When it comes to human rights in South Africa, the ANC government is still living in the past. It is blind to the shortcomings that ordinary South Africans must live with.
The truth is that ordinary South Africans are denied their most basic human rights while ANC office bearers and cadres live on the very best the country has to offer.
After 30 years in power that is the legacy that the ANC will be remembered for.
While the ANC celebrated Human Rights Day with great fanfare on 21 March 2023, millions of South Africans did not have access to adequate water supply, in fact, many towns did not even have water at all.
It is the direct consequence of nearly 30 years of corruption, mismanagement and absolute callousness towards the fate and basic human rights of ordinary South Africans.
Millions of rand is spent on ensuring that ANC ministers live lavishly and in luxury while millions of their fellow citizens do not have jobs, or even food.
South Africa’s Constitution guarantees certain fundamental human rights. The ANC has seemingly forgotten all about it.
Section 9 of the Constitution guarantees the right to equality. There is basically no sign of that.
Race takes precedence even on the sports field; everything is determined through a lens of the past where equality and equal opportunities are overlooked.
Section 31 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of culture, religion and language. That includes the right to choose one’s medium of instruction.
However, the two predominant mediums of instruction are still English and Afrikaans. Nothing was done to accommodate the speakers of the other official languages, like the Constitution prescribes.
People are denied their right to mother-tongue education and when a community dares to stand up for their language rights, they are branded as racists.
Section 10 of the Constitution guarantees one’s right to human dignity. What is currently happening in the country’s hospitals, however, proves that those are hollow words. Even a simple procedure strips people of all their dignity.
The ANC is only interested in itself and lining its pockets. Ordinary South Africans’ fate and circumstances are unimportant.
A shining example is the foster child grant that amounts to a mere R37 per child per day. No child can be cared for with dignity at just R37 a day. It is a disgrace.
It is equally disgraceful for the ANC to stand up and claim that it is fighting for human rights. It is simply not true.
The only way to guarantee basic human rights in South Africa is to get rid of the ANC government at the polls.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Wouter Wessels on FF Plus
