywood argues that, I quote, “civil society is often un-strategic and un-coordinated.” As he puts it, rather colourfully, “there has been a blossoming of a million flowers. But they are on a million different stalks, sometimes blooming merrily in the same field, blithely oblivious to the flower that blooms from the clod next door.”
He further argues that “parts of civil society have been co-opted into propping up inefficient consultative institutions or programmes. There is not enough critical discernment, so time is wasted in endless processes that are offered-up as sop to participation but which often deliver nothing.”
What do we mean when we talk about civil society? We talk about human rights activists, human rights organisations (these could be NGOs, associations, victim-support groups). We talk about coalitions and networks (on for example, women’s rights, children’s rights, or environmental issues, land rights, LGBTI rights, etc.). We talk about persons with disabilities and their representative organisations. We talk about community-based groups, faith-based groups and unions (trade unions as well as professional associations). We talk about social movements (peace movements, student movements, prodemocracy movements). Then there are professionals contributing directly to the enjoyment of human rights (e.g. humanitarian workers, lawyers, doctors and medical workers). We have public institutions that carry out activities aimed at promoting human rights (e.g. schools, universities, research bodies).
All of these bodies have the power to play a fundamental role in constitutional rights education and human rights awareness.
We must ask ourselves if we are making the most of the resources at our disposal. For example, are we making sufficient use of community advice offices and paralegals? Are we being creative and innovative in our approach to constitutional literacy?
How do we structure this partnership between government and civil society?
Genuine partnership implies mutual respect and good faith. Government cannot be an ATM - simply providing the funding, but then be expected to back away.
Civil society is independent and it must be independent. Our partnership should never restrict civil society from being publically critical of Government or the Department of Justice, if and where such criticism is justified.
But, a true partnership is a two-way street. Civil society cannot want to partner with government on the one hand, but be vehemently anti-government at the same time.
Human rights education truly benefits an entire society – not only the affected individuals and communities in enforcing their rights and making them less vulnerable, but constitutional awareness leads to increased inputs in government policies, more effective forms of participatory democracy and more informed choices. As Sir Nigel Rodley, Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, recently remarked -
“None of us on our own, Governments included, have all the facts, the best ideas, or know all the reasons underlying the problems we are trying to solve. We can only benefit from collective wisdom. And so it’s important for us to hear from all constituencies, especially marginalised voices, before making a decision.”
This evening will see the launch of the Baseline Survey on Awareness of Attitudes and Access to Constitutional Rights, a study commissioned by the FHR.
Since 1994 a series of media, advocacy and educational campaigns about constitutional rights were launched by various governmental and non-governmental organisations. Despite this, levels of awareness and knowledge about the meaning and content of the Bill of Rights have remained a matter of serious concern.
The extent to which people have access to their rights is highly uneven. Widespread poverty and inequality mean that our country remains structurally divided, with the majority of the population residing at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.
In particular, vulnerable and marginalised groups such as black women, rural dwellers, the disabled and refugees/migrants are most affected.
The findings of the Baseline Survey are extremely important as it will give us a clearer picture of the extent of the lack of rights-awareness in our country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
What do we hope to achieve over these two days? All of us, no doubt, recognise the need for synergy, co-ordination and co-operation between government, civil society organisations, Chapter 9 institutions and other relevant role players regarding constitutional literacy. We must ensure that resources are used effectively and activities are optimally coordinated amongst role-players.
We need to discuss how government can best coordinate public awareness of the Constitution and human rights education and how it can collaborate with civil society and other stakeholders in order to achieve this purpose.
We need to decide on best practices and innovative modalities for increasing awareness on Constitutional rights and identify mechanisms for strategic discussions and exchange of information on Constitutional Rights Awareness Programmes. We also need to plan programmes for the improvement of human rights awareness among the general public.
If there is one person who would have been thrilled to be here with us today at this first-of-its-kind National Colloquium it would be the late Professor Kader Asmal.
In his last speech in the National Assembly, upon retiring from Parliament, he said –
“Our Constitution is not a dead document. It applies to all of us today; it urges us to care for all who live in our country, and to work towards a better life for all. It is our collective pledge.”
My hope is that we can use today and tomorrow to re-commit ourselves and the people in our country to this all-important pledge.
I thank you.
