Cape Town — President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a keynote address at the National Conference for Human Rights in South Africa and he said there is still progress to make when it comes to the advancement of human rights.
The conference discussed key issues that have prevented South Africa from the realisation of human rights over the past 30 years. During his speech, Ramaphosa acknowledged the shortcomings the country has faced, Jacaranda FM reported.
“Certainly, there have been challenges and shortcomings over the past 30 years, and we have a long way to go towards completely fulfilling the promise of the constitution,” Ramaphosa said.
However, he also said that we should not ignore the progress that has been made since the dawn of democracy,
“That said, we should not shy away from the immense progress we have made. The Bill of Rights enjoins the democratic state to enact various pieces of legislation to promote human rights between and among people.” he said.
[WATCH] President Cyril Ramaphosa says the legislature is committed to passing laws that will always seek to advance and protect human rights, not only on our shores but on a global scale as well, citing the ICJ case against Israel as an example.#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/sXyHjXDuT9
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 18, 2024
Ramaphosa also said there had been significant changes in the position of women in society since 1994, and laws had been passed to protect women from all forms of abuse.
“We have passed a broad range of laws to protect women from all forms of abuse and to advance their rights. These include laws around domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and workplace discrimination.” he said.
According to SABC News, Ramaphosa outlined the pieces of legislation that have been passed that give effect to the Constitution.
“The Bill of Rights enjoins the democratic state to enact various pieces of legislation to promote human rights among people. Amongst those we have put in place are the promotion of the Access to Information Act, which gives effect to Section 32 of the Constitution, the promotion of the Administrative Justice Act, which gives effect to Section 33, the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act which gives effect to Section 9 (2) of the Constitution relating to measures of redress for the previously disadvantaged, we passed the Employment Equity Act, Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act and others.” Ramaphosa said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
