The enforcement of socio-economic rights in the African human rights system : drawing inspiration from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and South Africa's evolving jurisprudence

Abstract

The need to protect human dignity, freedom, and equality paved the way for the development of the concept of human rights, from an idealistic assertion of vague principles to the adoption of the comprehensive international normative system now in existence This includes economic, social, and cultural rights with traces in Germany during Bismarck's reign in the 19th Century2 and the Russian Revolution in the 20th Century.3 With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)4 they became universally accepted. ln 1966 two covenants were adopted: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),s and the lnternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),6 the former being dedicated to civil and political rights, and the latter to economic, social and cultural rights.