Introduction to socio-economic rights in the South African constitution

Abstract

Seminal bills of rights invariably emanate from periods of struggle and represent a collective commitment to ensure that the conditions which led to the conflict from which the society in question is emerging, are not allowed to develop again in the future. As such, these bills of rights by nature have a retroactive element. The South African Bill of Rights is a case in point. The effect of the past could for example be seen in the South African Bill of Rights in the emphasis on substantive equality, the role assigned to dignity, the limitations on freedom of expression and the uniquely important position which socio-economic rights occupy in this document. The new South African Constitution' provides arguably the most sophisticated and comprehensive system for the protection of socio-economic rights of all the constitutions in the world today. This could be traced back in no small measure to the fact that one of the most hideous features of apartheid was the systematic violation of the norms of social and economic justice.