Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights
The failure of the post-apartheid government to deliver on some of the promises of the South African Bill of Rights, coupled with the appropriation of the Bill of Rights by the international human rights movement, create the impression that the Bill of Rights is a neo-liberal instrument which is irr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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North-West University
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/per/article/view/8794 |
| _version_ | 1811278305862615040 |
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| author | Felix Dube |
| author_facet | Felix Dube |
| author_sort | Felix Dube |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The failure of the post-apartheid government to deliver on some of the promises of the South African Bill of Rights, coupled with the appropriation of the Bill of Rights by the international human rights movement, create the impression that the Bill of Rights is a neo-liberal instrument which is irrelevant to the needs of South Africans and the realities of their circumstances. If the people of South Africa are convinced that the Bill of Rights embraces a Western agenda more than it expresses their collective aspirations, it will lose its legitimacy. While acknowledging that the conception of the Bill of Rights is contested between the international human rights movement and some South Africans, this article shows that the Bill of Rights was neither adopted nor borrowed from the international human rights movement. South Africans did not assimilate the International Bill of Rights but conceived their own Bill of Rights in the early decades of the 20th Century. The conception of the South African Bill of Rights was a response to colonialism and apartheid and was not a consequence of tutelage by the international human rights movement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:33:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9b0d2daac0344767832aab8c772a4b00 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1727-3781 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:33:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | North-West University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9b0d2daac0344767832aab8c772a4b002022-12-22T03:10:24ZafrNorth-West UniversityPotchefstroom Electronic Law Journal1727-37812020-08-012310.17159/1727-3781/2020/v23i0a8794Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of RightsFelix Dube0Faculty of Law, North-West UniversityThe failure of the post-apartheid government to deliver on some of the promises of the South African Bill of Rights, coupled with the appropriation of the Bill of Rights by the international human rights movement, create the impression that the Bill of Rights is a neo-liberal instrument which is irrelevant to the needs of South Africans and the realities of their circumstances. If the people of South Africa are convinced that the Bill of Rights embraces a Western agenda more than it expresses their collective aspirations, it will lose its legitimacy. While acknowledging that the conception of the Bill of Rights is contested between the international human rights movement and some South Africans, this article shows that the Bill of Rights was neither adopted nor borrowed from the international human rights movement. South Africans did not assimilate the International Bill of Rights but conceived their own Bill of Rights in the early decades of the 20th Century. The conception of the South African Bill of Rights was a response to colonialism and apartheid and was not a consequence of tutelage by the international human rights movement.https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/per/article/view/8794International human rights movementInternational Bill of Rightshuman rights discourseSouth AfricaBill of Rights |
| spellingShingle | Felix Dube Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal International human rights movement International Bill of Rights human rights discourse South Africa Bill of Rights |
| title | Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights |
| title_full | Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights |
| title_fullStr | Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights |
| title_short | Neither Adopted nor Borrowed: A Critique of the Conception of the South African Bill of Rights |
| title_sort | neither adopted nor borrowed a critique of the conception of the south african bill of rights |
| topic | International human rights movement International Bill of Rights human rights discourse South Africa Bill of Rights |
| url | https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/per/article/view/8794 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT felixdube neitheradoptednorborrowedacritiqueoftheconceptionofthesouthafricanbillofrights |