The South African Human Rights Commission: A Holistic Assessment

Abstract

This chapter assesses the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against a number of referents provided by the holistic evaluative model. It briefly explains the nature of the holistic evaluation model. The chapter presents an extended analysis of the behavior, performance and promise of the SAHRC, as well as a discussion of the extent to which it has contributed to social change in South Africa. In terms of assessing the SAHRC's accessibility through observing the extent of public awareness of its existence and functions, it is pertinent to observe that, as the SAHRC has itself noted, the extent of its physical presence country-wide does affect its visibility. There is thus a connection between the three sub-aspects of accessibility. The Commission has made strenuous efforts to improve its visibility and raise the level of awareness within South Africa (and even beyond) about its very existence and functions. Keywords: Ireland; South Africa's Interim Constitution; South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)