Welcome relief

THE SA Human Rights Commission welcomes the president of South Africa’s recent statement that a package of measures to ease the burden of increases in VAT and fuel prices, is currently being finalised by the ministers in the economic cluster and will be announced later in July.

The commission raised its concern regarding the impact of increases in VAT and fuel prices on the rights of the poor in a media statement released on February 22.

At the time, the commission questioned whether these measures would have been necessary had the economy been better-managed.

The commission recently released the Equality Report 2017/18, which emphasised its concerns regarding the increase in VAT and the impact this would have on the constitutional rights of the poor, especially considering the existence of a social protection gap in South Africa.

The commission hopes that the package of measures to be announced will consider both the expansion of the basket of exempted goods, as well as the constitutional right of access to social assistance for those who cannot support themselves or their dependants and who may not have access to employment-linked social security systems due to endemic unemployment in South Africa.

The commission further commends government for adopting the policy to continuously take measures aimed at the efficient management of the economy and the elimination of corruption and other forms of irregular expenditure.

Sustainable development and a vibrant economy that is free from corruption are critical for the effective implementation of the state’s obligation under section 7(2) of the constitution to promote, protect and fulfil the human rights in the Bill of Rights.