Constitutional Review 2016

The law-making process in South Africa allows for civil society to comment and give input into proposed new legislation, including an  annual review of the Constitution. The Board has a long history in contributing to the development of the Constitution starting with our involvement in its original drafting.    

Last week, the Board made a submission for this year’s Constitutional Review, focusing on ‘hate speech’ issues and how the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) could be made more effective in addressing them. In terms of defining prohibited hate speech, we suggested that the current definition takes an overly-narrow approach since it proscribes ‘advocacy of hatred’ only when coupled with ‘incitement to cause harm’. This, we argued, did not take into account the realities of how damaging racist hate speech was in and of itself. In practice, the mere airing of unacceptable views results in ‘harm’, even when harm is not explicitly advocated.

While the SAHRC plays a critical role in enabling members of the public to seek redress when they feel that their right to dignity has been infringed, the section dealing with its powers and functions makes no reference to the right to dignity, and we suggested that this be remedied. We further stressed that for the SAHRC to operate effectively, all parties involved must abide by the rules and procedures it has laid down in terms of investigating complaints. It was therefore recommended that provision be made for the institution to “impose appropriate penalties” for failures to comply with its rules, unless there are legitimate reasons for not having done so.   

Given the times we live in, we unfortunately cannot rely solely on legislation to protect the basic 

rights and security of South African Jews. The reality is that we have to be vigilant against attacks from those for whom the law of our country is irrelevant. Over the past week, a number of high-level warnings have been received from around the world of possible terrorist attacks in South Africa. I urge people to be especially vigilant at this time, and in the event of becoming aware of anything suspicious or unusual taking place in their environment to immediately inform the CSO.

Recent Articles

SAJBD Responds to DIRCO's Abandonment of South Africans stuck in Israel

The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on Sunday issued a travel advisory urging South African citizens in Iran to exercise caution and register with the South African Embassy in Tehran. It is outrageous that DIRCO did not offer similar assistance or services to its citizens in Israel. With the Advisory the Government and DIRCO have clearly shown disinterest and abandoned the many South Africans, be they Christian, Jewish or Muslim who are stranded in Israel. The Government's stance on this current situation confirms once again its lack of concern for not only the citizens of Israel, but its own citizens in Israel.

​DIRCO supports terror regime once again

DIRCO supports terror regime once again

South Africa’s expression of concern and condolences for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran serves once again to show their decision to always side with dictators, terror organisations and human-rights abusers. DIRCO supported the Assad regime in Syria, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir in Sudan, Sadam Hussein in Iraq, Hamas in Gaza and now Ali Hosseini Khamenei in Iran. All these dictators have a strong history of oppressing their own people and exporting terror.