United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1996 - South Africa, 30 January 1997, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa300.html [accessed 6 June 2023]
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Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, January 30, 1997 South Africa's governing institutions and society continued to consolidate the democratic transformation initiated by the historic 1994 national elections. Areas where local elections had been postponed in late 1995 held peaceful polls to select local councilors in mid-1996. The Government of National Unity, comprising ministers from the African National Congress (ANC), the National Party (NP), and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) functioned successfully through the first half of the year, with the NP voluntarily deciding to withdraw from both national and provincial executive branches on June 30. With the withdrawal of the NP, the Parliament took on an even more central role in the national debate. In addition to the 3 major parties, the 400-member National Assembly includes the Democratic Party (DP), the Freedom Front (FF), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP). The Government continues to operate under an Interim Constitution. However, following year-long negotiations in the Constitutional Assembly (the National Assembly and Senate sitting jointly), the Constitutional Court certified a revised draft Constitution as complying with the Interim Constitution's required 34 principles. President Mandela signed the new Constitution into law on December 10 and it is scheduled to come into effect in February 1997. The judiciary, including the Constitutional Court, is independent. The South African Police Service (SAPS) has primary responsibility for internal security, although the Government continues to call on the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) to provide support for the SAPS in internal security situations. The Deputy Defense Minister stated in August that at least 8,000 SANDF troops are deployed daily in support of the SAPS countrywide. The SAPS is undergoing a major restructuring and transformation from a primarily public order security force largely dedicated to enforcing apartheid laws to a more accountable, community service oriented police force. The SANDF and the newly created SAPS border control and policing unit share responsibility for external security. The civilian authorities maintain effective control of the security forces. However, some members of these forces committed human rights abuses. South Africa has a diversified and productive economy with strong agricultural, mining, and industrial sectors. In 1995 the manufacturing sector accounted for 24.3 percent of the gross domestic product valued at $105.4 billion. The inequality of opportunity and the skewed government spending of the apartheid era have resulted in widespread illiteracy, high unemployment, a lack of adequate health care, and other socioeconomic ills among the black majority population. Official unemployment rates for the formal sector fluctuate between 32 and 40 percent. Over 60 percent of the black population is either unemployed, underemployed, or working in the informal sector. Although the Government is working hard to redress the gross inequities of the economy through the promotion of small, medium, and microenterprises and by attracting large levels of foreign direct investment, the socioeconomic legacy of apartheid is expected to remain a problem for many years. The Government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, and the laws and newly independent judiciary provide an effective means of dealing with instances of individual abuses. Some members of the security forces committed human rights abuses, including use of excessive force during arrest, torture, and other physical abuse. Deaths in police custody remain a problem. The Government has taken action to investigate and punish some of those involved. The judiciary is overburdened, and lengthy delays in trials are a problem. Discrimination against women and the disabled continued. Violence against women and children remains a serious problem. Although there were still hundreds of political and extrajudicial killings, political violence continued to decrease, both in KwaZulu/Natal and countrywide. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), created to investigate apartheid-era human rights abuses, compensate victims, and grant amnesty for full disclosure of politically motivated crimes, began intensive rounds of hearings in April, which continued through the end of the year. Parliament continued to revise or repeal discriminatory legislation, and it passed an Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act. A new labor relations regime was adopted that improves the climate for worker rights.
Respect for Human Rights
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Deaths in police custody remain a problem. There were at least 32 deaths in custody during the year, although final statistics were not available. A number of cases of deaths in police custody are under investigation by the authorities. Deaths due to use of excessive force during apprehensions are a serious problem. The number of political and extrajudicial killings continued to decrease in 1996, following the general trend after the April 1994 national elections. The Human Rights Commission (HRC) reported that political violence resulted in 970 deaths in the first 11 months of 1996, compared with 1,296 for the same period in 1995. The South African Institute for Race Relations (SAIRR) reported 683 politically motivated killings in the first 11 months of 1996, compared with 1,044 for the same period in 1995. Beginning shortly before the peaceful community elections in KwaZulu/Natal in June, IFP and ANC leaders and grassroots supporters intensified their efforts to promote the fledgling provincial peace process. Reputed warlords from both parties held joint rallies in the Natal midlands to promote tolerance, and a joint IFP-ANC provincial commission is working on guidelines for free political campaigning. The increased emphasis on peace is reflected in the continued fall in the number of politically motivated killings in KwaZulu/Natal. The HRC reports that politically motivated killings in the province fell to an average of 41 per month through August, compared with an average of 67 per month in 1995. One of the most egregious examples of political violence was the murder of Zulu Princess Nonhlanhla in April, in an attack on a royal palace in which Zulu Queen Buhle and Princess Sibusile Zulu were badly injured. The police have made arrests in the case. On March 22, 11 bodies were found in KwaZulu/Natal's south midlands and an additional 6 people were killed in another incident. Vigilante action and mob justice were problems. People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), a community-based organization calling for stronger action by the Government and police against crime and drugs, engaged in acts of intimidation and violence against suspected drug dealers and gang leaders. In one incident in Cape Town in August, an angry PAGAD crowd shot and burned to death alleged drug dealer and gang leader Rashaad Staggie in the presence of police. The Government condemned the action and subsequent PAGAD violence, and it has taken steps to arrest some of those who participated in the violence. Several PAGAD leaders were subsequently taken into custody for violating their bail conditions during ongoing judicial investigations. Three people were arrested for the 1987 murder of Zazi Kuzways. In Johannesburg eight persons standing in a line of job seekers outside a plant were shot and killed by unknown assailants. There were a number of killings due to factional fights between either political or ethnic groups, many of them in and around mining operations. For example in September, 21 miners were killed at a mine as a result of factional fighting between Xhosa and Sotho. Over 30 squatters were killed in factional clashes near a platinum mine in Northwest province. There were occasional reports of killings linked to the continued practice of witchcraft in some rural areas. In the Northern province, where traditional beliefs regarding witchcraft remain strong, officials reported dozens of killings of people suspected of witchcraft. The Government has instituted educational programs to prevent such actions. The TRC's investigative unit is looking into a number of cases of alleged political or extrajudicial killings committed in previous years that have been brought to its attention through TRC hearings. Also, special police investigative teams continue to make arrests in the cases of the 1995 Christmas season massacres. In March the Rand Supreme Court found nine members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) guilty of murder charges in connection with the April 1994 preelection bombing campaign. Another 13 AWB members were convicted of lesser charges (possessing arms and explosives), and 4 were acquitted. A resurgence of violence attributed to extreme right Afrikaner nationalist groups occurred late in the year. A previously unknown group calling itself the "Boere Attack Troops" claimed responsibility for a Christmas Eve bombing in the Western Cape town of Worcester that resulted in four deaths. In August retired SAP Colonel Eugene de Kock, who commanded a police unit allegedly used for "third force" activities, was found guilty on 89 charges, including 6 murder charges, and sentenced in October to 2 life sentences plus an additional 212 years' imprisonment. De Kock is in the process of applying for amnesty from the TRC. On October 11, a court acquitted former Defense Minister Magnus Malan of murder and conspiracy charges. Fourteen other defendants were acquitted, including 6 Zulu policemen acquitted a day earlier. The State had charged General Malan and the others with involvement in the January 1987 murder of 13 people at Kwamakhuta, near Durban. No charges have been filed to date in the case of the 1994 assassination of former Dutch Reformed Church moderator Johan Heyns; this situation is unlikely to change. Five men were arrested in the 1981 murder of Griffiths Mxenge. Their trial was postponed until April 1997, pending amnesty hearings involving at least three of the accused.
b. Disappearance
There were no new reports of politically motivated disappearances caused by government authorities or agents. Starting in April the TRC heard public testimony regarding numerous politically motivated disappearances between 1960 and 1993. Investigations into a number of these disappearances were subsequently begun by the TRC's investigative unit, as well as by the relevant provincial attorney general in some cases.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Interim Constitution stipulates that "no person shall be subject to torture of any kind, whether physical, mental, or emotional, nor shall any person be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment." Some members of the police used excessive force and tortured and otherwise abused suspects and detainees. However, broad efforts to reform police practices have substantially reduced such activities. Monitoring organizations continued to make credible reports of police abuse of detainees while in custody, including beatings, suffocation with rubber tubing, electric shock, and rape. In August an attorney was appointed Executive Director of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD). The ICD is a civilian channel for complaints operating separately from the SAPS. It investigates allegations of misconduct and corruption by members of the police. Also, several human rights education programs for the SAPS were conducted by nongovernmental organizations (NGO's). The SAPS has continued to undergo sweeping, positive changes, including the institution of reforms designed to create partnerships between local police forces and the communities they serve. Resignations and retirements of senior police officials have permitted the infusion of new personnel at senior levels, from both inside and outside the SAPS, and these appointments have also served to further affirmative action within the SAPS. Prison conditions meet minimum international standards, and the Government permits independent monitoring of prison conditions, including visits by human rights organizations.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Interim Constitution expressly prohibits detention without trial. It also provides that every detained person has a number of other rights, including the right to be informed promptly of the reasons for detention; to be charged within 48 hours of arrest; to be detained in conditions of human dignity; to consult with legal counsel at every stage of the legal process; to communicate with relatives, medical practitioners, and religious counselors; and to be released with or without bail, unless the interests of justice require otherwise. Courts and police generally acted in good faith to respect these rights, although there was a growing problem with bringing detained persons to trial in a prompt fashion. According to the HRC, prisoners wait on average for 6 months to be tried, although in extreme cases this can extend up to 2 years. This problem is due in large measure to the overburdened judiciary, which has more cases than it can handle efficiently, and insufficient staff and resources. There were no reports of forced exile.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Interim Constitution provides for an independent and impartial judiciary subject only to the Constitution and the law, and the Government respects this provision in practice. The independence and impartiality of the judiciary were underscored by the Constitutional Court's September 6 decision to decline to certify the new draft constitution (see Section 3). While the precise relationship between the Constitutional Court and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (which was formerly the country's supreme judicial body) remains unclear, the Interim Constitution makes the former the highest court for interpreting constitutional issues; the latter remains supreme in all others. Judges try criminal cases. The jury system was abolished in 1969. Serious offenses are tried in the Supreme Court, while magistrates hear lesser offenses. The presiding judge or magistrate determines guilt or innocence. The Interim Constitution's section on fundamental rights provides for due process, including the right to a fair, public trial within a reasonable time of being charged and the right to appeal to a higher court. It also gives detained persons a right to state-funded legal counsel when "substantial injustice would otherwise result." The Government and legal bodies have acted to redress historic racial and gender imbalances in the judiciary and the bar. The ranks of judges, magistrates, senior counsels, and attorneys are now more reflective of society, although still far short of a representative composition. By year's end approximately 4,000 written applications for amnesty had been received by the TRC, of which about half were from those already incarcerated for crimes which they claim were committed for political reasons. On August 29, the TRC granted its first amnesty to two men convicted of killing Glad Mokgatle, an ally of Bophuthatswana strongman Lucas Mangope, ruling that their actions fit the required definition of a political crime. The two were released on August 30.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The Interim Constitution prohibits such practices, government authorities generally respect these prohibitions, and violations are subject to effective legal sanction. A Constitutional Land Court was established to adjudicate, among other matters, claims of persons dispossessed and removed from land during the apartheid era. Several thousand land claims have already been lodged with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, which has been set up to process, investigate, and attempt to settle claims. The Commission's decisions are to be referred to the Court for approval, and complex claims are to be heard and decided by the Court. The Court has the power to order the State to compensate victims or to expropriate their former land. The revised deadline for lodging claims is April 1998, and the Court must complete its work within 5 years.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government respects these rights in practice. These rights can, however, be limited by general law under some circumstances. Coverage of news and expression of opinion is vigorous and unfettered. Self-censorship is not a serious problem. While most major broadcast media are still state-owned, their editorial independence appears genuine and the Government is taking steps to end its broadcast monopoly. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) controls all broadcast television and most radio. Once seen as the Government's voice, the SABC is in the midst of an historic reorganization and change of direction. SABC news programming offered balanced coverage of the Government and the leading opposition parties, although the smaller opposition parties regularly complained of insufficient coverage of their activities. The work of the Independent Broadcast Authority (IBA) is contributing to major changes in the electronic media. The IBA granted 81 licenses for community radio broadcasters and approximately 60 of these small, not-for-profit stations were broadcasting in 1996. The IBA also held hearings on issuance of eight commercial licenses and the sale of six SABC radio stations to private investors. Although some parties (notably potential commercial broadcasters) have complained about the slow progress, the IBA's work has begun to bring real competition to the country's airwaves for the first time. Several laws remained in effect that permit the Government to restrict the publication of information about the police, the national defense forces, prisons, and mental institutions. While these laws were not often employed, they remained a genuine threat to freedom of the press. In August the Attorney General of the Western Cape province invoked the Criminal Procedure Act in an effort to compel journalists to turn over all written and graphic material related to an episode of gang violence. Editors were threatened with subpoenas but refused to turn over any materials. Through reporting and editorials, journalists publicized the threat and argued that the media could not become agents of the police. The Attorney General backed down, but the incident demonstrated the media's vulnerability to such laws. Similar events in Cape Town also brought threats to the media from members of the community action organization PAGAD (see Section 1.a.). Journalists who covered the mob murder of a reputed drug dealer by PAGAD members were threatened with death if they made their notes or graphic materials available to the police. In October the newly formed South African Editors' Forum criticized President Mandela for an attack on black journalists. Mandela had complained that black journalists were unfairly criticizing the Government in order to please white press owners. The South African Board of Censors reviews and passes judgment on written and graphic materials published in or imported into the country. The Board of Censors has the power to edit or ban books, magazines, movies, and videos. It regularly exercises that power. There are no official restrictions on academic freedom.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Interim Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and of association, and the Government respects these rights in practice. Political parties and organizations operate freely.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Interim Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government respects this right in practice.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Interim Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in practice. In January the Government formally acceded to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. In July South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on standardization of regional refugee policies, which is designed to shift more responsibility for handling refugee flows onto first asylum countries in the region. The Government cooperates with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. The Government provides first asylum, granting applicants the right to work and study. Over 16,000 asylum seekers were registered by the Government in 1996. In May the Government and the UNHCR completed the Mozambican repatriation program. About 70 percent of the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants deported during the year came from Mozambique. Despite numerous procedural safeguards, energetic efforts to combat a mounting illegal immigration problem sometimes resulted in wrongful deportations. Parliament passed an amnesty bill in June permitting certain illegal aliens who have lived in South Africa for 5 years or more to become legal residents. Despite predictions that up to a million of the estimated 5 million illegal aliens in the country would apply for the amnesty, by year's end only about 10,000 had taken advantage of the measure.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
Citizens exercised the right to change their government in 1994 elections that international observers deemed to be substantially free and fair. The country continued to be governed pursuant to an Interim Constitution that provides for a bicameral parliament, an executive state president, and an independent judiciary, including a constitutional court. The Parliament comprises the National Assembly (400 members elected by proportional lists) and the Senate (90 members, 10 from each province, elected by the provincial parliaments). The two houses are generally coequal. Seven parties are represented in the Assembly, with the African National Congress, the National Party, and the Inkatha Freedom Party holding the majority of the seats (252, 82, and 43 respectively). All citizens over 18 years of age are permitted to vote in elections. Until the National Party withdrew from the Government on June 30, these three parties shared executive power in a Government of National Unity (GNU) under the Interim Constitution. The Interim Constitution provides for an executive deputy president from any party garnering more than 20 percent of the total vote. Thus, in addition to President Nelson Mandela, who is the Executive Head of State, South Africa had two Executive Deputy Presidents, Thabo Mbeki from the ANC and F. W. de Klerk (the former State President) from the NP. This arrangement was altered on June 30, when the National Party voluntarily withdrew from the GNU, de Klerk relinquished his deputy presidency, and only the ANC and the IFP were left in the executive branch. Mbeki became the sole Executive Deputy President. The ANC filled 24 of the 27 cabinet positions. According to the Interim Constitution, the Constitutional Assembly (CA) was required to draft and approve a permanent constitution by May 9. The draft was required to comply with 34 constitutional principles spelled out in the Interim Constitution. On May 8, the CA (minus the IFP, which walked out of constitutional negotiations in February 1995) approved a document, which was referred to the Constitutional Court. Hearings were held in July, and on September 6 the court referred the document back to the CA, citing seven provisions and one whole chapter that did not comply with the principles. Following intensive negotiations in September and October, the CA submitted a revised draft, which was certified by the Constitutional Court on December 2. President Mandela signed the new Constitution into law on December 10. In addition to certification of the new Constitution, the Constitutional Court also has the responsibility to interpret, defend, and enforce the Constitution. The Court has the power to overturn any law or executive act that it deems unconstitutional. The Interim Constitution also provides that the Court protect over 25 fundamental rights of citizens, pending entry into force of the new Constitution. Local councils elected in November 1995 were in place in seven of South Africa's nine provinces (and in some areas of the Western Cape) throughout 1996. Disputes that had delayed local polls in parts of the Western Cape and KwaZulu/Natal were successfully resolved, and peaceful elections were held in those provinces on May 29 and June 26 respectively. There are no legal impediments to women's participation in government and politics. Over one-fourth of the National Assembly members are women, women won 20 percent of the Senate seats in the 1994 elections, women chair approximately one-quarter of the 60 National Assembly committees, and women fill both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions in the National Assembly. In the Cabinet, female representation increased somewhat in 1996. Women hold 4 of 27 ministerial positions, as well as 8 deputy ministerial slots.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A number of human rights groups operate without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials are generally cooperative and responsive to their views. Many organizations now participate in governmental bodies seeking to gather public input and to fashion policies related to human rights. During 1996 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was constituted and began its work. Under the 1995 enabling legislation, the TRC is empowered: To look into apartheid-era gross human rights abuses committed between 1960 and 1993; to grant amnesty to perpetrators of a broad range of politically motivated crimes; and to recommend compensation for victims of human rights abuses. The TRC began public hearings into human rights abuses in April, and held its first amnesty hearings in May. By year's end, thousands of statements from victims of human rights abuses had been received by the TRC, and hearings held throughout the country. Approximately 4,000 amnesty applications had also been submitted. President Mandela announced on December 13 that the deadline for submitting amnesty applications to the TRC would be extended from December 14, 1996 to May 10, 1997. Mandela also said that he would request that the National Assembly extend the amnesty period cutoff date from December 6, 1993 to May 10, 1994 (the date on which Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first democratically elected president). The TRC had strongly urged Mandela to extend both deadlines, arguing that the extensions would encourage additional perpetrators to apply for amnesty. In their institutional testimony before the TRC, both former government and liberation movement representatives conceded that human rights abuses had been committed by individuals acting on their own, but denied that abuses had been authorized at the highest levels. Investigations into these statements continued at year's end. TRC officials emphasized throughout the year that the Commission's mandate is to investigate human rights abuses committed by all parties, and that all parties are bound by the legislation's amnesty provisions. Comments by some ANC officials that appeared to suggest that the ANC was exempting its members from the amnesty process prompted concern that the Commission's independence was being undermined. However, senior ANC officials assured TRC Chairman Desmond Tutu in a meeting late in the year that the party respected the Commission's authority and was encouraging its members to apply for amnesty where appropriate. By year's end, a number of former government officials, including one former minister and a top-level police official, had indicated that they would apply for amnesty. Hearings had been held involving nearly 50 applicants, including 5 former senior security policemen who presented evidence to the Commission on approximately 40 cases of disappearance, bombings, and murder. Former security force Colonel Dirk Coetzee, one of the first apartheid government "defectors" to expose security force human rights violations, also testified before the Amnesty Committee; two others accused with him in the murder of Griffiths Mxenge have submitted amnesty applications. On August 29, the TRC granted its first amnesty to two men convicted of killing Glad Mokgatle, an ally of Bophuthatswana strongman Lucas Mangope, ruling that their actions fit the required definition of a political crime. The two were released on August 30. In December the TRC granted amnesty to former policeman Brian Mitchell, who was serving a 30-year sentence for his part in the 1988 murder of 11 people, known as the Trust Feed massacre. Amnesty was granted in half the nearly two dozen cases adjudicated by year's end. The government-created Human Rights Commission is tasked with promoting the observance of fundamental human rights at all levels of government and throughout the general population. The HRC also has the power to conduct investigations, issue subpoenas, and hear testimony under oath. While commissioners were named in late 1995, the Commission's powers were not formally determined until May 17. Operations have been hampered by red tape, budgetary concerns, the absence of civil liberties legislation, and uncertainty over the entry into force of the new Constitution, which will, among other provisions, expand bill of rights provisions to cover actions between private individuals. The Office of Public Protector, which was also mandated under the Interim Constitution, functioned throughout the year. Its role is to investigate abuse and mismanagement by the Government. In its highest profile case, the Public Protector examined the handling of the contract and funding for the AIDS-awareness play "Sarafina II" by officials of the Department of Health. The Government indicated that it would accept the recommendations of the inquiry, some of which were critical of government action.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Interim Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, gender, ethnic or social origin, color, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, sex, pregnancy, marital status, or birth. Legal recourse is available to those who believe they have been discriminated against.
Women
There is a high rate of violence against women. Newspapers report that every 6 days a woman is killed by her husband or boyfriend. According to a study conducted by the NGO, People Opposing Women Abuse, the figures for reported rape have risen consistently each year, from 32,000 cases in 1994 to nearly 37,000 in 1995 (the last year for which figures are available). Unofficial estimates by the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders suggest that only 1 rape in 20 is reported to police. The Prevention of Family Violence Act of 1993 defines marital rape as a criminal offense and provides a simpler, cheaper, and more effective procedure for women to obtain injunctions against their abusive husbands and partners. However, to date only a handful of women have pressed complaints under the law, despite government and NGO efforts to increase public awareness of it. Given the high incidence of violence against women, the Government pledged to establish more centers for battered women. However, by year's end few such centers had been opened and women's advocacy groups were calling on the Government to speed implementation of its pledge. The SAPS created new police units dealing specifically with domestic violence, child protection, and sexual violence, which are intended in part to increase victims' confidence in the police, resulting in more victims coming forward to report such crimes. In October the TRC conducted a special hearing on abuses suffered by women before an all-female commission. In March the Government established an Office on the Status of Women, located in the Deputy President's Office. The Office is intended to coordinate gender desks in each department, which will be charged with reviewing department policy and developing strategies to ensure integration of gender concerns in policy and planning, and to undertake investigations of reported gender discrimination. The Commission on Gender Equality Bill was passed by Parliament in June. The act established a government body to promote gender equality and to advise and make recommendations to Parliament on any legislation affecting women. In November the National Assembly approved the list of appointees (which included 10 women and 2 men) to the country's first gender commission. Discrimination against women remains a serious problem despite legal and constitutional advances and government attention to this issue. For example under some traditional laws, women are prevented from owning land and inheriting property. The new Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act protects persons who have insecure and informal rights and interests in land; many women are in this category. Some steps were taken to achieve greater economic advancement for women such as establishing an investment fund. The Affirmative Action Monitor, published by the consulting group FSA-Contact, reported that there was a 25 percent increase in the number of female professionals in the organizations surveyed. In January the Government ratified the U. N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The Women's National Coalition (formed in 1994) includes more than 90 women's groups from labor, political parties, religious groups, trade unions, cultural and social interest groups, and business and professional bodies. Government participants in the U. N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing developed a national plan of action and induced government departments to make concrete commitments to address gender issues. During parliamentary deliberations on the 1996 budget, many officials provided information assessing gender-specific implications of their budgets, as well as their departments' efforts to promote women. The new Constitution includes an equality clause that prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, or sexual orientation. The Government used the Platform of Action from the Beijing Conference as a reference guide in the drafting of this and other provisions of the law. Polygyny continues to be practiced in several ethnic groups. However, generally only one marriage is registered under civil law; subsequent marriages are conducted under traditional rites. Bride price ("lobola") is also a traditional practice of some ethnic groups.
Children
The Interim Constitution stipulates that children have the right "to security, education, basic nutrition, and basic health and social services." The Government remains firm in its commitment to provide these services, and has made some progress toward developing the mechanisms for delivering necessary services. However, the demand for such services far outstrips the resources currently available. The Schools Bill passed by Parliament aims to achieve greater educational opportunities for black children. It introduces compulsory education from ages 7 to 15, a single syllabus, and more equitable funding. The Government plans to redeploy teachers from predominantly white to predominantly black schools in order to equalize student/teacher ratios, and to redistribute funding from relatively rich to relatively poor school districts. Student populations on university campuses are becoming more representative of the country's racial profile, with previously all-white universities reaching out to recruit students from black and colored townships. Social programs known as "Presidential Initiatives," which were included in the former Reconstruction and Development Program, continue to receive government support. These initiatives offer free health care to pregnant women and to children under 6 years of age, and provide nutritious meals for primary school children. Violence against children remains widespread. A report conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council and the Child Protection Unit concludes that crimes committed against children are currently rising at an annual rate of 29 percent. Reported cases have increased 65 percent between 1993 and 1995. The increase in reported cases can be attributed to the creation of special units to deal with these crimes, growing emphasis on children's rights, and increased attention to the problem by the public and the media. However, a lack of coordinated and comprehensive strategies to deal with such crimes continues to impede the delivery of needed services to young victims. Child prostitution is on the rise, primarily in Cape Town, but in Durban and Johannesburg as well. An increase in the number of children living on the streets has contributed to the growing number of child prostitutes. The child sex industry has become increasingly organized, with children either being forced into prostitution or exploited by their parents to earn money for the family. Female genital mutilation, which is widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, is traditionally practiced in some remote areas of South Africa, although the practice is not thought to be widespread. Traditional circumcision of teenage boys results in the hospitalization, mutilation, or even death of several youths each year. In March amendments to prison legislation were passed permitting the detention of 14- to 18-year old juveniles who were awaiting trial for serious crimes such as rape and murder. In August Correctional Services Minister Sipo Mzimela initiated a national debate on the incarceration of juveniles by claiming that 62 percent of the 398 juveniles awaiting trial in top security jails some as young as 12 years old should not be there because they were being tried on relatively minor charges.
People with Disabilities
The Interim Constitution and Bill of Fundamental Rights prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. Society continues to promote an increasingly modern concept of people with disabilities as a minority whose civil rights must be protected. The Government attempts to ensure that all government-funded projects take account of the needs of its disabled citizens. However, in practice government and private sector discrimination in employment still exists, given the wide discretion allowed managers in hiring practices. According to the Affirmative Action Monitor, fewer than two-thirds of South African companies target the disabled as part of their affirmative action programs. The law mandates access to buildings for people with disabilities, but such regulations have rarely been enforced and until recently, public awareness of them was virtually nonexistent. The National Environmental Accessibility Program, an NGO comprising disabled consumers as well as service providers, has established a presence in all nine provinces in order to lobby for compliance with the regulations and to sue offending property owners when necessary.
Indigenous People
The Interim Constitution provides for the recognition of "the institution, status, and role of traditional leadership," and requires the courts to "apply customary law when that law is applicable, subject to the Constitution and any legislation that specifically deals with customary law." The Interim Constitution further permits legislation for the establishment of provincial houses of traditional leaders and a national council of traditional leaders, both of which would deal with matters relating to traditional leadership, the role of traditional leaders, indigenous and customary law, and the customs of communities observing a system of customary law.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The Interim Constitution and Bill of Fundamental Rights prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic or social origin, and culture. The Government has begun reorganizing and redesigning the educational, housing, and health care systems to benefit all racial and ethnic groups in society more equally. The public and private sectors continue to pursue affirmative action programs, which are permitted under terms of the Interim Constitution. The Government has instituted an effective affirmative action program, and has strongly encouraged private firms to do so. According to a Department of Labor survey, 82 percent of private sector firms have instituted affirmative action programs. The new Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act, which protects people with insecure and informal rights and interests in land, supplements the many 1994 land and housing acts which were passed to redress former discriminatory practices and to promote equality in access to land and housing resources. According to Affirmative Action Monitor, affirmative action policies have had little impact on the top echelons in business. The number of white senior and middle managers has been reduced by less than 2 percent. The number of black senior and middle managers has increased by less than 1 percent. The number of companies with affirmative action programs decreased over the last year, declining from 94 percent in 1995 to 82 percent in 1996. Based on the consultants' survey, one-third of the organizations with no current programs did not intend to implement one. Twelve percent of the companies surveyed said that they had experienced a drop in standards or deterioration in quality of work due to affirmative action. However, the country's black majority increasingly is making inroads into the previously all-white entrepreneurial sector through pooled investments and acquisitions.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Freedom of association and the right to strike are provided by the Interim Constitution and given statutory effect in the Labor Relations Act (LRA), which entered into force on November 11. All workers in the private sector are entitled to join a union. Most workers in the public sector, with the exception of members of the National Defense Force, the National Intelligence Agency, and the South African Secret Service, are also entitled to join a union. No employee can be fired or prejudiced because of membership in or advocacy of a trade union. There are 227 registered trade unions and about 40 unregistered trade unions, with a total approximate membership of 3.2 million, or about 42 percent of the employed, economically active population. The largest trade union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is formally aligned with the ANC and the South African Communist Party. Over 60 former COSATU members serve in national and provincial legislatures and administrations, and scores more entered local government following the November 1995 local elections. The much smaller National Council of Trade Unions, while officially independent of any political grouping, has close ties to the Pan Africanist Congress and the Azanian Peoples Organization. A third major federation, the Federation of South African Labor, comprises primarily white-collar professional employees. A federation of public service employees called the Federation of Organizations Representing Civil Employees was created in early 1996 but has not yet been formally registered. The LRA has established a simple procedure for a protected strike. All that is required is that the dispute be referred for conciliation. If conciliation fails to resolve the dispute, then a trade union is entitled to engage in a legal strike. Such a strike is not liable to criminal or civil action. The LRA allows employers to hire replacement labor for striking employees, but only after giving 7 days' notice to the striking trade union. The LRA applies to public sector as well as private sector workers. Therefore, public sector employees are also guaranteed the right to strike, with the exception of essential services and the three components of the security services mentioned above. While this right was first asserted in the Public Sector Labor Relations Act of 1993, the LRA simplifies and rationalizes collective bargaining in the public sector and the resort to industrial action. Moreover, through the LRA, Parliament has granted employers the right to lock out workers if certain conditions are met. However, a controversial attempt to establish this right in the Constitution was rejected by the Constitutional Court in September. The Government does not restrict union affiliation with regional or international labor organizations. The International Labor Organization readmitted South Africa in 1994; the country had withdrawn from the Organization in 1964.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law defines and protects the rights to organize and to bargain collectively. The Government does not interfere with union organizing and generally has not interfered in the collective bargaining process. The new LRA statutorily entrenches "organizational rights," such as trade union access to work sites, deductions for trade union subscriptions, and leave for trade union officials, which strengthen the ability of trade unions to organize workers. Union participation as an equal partner with business and government in the tripartite National Economic Development and Labor Council, a tripartite negotiating forum, ensures a direct voice for labor in the formulation of economic, social, and labor policy. The new LRA creates workplace forums that are intended to promote better shop floor communication between management and labor over issues of work organization and production. The forums, to receive statutory protection, can only be initiated by trade unions in businesses with more than 100 employees. However, the law is designed to build wide support within the trade union movement and business for new workplace relationships. To further reduce the adversarial nature of labor relations, the LRA also creates a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA), which is intended to play an aggressive, interventionist role to resolve disputes before they become full-fledged strikes or lockouts. In the event the CCMA is unable to resolve a dispute, it may be referred to the Labor Court. However, the intent of the bill is to reduce judicial intervention into labor relations, relying on the parties to resolve the dispute whenever possible. There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced labor is prohibited by the Interim Constitution, and the law is effectively enforced.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Employment of minors under age 15 is prohibited by law. However, the law gives discretionary powers to the Minister of Welfare to exempt certain types of work to allow individual employers or groups of employers to hire children under certain conditions. This is common practice in the agricultural sector. Use of child labor in the informal economy is also common. The Ministries of Labor and Justice do not effectively enforce child labor laws, acting largely in response to complaints made against specific employers.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is no legally mandated national minimum wage. Instead, the LRA provides a mechanism for negotiations between labor and management to set minimum wage standards, industry by industry. Currently, 100 industries covering most manufacturing workers come under the provisions of the act. In those sectors of the economy not sufficiently organized to engage in the collective bargaining processes which establish minimum wages, the Wage Act gives the Minister of Labor the authority to set minimum wages and conditions. The Wage Act, however, does not apply to farm or domestic workers. Occupational health and safety issues are a top priority of trade unions, especially in the mining and heavy manufacturing industries. Although attention to these issues has increased dramatically, including passage in 1993 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, industrial and mining processes are dangerous and sometimes deadly. Government attempts to reduce mining fatalities culminated in June in the Mine Health and Safety Act. The act had its genesis in a report issued last year by a commission of inquiry convened to look into health and safety issues at South African mines. The new act establishes the right of an employee to remove himself from a work place he deems a danger to his health and safety. Moreover, it establishes a tripartite Mine Health and Safety Council, and an Inspectorate of Mine Health and Safety tasked with enforcing the act and monitoring compliance with its provisions. The act specifically makes it an offense for a company to discriminate against an employee who asserts a right (e.g., to leave a hazardous work site) granted by the act, and requires mine owners to file annual reports that provide statistics on health and safety incidents for each mine being worked.
