GOOD press statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
16 March 2022
The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) trends analysis report shows that the DA-run Western Cape has the highest number of active cases in the country – a total of 1592 complaints in the Western Cape which is nearly 3 times as high as the next province and accounts for 26% of the total number of complaints being managed by the SAHRC in the country.
This comes after the SAHRC, today, released its Annual Trends Analysis Report.
The SAHRC report confirms that it will accept a complaint if there is a prima facie violation of a human right.
The high number of complaints in the Western Cape illustrates a worrying trend where over the past eight years, the Western Cape office of the SAHRC has accepted the highest number of new complaints of any province in the country.
While the complaints could be against a private person, a private company, national and provincial government departments and any municipality what we must pay close attention to is the fact that the Western Cape has the highest number of Section 27 rights complaints.
These are rights to healthcare, food, water and social security which means these are complaints against government – most likely provincial and local government failures to provide access to water.
The Western Cape and Gauteng are the most developed provinces in the country. Failures to provide adequate housing, and access to food, water, and health care is not acceptable and inexplicable. This represents a failure of good government and of the duty to deliver the most basic of services.
We cannot be a province excited about hosting electric formula one races while at the same time poor people are being denied their most basic rights.
The Western Cape Government and the DA like to claim that where they govern people are better off – even poor people – but this report shows that where they govern people are complaining that their human rights are being violated more than anywhere else in the country.
This is not surprising – we have seen how some governments, particularly the City of Cape Town, act in defiance of a culture of human rights, human dignity and defiance of court orders.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (WhatsApp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za