Chairperson’s remarks
to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the Occasion
of the Appearance before the Committee of the South African Human Rights
Commission on the 6th November 2007
- Thank
you for the invitation to once again appear before you, to present the work of the Commission and
engage with the Committee on our work, more generally on human rights
developments and concerns facing our country and specifically to receive
the views, advice and the wisdom of the Committee. Chair, we wish to
extend our congratulations to you on your appointment to head this
Committee and look forward to working with you and the Committee to
advance the human rights imperatives that underpin our constitutional
democracy.
- The
Report of the Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Prof. Asmal: We found our
appearance before the Committee to be robust but fair and balanced. We
have welcomed the Report brought out by the Committee and it is
unfortunate that most of the responses, both media and otherwise, have
focused almost exclusively on the matter of a single Commission. There are
a host of other recommendations that certainly will contribute to stronger
and more effective institutions and we have already begun the process of
giving effect to those of them that fall within our institutional
competence. We await the response of Parliament to the Report.
- The
main pillars of our work: We continue our focus on the advancement of
equality and our mandate relevant to the advancement of socio-economic rights.
Apart from the substantial socio-economic rights report we produce, we
have in addition conducted regular visits to various communities in our
country (both urban and rural) to assess the enjoyment of rights,
particularly socio-economic rights and have submitted reports to the
relevant structures highlighting matters of concern and making
recommendations. We continue to use the modality of the public inquiry to
focus on specific issues and in May this year, concluded the public
hearing phase of the inquiry into access to health care services. This
week, we hold an inquiry into the concerns around evictions in respect of
privately owned and financed homes after receiving a number of complaints
about process, procedure and substantial justice where evictions and sales
in execution have taken place.
On matters of equality the
Commission continues to take and argue cases before the Equality Courts but
remain concerned that the regulations relevant to the promotional aspects of
the Act have yet to come into force. Such regulations will provide a positive
and supportive framework to promote equality through proactive measures which
will complement the protective mandate of the Act.
- Working
with other Chapter Nine Institutions: The Forum of Chapter Nine Institutions,
which brings together the SAHRC, the CGE, the CRL Commission, the IEC and
the Public Protector, is yet to achieve its stated objective of forging
greater co-operation and co-ordination amongst Chapter 9 bodies. I am
pleased to report that a substantive meeting of these institutions was
held recently under the auspices of the Commission and a further meeting
of the respective CEO’s is being planned.
While mandates, areas of foci and internal arrangements may differ
there remains many common areas where greater co-operation will not only
benefit the various bodies but also provide an integrated and quality
service to the public.
- Mindful
of a lack of both a sharper focus and limited capacity in a number of
areas we have appointed 7 Co-ordinators to focus on the following areas:
Children, Disability, Non Nationals, Older Persons, Human Rights and
Crime, HIV/Aids and Human Rights and Business. The dedicated capacity has
seen greater collaboration with both State and non State actors and simply
by way of example, the Commission sits on the South African National Aids
Council, played a leading role in the formation and launch of the Older
Persons Forum and plans to host a conference on Human Rights, Business and
Poverty in March 2008. In this regard, we think it essential in the
context of inequality and towards achieving a fairer division of labor
that we engage non-State actors with regard to their human rights
responsibilities.
6.
Corporate
Governance and other issues: We have put in place mechanisms to ensure
effective corporate governance, including regular and minuted meetings amongst
Commissioners, between Commissioners and Management and have adopted policies
and continue to have training and workshops to ensure we comply with good
corporate governance standards.
- Work
relevant to our international human rights obligations: We have increased
our capacity to include the monitoring of South Africa’s international
treaty obligations which will include the reporting obligations, matters
relevant to ratification as well as where appropriate appearing before
treaty bodies. In this regard, we appeared before the CERD Committee last
year and are currently involved in popularizing and arguing for the
ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
This is a substantive area of work which can take up substantial resources
– our approach is to make timely and relevant interventions rather than
attempt to cover the entire width of South Africa’s international
human rights obligations.
The Commission, which enjoys
observer status at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, will
attend the next session of the Commission to be held later this month in Brazzaville. We also
serve on the steering committee of the Network of African National Institutions,
a structure meant to facilitate greater co-operation between African National
Institutions.
- Matters
and areas where the support of the Committee is sought:-
(a)
The
appointment of Commissioners: There are currently 4 full-time Commissioners and
1 part-time Commissioner. The Human Rights Commission Act requires that there
be a minimum of 5 full-time Commissioners. It is imperative that an additional
full-time Commissioner be appointed to ensure compliance with the Act.
(b)
Continuity:
The term of all the current Commissioners ends in September 2007. We have
alerted both the Legislature and the Executive to the need to make timely
appointments to ensure continuity and a proper hand-over, but it is unclear
what the thinking in this regard is.
(c)
We
share the concerns raised by the Asmal Committee around the effectiveness of
the Promotion of Access to Information Act and would urge the Committee to
consider the proposals submitted to it around the appointment of an Information
Commissioner.
(d)
The
matter of the amendment to the South African Human Rights Commission Act as well as the
promulgation of Regulations relating to staff of the Commission remain
outstanding for some time now, to the prejudice of the Commission.
9.
There
remain about 22 months before the term of office of the current Commissioners
expire at the end of September 2007. We have already begun the process of
properly documenting the work of the Commission, highlighting both the
positives and the negatives so that we can effect a proper hand over at the
appropriate time as well as to fully appraise Parliament.
10.
Notwithstanding
the considerable strides we have made as a nation we face some formidable human
rights challenges and such challenges are rendered even more complex in an
environment where there is considerable contestation around human rights. The
foremost of those challenges must remain the continuing inequality that still
characterizes our nation and the ongoing need to ensure that the promise of the
Constitution, to free the potential of each person and advance human
development, is made good. In this regard, the Commission is well placed to
continue its role as monitor, as facilitator, as educator and as agent for
transformation. We will continue to do so as an independent institution but
always mindful that our independence does indeed enjoin us to work with other
structures and institutions both State and non-State in the discharge of that
mandate.
11.
My
colleagues and I, the CEO and staff of the Commission regard it as a privilege
to work in an institution such as the Human Rights Commission and we remain
ready and willing to deal with the formidable but not insurmountable challenges
that we must continue to anticipate and expect as a young but thriving
constitutional democracy. We also wish to express our thanks for the support we
have received from the Committee including those members of this Committee who
served on the Asmal Committee.
Jody Kollapen
Chairperson