Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37939

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-15: Life on land

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    Problematising teenage pregnancy as a human rights issue in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Maluleke, Light; Chenwi, Lilian
    Teenage pregnancy has long been considered a public health and a socio-economic problem globally, and South Africa in particular. A review of literature indicates that teenage pregnancy poses serious breaches to human rights. Consequently, the research report has determined that rights such as right to health, education, equality and life are at the core of teenage pregnancy. The indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of these rights become apparent once established that teenage pregnancy affects multiple rights. Against this background, this study problematises teenage pregnancy as a human rights issue in South Africa. The study seeks to answer the following questions: What are the effects of teenage pregnancy on the human rights of pregnant girls and teenage mothers? What are the domestic and international human rights law obligations of South Africa in the context of teenage pregnant? What measures have the SA government put in place to comply with its obligations and reduce high rate of teenage pregnancy in the country? Drawing from literature, case law and general comments/ recommendations and concluding observations of United Nations (UN) treaty bodies, such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Human Rights Committee, and Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as the regional treaty bodies like the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the study found disparities and practical barriers which hampered teenagers from enjoying and accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services, including family planning; knowledge about and use of modern forms of contraception; termination of pregnancy services, antenatal and postnatal care. It also found high incidence of teenage pregnancy was the leading cause of high school dropout rates among girls in the country. Notwithstanding South Africa’s progressive legislation and policy measures, effective implementation of both national and international human rights law standards on teenage pregnancy in South Africa remains a challenge. The South African government should strive towards eliminating all practical and social barriers which prevent girls and teenage mothers’ from access to sexual and reproductive health services. To tackle the disparities and shortages of health care workers, government must hire and train more qualified people, and adopt proper budgetary measures to ensure availability, accessibility and acceptability of resources and services, to strengthen the capacity of the public health care system
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    Rights of Rivers in South Africa: is transformative adjudication up to the task?
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ansermino, Amanda; Tracy-Lynn Field
    Freshwater is a valuable and scarce natural resource, whose ongoing degradation threatens not only rivers, wetlands and aquifers themselves, but also their surrounding ecosystems, Earth’s essential biodiversity, and the ability of humans and nature to co-exist and thrive. Society’s prevailing value system measures water’s worth to the extent that it benefits people. But this anthropocentric approach is failing to engender behaviour that is necessary to stem catastrophic biodiversity loss and the concomitant threat to human wellbeing. Rights of Nature is emerging as a paradigm rooted in an alternative ethic of respect and justice for all Earth’s subjects. Rights of Rivers is a branch of the Rights of Nature that has been a catalyst in confirming the intrinsic value of thriving riverine ecosystems. Recent river rights cases in developing countries have set the stage for changing legal norms: Courts in Columbia, India and Bangladesh have played a transformative role in pursuing social as well as environmental justice through acknowledging Rights of Rivers and espousing an eco-centric theory of value. In South Africa, the Constitution envisages radical change to a society based on equity and dignity, but but courts have been slow to acknowledge the intersection of environmental, socio-economic and political rights. This paper argues that adjudication must contribute to the transformative constitutional project by adopting a progressive stance: both jurisprudentially, in following a method of value-based, substantive, contextual reasoning; as well as politically, in recognising eco-centric principles of interspecies equity, justice and interdependence. The shortcomings of a narrow judicial perspective are discussed via the Mabola water-use license judgment. The paper offers an alternative judgment, grounded on an interdependent, egalitarian human-nature relationship
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    The legitimacy of land use planning laws governing the spatial location of urban functions: an assessment in terms of the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights (ICESCR).
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Banda, Felemont Kayulayula Zilale; Coggin, Thomas
    The study's primary objective was to evaluate the legitimacy of Malawi's land use planning laws and regulations using ICESCR and Thomistic natural law frameworks. In order to achieve the primary objective, the study sought to explain the scope and nature of states parties’ obligations in the implementation of economic, social, and cultural rights in the urban space; examine the legitimacy of land use planning laws governing the spatial location of urban functions; and analyse indicators of dissonance between discursive practices and written law in the urban space. In pursuit of these objectives, the study used a doctrinal research approach. The study thus analysed legislation, rules, regulations, orders, By-laws, authoritative court decisions, and planning-related literature. The study shows that states parties to the ICESCR do not attach spatial context to the Covenant obligations. As a result, they fail to ensure that the Covenant rights are enjoyed on an equal footing in the urban space among residents of different income statuses. The study has also found that, in order for land use planning laws to be legitimate, the state shoulder the obligation to ensure that the enacted planning laws are for the common good, do not impose unfair burdens on citizens, and are enacted with authority in line with consent and social contract doctrines. Land use planning laws in Malawi do not reflect the economic realities of urban citizens. These planning laws are neo-colonialistic as they principally reflect the European colonial planning paradigm, whose objective was the appropriation of resources to benefit the White settler community in colonial territories. Such a legislative background has resulted in the dissonance between the written law and discursive practices, which has caused a crisis of the legitimacy of land use planning laws as evidenced by massive noncompliance and the state’s inability to enforce the laws in urban spaces. My central thesis demonstrates that the chaotic nature of urban development in Malawi emanates from the state’s failure to enact legitimate fair laws from the perspective of low-income urban residents who are in the majority. The thesis is significant because it has revealed that states must review their laws in good faith and that a Thomistic reading of the laws would assist in aligning them with state-party obligations under the Covenant. Moreover, the thesis highlights the importance of land use planning laws reflecting urban citizens’ socioeconomic needs, which is the principal condition precedent for the legitimacy of laws in the urban space
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    Balancing the Necessity of Mining Activities and Community Participation in the Pursuit of Environmental Protection
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021-01-31) Laka, Tshepiso Josephina
    Mining activities result in a myriad of e nvironmental and health impacts. These issues remain to be primarily ignored by mining companies and government departments. The need for public participation in relation to environmental awareness and protection must be taken into account within mining affected communities, u nfortunately, most mining communities are often not aware that they are entitled to an environmental right under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution). Communities suffer from environmental degradation that is inextricably linked to their quality of life and their well- being. Most mining companies fail to protect mining communities from harmful environmental impacts resulting from mining activities. South Africa depends heavily on mining sectors for its socio-economic advancement to such an extent that many millions of people rely on the revenue generated from mine. It is crucial that while mining sectors are pursuing economic developments, the environment, human health and social issues must be afforded the required protection. As such, this thesis explores the environmental harms associated with mining and the importance of meaningful participation. Notably, these environmental injustices can be mitigated by implementing the already established environmental legal framework. This thesis will further critically discuss how mining companies fail to encourage and promote environmental health and wellbeing by not only enhancing public participation within mining affected communities but to also provide communities with concrete measures to promote the ecologically-centred sustainable development