ACHPR
African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Ri~hts
Human Rights our
Collective Responsibility
Commission's
own guidelines acknowledges
that the rights of the
Complainants cannot trump the rights of the community at large, but must be
balanced in order to achieve a fair result.:
120. The Respondent State submitted that the Commission must apply this principle
to the facts of this case by recognising t~at the Respondent State must balance
between the rights of the Complainants with that of, first, the wider South
African community in avoiding wastefrll expenditure on land that cannot be
developed and, second, other people i I a similar situation with that of the
Complainants who also must follow the procedu:nr;~or>Cl,cquiringhousing,
and,
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third, protection of the proprietary rights of the 0wners"ofthe Property.
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(i) Right to housing
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121. The Respondent State submitted that
prnna.".".recourse of~th¢Cb~plainants
in terms of the right to housing is s,,~ft, 26 of it~)\f=onstltti:q.R,n.
Se'ctibr{26 of the
South African Constitution pro~i<;tesfo
ri
; f access 'tq,'~~~"qpatehousing.
The Respondent State not~d;'\tt~at al~
his right t§9'C)grused in its
Constitution has no dire~t eciuiv~i~l1.t.in the ';~ti~J,~an
Charterr'this Commission
has held that the right to-housing is pro ected ih~;, e African Charter through a
combination of provisfo~"protecting#ief:i!&,ht to " \;.,,,~Fty(Article 12), the right
to th~ highest att~~~~~~esta~~~r~;,~t·~m:nt~l~~Il~p~~:~icalhealth (Article 16), and
the right acco~,~:eBto't~e fa~l,x«~rtIc~t 18);~~.;~s such, th~ Respondent State
:;;~~:d to ad~SS the right to
terms of the combmed effect of these
hq~Sl~;;!
122. The RespondeI).,J,State submitted ;,tha,tt>iheright of access to housmg under
sec~i<?n26 .of the:;;$,;~,~S~
Afric~ C~#stitu~ion has been dealt with extensivel~ by
S?u~~\Afr).~~n c~urt~~:~~t~t}!;c~~!~~te.T~e Responden: State alluded to ~an~us
pIece~;pf1~gIs.l~tIon tnat~na,Me~eeenenacted under section 26 of the Constitution
to give,:~£fect"9,9~P4P.the right to access to housing and the prohibition against
arbitrary"evic'iions.',,,1)iest::dnclude the Ex~ension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of
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1997, the Prevention ,of'Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land
Act 19 of 1998, the Housing Act 108 of 1997, the Development Facilitation Act 67
of 1995, the ~at~cmal Environment Act ]07 of 1998, and the Municipal Finance
Management-Act 56 of 2003.
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123. The Respondent State submitted that tie competing interests between South
African law and the Complaint currerttly before the CommissiC-)TFN-"require
a
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balance between the South African I government's
oI;)'$"a!WniAltuil(1el1o~the
Constitution to provide housing and the basic principle/ptt
e....
c;ove.rnm'€J1t
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25 First Submission
ff;
t~ jH
on Merits on behalf of the Republic 10fSouth Africa, pa~ ~.1(b itin~SEMC affrl C;
Another v Nigeria (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 2001».
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