International human rights organisation Amnesty International South Africa calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his State of the Nation address, to show the country that he takes accountability seriously.

“In South Africa, access to basic services is largely crippled by the mismanagement of public funds and a lack of prioritisation by the government,” Amnesty International South Africa executive director Shenilla Mohamed says.

“Areas that were already buckling under poor service delivery and human rights violations, such as quality education, gender-based violence, access to water and sanitation, continue to worsen.”

Further, the second part of the State capture report was handed over to the President this month by commission chair Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

“Corruption undermines democracy and the rule of law, which infringes on basic human rights. Amnesty International South Africa reiterates its calls on President Ramaphosa not to ignore the important recommendations in the reports and ensure that they are implemented so that those responsible for corruption are held accountable,” says Mohamed.

SERVICES
Almost 20-million people still do not have access to safe, sufficient, reliable water and 14-million people do not have basic sanitation.

“In recent times, the quality of service delivery has largely been weakened by corruption and mismanagement of public funds. This, at the expense of people living in the country who are Constitutionally entitled to have their basic needs met and to live with dignity,” she says.

Government needs to ensure that all municipalities fulfill their Constitutional mandate to provide basic services to everyone in South Africa. The Auditor-General’s report found that only 27 out of 257 municipalities received a clean audit outcome.

“There needs to be transparency, accountability and access to information. The lack of access to services, such as safe water, sanitation and adequate housing, is a violation of fundamental human rights. Service delivery is a right and not a privilege,” Mohamed said.

Further, the President must provide concrete actions to be taken against those who failed to protect human lives during the July 2021 unrest, she says.

Ramaphosa this week committed to outlining the first actions the government will take in response to the findings and recommendations of the expert panel report on the chaos and violence that erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng last year.

“The week-long spree of violence and destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng violated human rights, particularly the rights to life, health, food and freedom of movement. It also exposed South Africa’s glaring security failures and the State was unable to protect the people as it is constitutionally mandated to do, nor protect their human rights,” Mohamed says.

“Ultimate accountability lies with President Ramaphosa and his security cluster ministers, who are tasked with keeping the country safe and everyone who lives in it. Without any real action on the report, the culture of impunity and lack of accountability will continue to have a negative impact on every level of society and, if not addressed, we will continue to see more attacks like the July unrest which threatens freedom and access to human rights for all,” she adds.

SCHOOLS AND XENOPHOBIA
“There are still thousands of schools in South Africa using pit toilets, but the Department of Basic Education keeps moving the goalposts when it comes to commitments to eradicating these inadequate ablution facilities, says Amnesty International.

“The government must eradicate all pit toilets in schools and ensure that all learners have access to safe and hygienic water and sanitation facilities,” says Mohamed.

Ramaphosa needs to give concrete deadlines and plans on how the government plans to eradicate these unsafe toilets. It is critical for the State to devise and implement a plan that takes into consideration the existing state of school infrastructure and resources, she says.

Further, Amnesty International has noted reports that Ramaphosa may announce in his State of the Nation address that jobs in some sectors of the economy will soon be reserved for South African citizens in a bid to reverse high unemployment and increasing inequality.

“Amnesty International has cautioned against high-ranking public officials and political leaders blaming the country’s high unemployment problem and poor economic status on foreign nationals, refugees and asylum seekers, as this has the potential to fuel xenophobia in the country.”

The ongoing and escalating attacks against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and the looting of foreign-owned shops in South Africa is also a direct consequence of years of impunity and failures in the criminal justice system that have left this vulnerable group exposed and unprotected, the organisation notes.

“The President needs to explain his plans to protect the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and not put them in danger with political rhetoric which feeds into the belief that foreign nationals are taking jobs away from locals,” Mohamed says.

It is easy to blame foreign nationals, refugees and asylum seekers for the country’s high unemployment problems, but foreign nationals should not be used as scapegoats for the government’s failure to address the unemployment crisis.

Meanwhile, South Africa continues to display some of the most pervasive and extreme levels of gender-based violence, which pervades political, economic and social structures of society, cuts across all divides and impacts all aspects of life.

“It is unacceptable that these numbers continue to rise. The criminal justice system is failing victims and survivors of gender-based violence.

"Ramaphosa needs to tell us how the government is dealing with the failing criminal justice system when it comes to these crimes, and how it is fixing the DNA testing backlog, which is delaying justice for victims and survivors,” Mohamed says.