The Constitution guarantees everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being, and to have the environment protected for present and future generations. Yet, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card ranks the right to a healthy environment as the eighth most threatened right in South Africa.
The Constitution guarantees everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being, and to have the environment protected for present and future generations. Yet, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card ranks the right to a healthy environment as the eighth most threatened right in South Africa.
South Africa’s Constitution guarantees every person the right to have access to health care, to sufficient food and water and to social security. Yet, persistent systemic failures continue to limit access to essential services. For this reason, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card rated the enjoyment of these socio‑economic rights as very poor and continuing to deteriorate.
The Constitution guarantees citizens the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession. However, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card rated the enjoyment of this right as poor and deteriorating. Daniela Ellerbeck and Lusanda Mahkuntsu detail why in this article.
Access to courts is a constitutional right to have disputes decided in a fair public hearing before a court or an independent tribunal. Yet, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card warns that while the legal system looks robust on paper, the degree to which South Africans enjoy this right in their daily lives is unmistakably declining.
Daniela Ellerbeck and Mpone Komako explain why the Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card ranks the right to education as the sixth most threatened in South Africa, highlighting the stark contrast between a record matric pass rate and a deepening early-grade reading crisis, alongside persistent infrastructure and transport gaps and widespread teacher shortages.
In an article, Ismail Joosub considers the recent revelations about water tanker contracts in major metros that suggest that South Africa’s water crisis is being driven not only by failing infrastructure, but by corruption.
Since its inception in mid-2025, the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, has provided a harrowing “X-ray” of South Africa’s law enforcement agencies.
Christo van der Rheede, Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation, reflects on the series of high-stakes conflicts that have reshaped geopolitical landscapes, fractured international alliances and, most critically, exacted a devastating toll on civilian populations that have defined the early 21st century.
