SOUTH AFRICA’S ACCESS TO INFORMATION LEGISLATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS: CIVIL SOCIETY AND MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT AS DRIVERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/879Keywords:
South African Constitution, Access to information South Africa, Socio-economic rights, Justiciability of Socio-economic rights South Africa, Meaningful engagement, Transparency, Accountability, Citizen participation, Good governance South Africa.Abstract
The inclusion of access to information in the constitution of South Africa and its concomitant legislation, Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) is aimed at promoting transparency, accountability and democratic governance in the hitherto closed, authoritarian and apartheid society. The Constitution goes further to entrench socio-economic rights (SERs) in order to address the injustices of the past of ignorance, fear, and want that impair the dignity of the majority of South Africans. Access to information (ATI) is described as the ‘touchstone’ of all human rights and upon which the other human rights, including SERs are buttressed. SERs are, supposedly, enforced by the courts of law. However, their justiciability has become acrimonious and adversarial because it may include the courts making orders that may have budgetary implications, which usually fall under the purview of the executive-cum-legislation, thus undermining the separation of powers doctrine. The study  suggests the concept of meaningful engagement to break the impasse, arguing that the concept is more ‘user-friendly’ and grounded in the Constitution and other statutory instrument and practices in the governance of South Africa.Â
Metrics
References
Arko-Cobbah, A. 2008. The right of access to information: Opportunities and challenges for civil society and good governance in South Africa. IFLA Journal. Vol. 34(2). Pp 180-191 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035208092154
ARTICLE 19 and ADC 2007. Access to information: An instrumental right for empowerment. London: London, Artice 19.
Bradlow, B. 2010. Beyond a legal framework for “Meaningful Engagement†in South Africa. Adapted from remarks given at a roundtabledDiscussion on “meaningful engagement†hosted by the University of Western Cape Community Law Centre and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute on 4 March, 2010. SDI Bulletin. http://sdinet.org/2010/03/sdi-bulletin-beyond-a-legal-framework-for-meaningful-engagement-in-south-africa/ Accessed: 5 December 2015.
Bolton, R. 2005. Habermas’s theory of communicative action and the theory of social capital. http://web.williams.edu/Economics/papers/Habermas.pdf Accessed: 10 November 2015.
Calland, R. 2010. Impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives: A review of the evidence to date: Freedom of information. Prepared for the Transparency and Accountability Initiative Workshop. October 14-15, 2010. Institute of Development Studies.
Calland, R. 2010. Illuminating the politics and practices of access to information. http://www.saha.org.za/resources/docs/PW_Chap1.pdf Accessed: 4 November 2015.
Chenwi, L. 2009. A new approach to remedies in socio-economic rights adjudication: Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road and others v City of Johannesburg and others. Constitutional Court Review. Vol. 2 pp. 371-393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2989/CCR/2009.0010
Chenwi, L. and Tissington, K. 2010. Engaging meaningfully with government on socio-economic rights: A focus on housing. Community Law Centre (CLC) University of the Western Cape. Belville: Community Law Centre.
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives (CHRI). 2007. Our rights our information: Empowering people to demand rights through knowledge. Daruwala, M. and Nayak, V. (eds.) New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives.
Constitutional Court of South Africa. 2008. Olivia Road Case (2008) (3) SA 208 CC.
Cornell, D. and Muvangua, N.(eds). 2012. Ubuntu and the law: African ideals and post-apartheid jurisprudence. Pp1-17. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME). 2013. A framework for strengthening citizen-government partnerships for monitoring frontline service delivery (FSCP). Pretoria: The Presidency.
Dimba, M .2008. Access to information as a tool for socio-economic justice. http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47179 Accessed: 5 September 2015.
Fach, E. (ed.) .2013. Ensuring inclusive, transparent and accountable national REDD+ systems: the role of freedom of information. Geneva: UN-REDD Programme Secretariat.
Foundation for Human Rights (FHR). Department of Justice & Constitutional Development. 2015. AMARIGHT ZA: Socio-economic justice for all. Improved awareness of constitutional Rights with an Emphasis on Socioeconomic Rights and on Vulnerable Groups. SEJA/HRA/1.5.1/SO1. www.fhr.org.za/files/7614/4172/8675/SEJA_HRA_Guidelines 18th_September 2015F.pdf Accessed: 24 September 2015.
Holmes, B. 2011. Citizens’ engagement in policy-making and the design of public services. Research Paper No. 1 2011-12. Parliamentary Library Information Analysis.
Jagwanth, S. 2002. The right to information as a leverage right. In R. Calland & A. Tilley (Eds). The right to know, the right to live: Access to information and socio-economic justice (pp3-16). Cape Town: Open Democracy Advice Centre.
Jaysawal, N .2013. Civil society, democratic space and social work. Sage Open. (Vol. 3(4) October-December, 2013.pp1-12. sgo.sageup.com/content/spsgo/3/4/2158244013504934.full.pdf Accessed: 10 October 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013504934
Klaaren, J. 2010. Promotion of access to information through the courts: Case law and important development in PAIA litigation. Paper Prepared at the Request of Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) as Part of the Campaign for and Launch of the Open Democracy Charter. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/9207 Accessed: 15 October 2015.
Klare, K.1998. Legal culture and transformative constitutionalism. South African Journal on Human Rights. Vol. 14. Pp 146-188. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.1998.11834974
Khoza, S .2002. The link between development and social and economic rights: Are socio-economic rights developmental rights? Networking for Change Conference: Equality and Justice—Gains and Challenges, 13-14 September 2002, Ritz Hotel, Cape Town.
Liebenberg, S. 2006. Needs, rights and transformation: Adjudicating social rights in South Africa. Stellenbosch Law Review/Regstydskrift.( Vol. 1) pp. 5-36.
Liebenberg, S. 2010. Socio-economic Rights: Adjudication under a Transformative Constitution. Claremont: Juta.
Liebenberg, S. 2014. Social audit raises issues around the right to sanitation. Mail & Guardian Online, 22 October, 2014. http//mg.co.za/article/2014-10-22-social-audits-as-a-tool-to-realise…Accessed: 10 October 2015.
Liebenberg, S. and Pillay, K. (eds). 2000. Socio-economic Rights in South Africa: A Resource Book: Belville: Community Law Centre.
Luyt, D.2008. Governance, accountability, and poverty alleviation in South Africa. Paper delivered by Mr Derek Luyt, Media and Advocacy Head of the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) at the United Nations Social Forum on 2 September 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mandela, N. 1994. State of the National Address by the President of South Africa, House of Parliament, Cape Town. South African History Online. www.sahistory.org.za/article/state-nation-address-president-south-africa-nelson-mandela Accessed: 3 October 2015.
Mathieson, K. 2008. Access to information as a human right. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.126466 Accessed: 2 January 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1264666
Mbazira, C. 2008. You are the “weakest link†in realising socio-economic rights, Goodbye: Strategies for effective implementation of court orders in South Africa. Socio-Economic Rights Project, Community Law Centre. Belville: University of the Western Cape.
Mbazira, C. 2009. Litigating socio-economic rights in South Africa: A choice between corrective and distributive justice. Pretoria: Pretoria University of Law Press(PULP).
McKinley, D. T. 2003. The state of access to information in South Africa. Research Report Written for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. http://www.csvr.org.za/wits/papers/papmcKln.htm Accessed: 3 October 2015.
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). 2013. Access to information. http://www.misa.org/component/k2/item/1073-access-to-information Accessed: 6 November 2015.
Mendel, T. 2011. Freedom of information as an internationally protected human right. BibliotecaJuridica Virtual. www.juridicas.unam.mx/publica/rev/comlawj/cont/1/cts3.htm Accessed: 6 December 2015.
Miriyoga, L. 2011. Information without power? Challenges and opportunities in the usage of the Promotion of Access to Information Act no. 50 [sic] of 2000 (PAIA). Dissertation Presented for the MPhil Degree in Social Justice, School of Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town.
Muller, G .2011. Conceptualising ‘meaningful engagement’ as a deliberative democratic partnership. Stellenbosch Law Review. Vol. 22(3). Pp 742-758.
National Development Plan (NDP) .2012. Our future makes it work: Executive summary. Department the Presidency. www.gov.za/issues/national-development-plan-2030 Accessed: 20 November 2015.
Ndungane, N. 2013. Good Governance Conference: Speeches. African Monitor. http://www.africanmonitor.org/am-president-speeches-2/archbishop-njongo-ndungane-president-african-monitor-good-governance-conference.html . Accessed: 4 November 2015.
Neuman, K. and Calland, R. 2007. Making the access to information law work: the challenges of implementation. In The Right to Know. Florini, A. (ed.). Columbia: Columbia University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7312/flor14158-006
Ngang, C. C. 2014. Judicial enforcement of socio-economic rights in South Africa and the separation of powers objection: The obligation to take ‘other measures’. African Human Rights Law Journal. Vol. 14. Pp 655-688.
Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC). 2011. Right to access information: Training manual. www.r2k.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/rti-training-manual-dec-2012.pdf Accessed: 5 November 2015.
Orago, N. W .2013. Poverty, inequality and socio-economic rights: A theoretical framework for the realization of socio-economic rights in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution. Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Law in the Faculty of Law of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, 16 August 2013.
Pillay, A. 2012. Toward effective social and economic rights adjudication: The role of meaningful engagement. International Journal of Constitutional Law. Vol. 10(3). Pp. 732-755. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/mos021
Rapatsa, M .2014. Transformative constitutionalism in South Africa: 20 years in democracy. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. Vol. 5(27). Pp 887-895. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p887
Republic of South Africa. 1996. Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996. Pretoria: Government Printer.
Republic of South Africa. 2000a. Promotion of Access to Information Act (Act 2 of 2000. PAIA. Pretoria: Government Printer.
Republic of South Africa. 2000b. Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (Act 3 of 2000) (PAJA). Pretoria: Government Printer.
Republic of South Africa. 2000c. Municipal Systems Act (Act 32 of 2000. (MSA). Pretoria: Government Printer.
Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI). 2010. Report on roundtable discussion on Meaningful Engagement in the realization of Socio-Economic Rights. Hosted by the Socio-Economic Rights Project of the Community Law Centre and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa at the University of Witswaterstrand ,4 March, 2010. http:www.serisa.org/images/rtd_on_me_report¬_08.04.2010.pdf Accessed: 4 November 2015.
South African Constitutional Court (CC). 2008. Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road, Berea Township and 197 Main Street, Johannesburg v. City of Johannesburg and Others (Olivia Road Case) CCT 24/07 https://www.escrnet.org/docs/i/883971 Accessed: 2 November 2015.
Streak, J. 2007. Claiming resources for socio-economic rights in South Africa. S. Khoza (ed). 2nd ed. Belville: Community Law Centre, Universityu of the Western Cape.
Tissington, K . 2010. Making rights work: Towards a broader role for rights mobilisation in challenging poverty and inequality in South Africa. Conference Paper Presented at Overcoming Inequality and Structural Poverty in in South Africa: Towards Inclusive Growth and Development, Johannesburg 20-22 September, 2010.
United Nations (UN). 1946. General Assembly Resolution 59(1), 14 December 1946.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2006. A guide to measuring the impact of right to information programmes: Practical guidance note. United Nations Developing Programme. Bureau for Development Policy. Democratic Governance Group. www.undp.org/oslocentre/citzpart.htm Accessed: 5 December 2015.
Van der Berg, S .2012. Conceptualising meaningful engagement in South Africa: Eviction cases’ exclusive gem? http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/conceptualising-meaningful-engagement-in-south-africa-eviction-cases-exclusive-gem/ Accessed: 3 October 2015.
Vivier, E. and Betancourt, D. S. 2015. Remodelling citizen engagement and service delivery: The prospects for social audits in South Africa. Pretoria: Human Science Research Council (HSRC). http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/review/hsrc-review-sept-2014/remodelling. Accessed: 24 November 2014.
Wiles, E .2006. Aspirational principles or enforceable right? The future for socio-economic rights in national law. American University International Law Review. Vol. 22(1). Pp35-64.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Accepted 2016-04-15
Published 2016-07-16
