POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC HUMAN RIGHTS IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA : ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

This article, written on the cusp of South Africa's first democratic election, analyzes the immense political and economic human rights challenges that would confront the post-apartheid state. It argues that the transition from apartheid was not merely about establishing political rights and a non-racial democracy, but also about addressing the profound economic inequalities inherited from the past. The study examines the key political challenges, including the need to build a new, inclusive national identity, integrate former liberation armies into a new national defense force, and manage the threat of political violence from extremist groups. The research then delves into the even more formidable challenge of economic human rights. It analyzes the extreme disparities in wealth, land ownership, and access to services like education and healthcare. The paper concludes that the long-term stability and success of the new South Africa would depend on its ability to deliver tangible improvements in the economic lives of the black majority, thereby giving substance to their newly won political rights.

The end of apartheid in South Africa was one of the great moral and political victories of the 20th century, but the transition to a non-racial democracy was fraught with immense challenges. This paper provides a forward-looking analysis of the key human rights issues facing the new South Africa. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first focuses on political and civil rights. It discusses the monumental task of building a democratic political culture after decades of authoritarian rule. It examines the challenges of drafting a new constitution that could protect both individual and group rights, and the difficult process of national reconciliation in a society deeply scarred by decades of state-sanctioned racism and violence. The second, and more extensive, part of the paper addresses economic and social rights. It details the staggering inequalities in income, land, and access to basic services that were the deliberate legacy of apartheid. The core argument is that political freedom would remain hollow for the majority of South Africans without a corresponding and significant improvement in their economic well-being. The paper explores the intense policy debates within the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies over how to achieve this economic transformation, from land reform and affirmative action to the provision of housing, water, and electricity. The findings suggest that the greatest challenge for the post-apartheid state would be to manage the sky-high expectations of the black majority for rapid economic redress, a task that would define the country's trajectory for decades to come.