President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the keynote address during the 2023 Human Rights Day commemoration held under the theme ‘Consolidating and Sustaining Human Rights Culture into the Future’ in De Aar, Northern Cape Province. Picture: GCIS
Johannesburg - The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) says it is concerned about the country’s rising levels of crime and human rights violations.
The union, in a statement ahead of the country’s Human Rights Day, which is celebrated on March 21, said there does not seem to be political will to ensure human rights for everyone as the country continues to witness gross human rights violations every day.
Yesterday marked 63 years since the Sharpville massacre of 1960, in which Apartheid security forces and the police fired on a crowd of black people, killing or wounding some 250 of them, and was later declared as one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa.
Fedusa spokesperson Betty Moleya said the government should do more to protect and defend the fundamental human rights of South Africans.
"Fedusa implores the nation, on this day, to reflect and work towards addressing the high levels of violent crime, poverty, and unemployment and the high levels of inequality that still affect the majority of South Africans. Our high crime rate has been attributed to social stress from an unconducive environment in early childhood, poverty, wealth disparity, and problems with the delivery of public services," Moleya said.
Fedusa said the country needs to intensify its fight against the high levels of crime in the country, battling alcohol and substance abuse and gender-based violence.
"We are also concerned that, despite South Africa’s Constitution being the first in the world to prohibit unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, the LGBTIQI+ community still finds itself in a crisis of having their human rights violated. People living with disabilities, women, and children are also some of the vulnerable groups in South Africa that have to fight for survival and basic human rights," Moleya added.
African Transformation Movement (ATM) spokesperson Zama Ntshona said this year’s commemoration of the Sharpville Massacre comes a day after the EFF-led national shutdown, which among other things, called for consistent electricity supply amid power outages for over a year now.
"The African Transformation Movement also notes that today's Human Rights Day, unlike many others in the past, comes a day after very successful nationwide protests and demonstrations against load-shedding, poverty, and unemployment. The national shutdown on March 20 could not have gone any better. The masses of our people from different political parties and civil society came together to make the call that enough was enough — load shedding, unemployment, and a rise in crime had to come to an end," Ntshona said.
The ATM urged South Africans to stand up and fight for their human rights, which are being threatened daily by unemployment and power cuts.
"Finally, the African Transformation Movement calls on South Africans to continue the fight for their rights and intensify it where necessary. Having electricity 24 hours a day, having a job, and living in a safe community should not be a privilege that only a few can enjoy; that is not the South Africa our forefathers envisaged, and it is certainly not a South Africa we, as the African Transformation Movement, want for the people of this country," he said.
The Star
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