Reflecting on the Human Rights of Older Persons in South Africa

Abstract

This paper reflects on the human rights of older persons in South Africa and considers the manner in which they are violated, despite the country having a progressive Constitution that enshrines such rights. It interrogates this paradox while taking into account South Africa’s rights-based approach to service provision. In regard to older persons, South Africa’s social welfare policy, which is spelt out in the White Paper for Social Welfare (Government Gazette 386, No. 18166, 1997), guides the provision of welfare services to these citizens, from a rights-based perspective. However, there seems to be a disjuncture between what is professed in the country’s Constitution and social welfare policy, and what is actually happening in the daily lives of older persons. Hence, the paper critically analyzes this contradiction.