The Politics of Socio-economic Rights in South Africa – Ten Years after Apartheid

The South Africa Programme and the Network on Local Politics in Developing Countries (at theUniversity of Oslo) are very pleased to invite you to participate in a two-day open conference

Date: 8-9 June 2004.

Venue: Helga Eng Building, University of Oslo, Blindern

Objective(s):
In 1994 South Africa’s historic shift to a popularly elected post-apartheid government signaled a dramatic triumph in the struggle to extend democracy and human rights to the excluded majority. Formal components of democracy -such as elections, state organs and institutional channels- were constructed. Not least, a highly innovative constitutional framework underpinned the edifice of civil and political rights. One of the most innovative aspects of the new era was the constitutional space given also to the right to an adequate standard of living, in other words, to socio-economic rights. The landmark of a decade after apartheid now provides the opportune occasion for a critically balanced analysis of the extent to which these formal spaces of democracy have enabled, shaped and constrained the fulfillment of socio-economic rights in South Africa. The aim of the 2 day conference is to critically assess the interface between the formal spaces of democracy and different actors within what is termed a politics of socio-economic rights. The conference will explore the following questions:

What
progress has been made in the fulfillment of socio-economic rights since 1994?

How
do different actors relate to these formal spaces, interact with them and use them in order to fulfil socio-economic rights?

Which
strategies, whether collaborative or confrontational, are most effective in fulfilling socio-economic rights?

What
are the challenges ahead for socio-economic rights and how should South Africa deal with the politics of rights in the years to follow? Leading South African scholars, activists and NGO actors, along with Norwegian-based discussants, will place these questions in the context of specific themes addressing

PROGRAMME

Tuesday June 8, 2004

9.15-9.30
Geir Ulfstein (Norwegian Centre for Human Rights): Welcome remarks

9.30-10.15
Adam Habib (Human Sciences Research Council): The Transition from Apartheid to Democracy

10.15-11.00
Albie Sachs (Constitutional Court of SA): How We Got from There to Here: On the Bill of Rights and Fulfillment of Socio-Economic Rights in Post-Apartheid South Africa

11.00-11.30
Coffee/tea

11.30-12.00
Siri Gloppen (University of Bergen and Christian Michelsen Institute): Socio-Economic Rights and Constitutionalism: Not by Litigation Alone?

12.00-12.30
Charlotte McClain (South African Human Rights Commission):
Socio-Economic Rights and the Role of the SAHRC

12.30-14.00
Lunch

14.00-15.00
Open floor discussion. Discussant: Sibonile Khoza (Community Law Centre, Univ. of the Western Cape)

15.00-15.30
Coffee/tea

15.30-16.00
Julian May (University of KwaZulu Natal): Poverty and Social Policy

16.00-16.30
Open floor discussion. Discussant: Einar Braathen (Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research)

Wednesday June 9, 2004

9.30-10.00
Richard Ballard (University of KwaZulu Natal): The Social Movements Project

10.00-10.30
Liv Tørres (Norwegian Research Council): Labour and the Politics of the Alliance

10.30-11.00
Treatment Action Campaign (not confirmed) HIV/AIDS: How the Treatment Plan was Won

11.00-11.30
Coffee/tea

11.30-12.30
Open floor discussion. Discussant: Peris Jones (Norwegian Centre for Human Rights)

12.30-14.00
Lunch

14.00-14.30
Thembele Kepe and Ben Cousins (PLAAS, Univ of the Western Cape): Land Reform and Rural Development

14.30-15.00
Open floor discussion. Discussant: Tor Arve Benjaminsen (Noragric)

15.00-15.30
Coffee/tea

15.30-16.00
Paul Graham (Institute for Democracy in South Africa). Socio-Economic
Rights: Cornerstone or Capstone of Democracy?

16.00-16.45
Open floor discussion

16.45-17.00
Kristian Stokke (Univ. of Oslo). Concluding Remarks

For further information contact:
Dr. Peris Jones, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (peris.jones at nchr.uio.no) or
Prof. Kristian Stokke, University of Oslo (kristian.stokke at sgeo.uio.no).