Abstract
For more than two decades, 21st March has been canonised and celebrated among South Africans as Human Rights Day. Earmarked by the newly democratic and inclusive South Africa, it commemorates the Sharpeville and Langa massacres. As history recorded, on the 21st March 1960, residents of Sharpeville and subsequently, Langa embarked on a peaceful anti-pass campaign led by the African National Congress (ANC) breakaway party, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). The pass (also known as dompas) was one of the most despised symbols of apartheid; a system declared internationally as a crime against humanity. In the post-apartheid era, it is expectedthat all South Africans enjoy and celebrate the full extent of their human rights. However, it appears that the envisaged rights are not equally enjoyed by all. This is because widening inequalities in the health-care system, in schooling, and in the lucrative sporting arena have not been amicably and irrevocably resolved. Furthermore, it is still the norm that the most vulnerable of South Africans, especially rural Africans, find it difficult, and sometimes, impossible to access adequate and even essential healthcare services. Central to the possible questions to emerge from this discourse are the following(i) What is the current state of South Africa’s health system at the turn of 23 years of its majority rule? (ii) Why is the South African health system still unable to sufficiently deliver the socioeconomic health rights of most South African people? It is against this background that this article uses a critical discourse analysis approach in its broadest form to provide a nuanced Afrocentric assessment of South Africa’s human rights record in the health sector since the year 1994. Data for this article is generated through the review of the cauldron of published and unpublished academic, official and popular literature.
Highlights
The 21st March non-violent campaign against pass laws in South Africa was initially planned to take place on the 31st March 1960 under the guidance of the African National Congress (ANC)
It is needless to mention that in the new democratic dispensation, South Africa has been able to steer the political transition successfully. This is due to the reasons outlined in this article; namely, that the South African government has not been able to revolutionizeits society, including the health sector
While institutionalized racism has been officially abolished in the early 1990s, its manifest challenges continue to persist to date, and remain evident in gaining access to health care
Summary
The 21st March non-violent campaign against pass laws in South Africa was initially planned to take place on the 31st March 1960 under the guidance of the ANC. While the dynamics of crucial historical events such as the Sharpeville and Langa massacres are contested across the political and academic divide, a quick cursory overview of the academic and popular literature reflects competing positions about post-apartheid South Africa’s human rights record in the health sector. In over two decades of post-apartheid era, South Africa’s mortality and morbidity profile of infectious and noncommunicable diseases have worsened considerably among all age groups(Kahn, 2011) This calls for a rethinking of the philosophy underpinning the delivery of health care in South Africa and Africa generally. Further sections reviewthe relevant literature on health and human rights focusing on South Africa It presents the legal framework in which health care is delivered in the country.
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