UN special rapporteur visits SA
29 July 2005
A United Nations Special Rapporteur is in the country for an in loco assessment of the condition of the Khoi-San communities in South Africa.
This is part of preparing a report on the UN Second Decade on Indigenous Issues, which was proclaimed by the 59th session of UN under resolution 174.
While in South Africa, Rodolfo Stavenhagen is expected to engage with various Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers, premiers, leaders and members of various Khoi-San communities, as well as academic institutions.
He will be in the country until 8 August.
The government says the critical tasks of the UN Second Decade on Indigenous Issues include the development of action-oriented programmes aimed at overcoming the challenges faced by indigenous people in areas such as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and economic and social development.
Accordingly the special rapporteur will focus on the impact of development
projects on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous communities.
He will also evaluate the implementation of law at national level related to the rights of indigenous people, including human, cultural, economic, civil and political rights.
Another focus will be old and new forms of discrimination against indigenous people, within a gender perspective, in the light of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, as well as measures and remedies undertaken to combat discrimination and implement the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples.
The government says one of the issues noted in its Ten Year Review is that the last 10 years have been characterised by a deliberate and systemic programme to "dismantle apartheid social relations and create a democratic society based on the principles of equity, non-racialism and non-sexism."
"It is
this approach that also has informed government's work in relation to the task of reversing the legacy of the brutal and systemic marginalisation of Khoi-San communities," it says.
In this regard, a number of steps have been taken, including extensive research on the social condition of the Khoi-San communities.
Following this research, and based on consultations with the Khoi-San, the Cabinet has directed several departments, including the Departments of Provincial and Local Government, Justice and Constitutional Development, Arts and Culture, Land Affairs, as well as Social Development, to attend to Khoi-San related issues.
"These issues include the traditional leadership role of the Khoi-San leaders; the ratification of relevant international instruments in relation to existing constitutional frameworks; the heritage and language of the Khoi-San communities; the historical land claims and restitution within the context of existing land policy; and the apparent
disintegration of the Khoi-San people due to a host of social difficulties."
The Department of Provincial and Local Government is leading the coordination efforts in this regard, and will in due course, and in conjunction with the Policy Coordination and Advisory Services unit in the Presidency, prepare a report to Cabinet.
Source: BuaNews
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