Human rights in South Africa

Most of the Education in South Africa comes from rural schools. In fact, approximately 79% of Black South Africans live in rural communities.[10] However, the government has neglected the quality of education in these rural areas.[10] Issues with rural schooling include: poor facilities, lack of clean water, lack of resources, and unmotivated teachers.[10] Considering poor facilities, some schools are not structurally stable and are at risk of collapse, with some schools even lacking electricity.[10] Most schools with more than 500 children lack proper sanitation for toilets while some schools don't have toilets at all.[10] Furthermore, many rural schools are in remote areas without direct access to clean water.[10] Water is generally kilometers away and unclean because animals bathe and drink in it.[10] This lack of water is a particular issue in the daytime when the temperature is highest.[10] The remoteness of these rural schools is also a particular problem because they are quite distant from pupils' homes.[10] And, many schools do not remedy this issue with transport.[10] Additionally, many schools lack the needed books and supplies for learning.[10] In June 2010, the Government Gazette recognised that these unfavorable learning environments increase rates of absenteeism of teachers and dropout rates of students.[10] Some students do not have enough food to eat and are hungry during school.[11] This hunger causes a lack on concentration and makes learning environments less favorable.[11]

Though South Africa ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007, children with disabilities still do not have equal access to education.[12] In many situations, a state school is able to determine which students are able to enroll and the school may simply reject a disabled child without any consequences.[12] In cases where the student is able to enroll in a public school, a school may lack the resources necessary to effectively teach children with disabilities.[12] Additionally, children with disabilities in state schools are forced to pay fees—such as for an assistant—that other students are not required to pay.[12] South Africa has schools that cater for students with disabilities, but these schools are limited in number and require fees to be paid.[12] The limited number of schools forces children to either board or use costly transport.[12] In 2000, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child was specifically concerned with the lack of implementation of South Africa's agreement to guarantee free primary education.[12] South Africa still struggles to provide free primary education for all.[12] Additionally, many disabled students are not able to access quality education because they are on waiting lists for schools that cater to students with special needs.[12] For example, in 2015, there are approximately 5,552 children with disabilities on waiting lists.[12]

Primary School in South Africa

South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world, 7.5 million as of 2021.[23] It was first detected in 1982.[21] The disease was first detected in homosexuals, but it rapidly spread to heterosexuals.[21] Because of the rapid spread, the government tried to step in and help.[21] However, South Africa was in the last years of apartheid during the time when HIV/AIDS was becoming an epidemic.[21] Thus, the South African government had great difficulty mitigating the effect of the epidemic.[21] For instance, because of the desegregation of schools and the controversy surrounding that, the government did not focus on providing quality sex education that specifically focused on HIV/AIDS.[21] Additionally, the local and federal governments had disagreements about the allocation of funds for HIV/AIDS prevention, thus causing inefficiency and gridlock.[21] Also, some of the money allocated to HIV/AIDS prevention was misused.[21] For example, a musical called Sarafina II was projected to increase awareness about AIDS and AIDS prevention.[21][24] However, the play was not clear and did not significantly help with sex education.[21] Much of the HIV/AIDS treatment and progress have been funded by non-profit organizations such as WHO and UNAIDS.[21]

There are multiple theories about the causes for the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.[21] Some theorize that migrant workers were a source of the proliferation of the disease.[21] The migrant workers usually would not see their wives and families for months, so they had extramarital sexual intercourse in the cities.[21] Then, later during the holidays, husbands would return home and unknowingly infect their wives with the disease.[21] Another theory is that the culture makes South Africa more vulnerable to the epidemic.[21] For example, male circumcision at birth reduces the risk of the child getting HIV/AIDS.[21] However, many South Africans do not do this procedure because it is not traditional to do circumcision at birth.[21]

Additionally, a lack of quality healthcare can exacerbate the epidemic.[22] There is quite a disparity between public and private healthcare.[22] Overall, public hospitals provide worse care than private hospitals do.[22] Public hospitals are generally overcrowded and understaffed.[22] In fact, 82% of South Africans are cared for by 27% of South Africa's general physicians.[22] The difference in these percentages is caused by general physicians moving to the private healthcare sector and by brain drain.[22] Brain drain is when professionals emigrate from their home country to work elsewhere.[22] Also, the disparity is caused by the fact that private hospitals have more resources and funds than public hospitals do because of the higher fees at private hospitals.[22]

South Africa has had some issues concerning gender inequality in court cases.[27] A prominent example is that of Jacob Zuma's Rape Trial in 2006.[27] "Khwezi, a female AIDS activist, brought Zuma to court for raping her.[27] As his defense, Zuma claimed that he could "have liaisons with women" quite easily, so he asserted that he would not have raped Khwezi.[27] Zuma also used Zulu culture as support for his defense.[27] Some of Zuma's supporters gathered outside of the courthouse and burned photographs of Khewzi and yelled phrases like "Burn the Bitch.[27] " These actions caused gender activists to protest against sexism and to raise concern about the fact that the judge allowed the court to admit evidence about Khwezi's sexual history, but did not admit evidence from Zuma's sexual history.[27] Many people felt that Zuma went against the modern South African liberal democracy because he represented patriarchy at a relative extreme.[27]

in 2018/19, South African police recorded 41,583 rapes, though experts have warned that it is difficult to assess how many more cases have not been reported.[28][29] A 2009 survey found one in four South African men admitted to raping someone[30] and another survey found one in three women out of 4000 surveyed women said they had been raped in the past year.[31]

Rapes are also perpetrated by children (some as young as ten).[32] Child and baby rape incidences are some of the highest in the world.[33] A number of high-profile baby rapes that included extensive reconstructive surgery to rebuild urinary, genital, abdominal, or tracheal systems have appeared.

The Civil Union Act 17 of 2006 legalized same-sex marriage in South Africa.[34] It was a direct response to the Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie case, where the Constitutional Court declared the lack of legal recognition of same-sex relationships unconstitutional and gave Parliament a year to remedy the situation.[34]

South Africa's post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. South Africa was the first country in Africa, and the fifth in the world, to legalise same-sex marriage.[35]

Intersex people in South Africa have some of the same rights as other people, but with significant gaps in protection from non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions and protection from discrimination.[36] The country was the first to explicitly include intersex people in anti-discrimination law.[37]

South Africa has implicit and explicit labour regulations.[38] Its implicit labour regulations are stated in the Constitution and set the boundaries for explicit regulations.[38] Explicit regulations are set by employers and are specific to each job.[38] On the other hand, implicit regulations are the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, the New Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, and the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998—each with subsequent amendments.[38] The Labour Relations Act 66 allows workers to create unions and collectively bargain.[39] Over the years, the number of unions in South Africa have declined.[38] Also, there are fewer federation-associated trade unions and more independent trade unions in South Africa today.[38] The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 has regulations concerning working hours, leave, and termination.[40] The New Employment Equity Act 55 was created to lessen discrimination. It also provides parameters for affirmative action.[41] The Skills Development Act 97 promotes worker productivity and competitiveness in the market.[42]

South Africa has some labour related issues. One aspect is the formation of unions.[43] In fact, 22% of South African workers are union members.[3] In 2012, the Marikana Massacre occurred.[43] The Marikana Massacre was the killing of 44 platinum miners who were on strike to earn increased wages.[43] 78 people were wounded and 259 were arrested.[38] One reason for this brutality was that the strike was not protected.[38] Additionally, poorly paid farm workers have been striking.[43] One example is of the Western Cape Farm worker strike in which the workers were mostly female.[38] The strike resulted in 3 deaths, but the workers got a 52% increase in pay.[38] This strike was also unprotected.[38] There was another platinum mining strike in 2014, but it differed from the 2012 platinum mining strike because it was protected.[38] The protection prevented police brutality.[38] In fact, this strike lasted for five months.[38] Consequently, the world's platinum production decreased by 40% because of the lack of labour.[38] The worker's wages did increase as a result but, the workers also suffered losses because of the "no work, no pay" policy in South Africa.[38] Workers who strike are generally strongly motivated, even with protected strikes, because there is much risk of loss.[38]

The union membership rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world.[3] Furthermore, the risk of union conflict is a deterrent for foreign companies.[3] South Africa is receptive to foreign companies because they create jobs.[3] The unemployment rate in South Africa is approximately 30%.[3] The government encourages foreign and disadvantaged domestic company partnership by giving benefits to foreign companies.[3] Also, the South African government requires that businesses with government contracts donate to social programs.[3] Also, South Africa has high numbers of migrant workers from rural areas throughout Africa, which gives foreign companies a large labour force to choose from.[3]