Kids at a community meeting in Elsies River, Cape Town. South Africa’s Bill of Rights includes a section dedicated to the specific rights of children. (Image: GCIS)

South Africa’s Bill of Rights, chapter 2 of the constitution, is one of the most progressive in the world. It protects the human rights of everyone in the country – citizen, visitor, refugee or migrant.

Its preamble reads:

This Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.

The bill was adopted in 1996, just two years after the first democratic elections that finally ended formal apartheid. All laws and organs of state must respect the Bill of Rights. The state must protect and promote the rights it sets out, and make sure they are fulfilled.

But do you really know your rights? Our no-nonsense guide will help you understand your rights, and the rights of everyone else.

You can also read the full text of the Bill of Rights in 11 of South Africa’s official languages.

Jump to your rights:

Equality

Everyone is equal.

You have the right to the same protection by the law as everyone else.

Nobody is allowed to unfairly discriminate against you because of your race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language or birth.

Human dignity

You have inherent dignity.

You have the right to have your dignity respected and protected.

Life

You have the right to life.

Freedom and security of the person

You have the right to freedom.

You have the right not to be deprived of your freedom for no reason, or for an unjust reason.

You have the right not to be put into jail without a trial.

You have the right not to be a victim of violence, whether it’s violence done by other people, or by the state.

You have the right not to be tortured.

You have the right not to treated in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.

You have the right to control your own body.

You have the right to make your own decisions about pregnancy, childbirth and whether or not you want to have children.

Slavery, servitude and forced labour

Nobody is allowed to enslave you, make you work for no pay, or force you to work.

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Privacy

You have the right to your privacy.

Nobody is allowed to search you or your home, take your belongings, or monitor your private conversations, texts, phone calls or emails.

Freedom of religion, belief and opinion

You have the right to practise any religion you want. Nobody may force you to follow a religion.

You have the right to your own opinions and beliefs.

Freedom of expression

You have the right to express yourself freely, to say what you want to say.

You have the right to get information from a free and open media.

You have the right to be told new information and ideas, and to tell other people new information and ideas.

You have the right to create any art you want.

You have the right to learn and research whatever you want.

But you can’t abuse your freedom of expression to encourage war or other violence, or promote hatred for other people because of their race, ethnicity, gender or religion.

Assembly, demonstration, picket and petition

You have the right to come together with other people to demonstrate, picket or present petitions – as long as you do it peacefully, and don’t carry weapons.

Freedom of association

You have the right to spend time with anyone you choose.

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Political rights

You have the right to make your own political choices.

You have the right to take part in the activities of any political party, and recruit members for that party.

You have the right to campaign for any political party.

If you are a citizen, you have the right to free, fair and regular elections.

If you are an adult citizen, you have the right to vote in elections for the political party of your choice – and to keep your vote secret. You also have the right to stand for public office and, if elected, to hold that office.

Citizenship

If you are a citizen of South Africa, no-one can take that citizenship away from you.

Freedom of movement and residence

You have the right to freedom of movement – to travel anywhere in South Africa.

You have the right to leave South Africa.

You have the right to live anywhere in South Africa.

If you are a citizen, you have the right to a passport.

Freedom of trade, occupation and profession

You have the right to choose your own trade, job or profession.

Labour relations

You have the right to fair labour practices at work.

Workers have the right to form and join a trade union.

Employers have the right to form and join an employers’ organisation.

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Environment

You have the right to live in an environment that does not harm your health or wellbeing.

You have the right to have the environment protected now, and for future generations.

Property

No-one may take your property away from you.

The state may only take your property for specific reasons – for a public purpose or in the public interest. If it does have to take your property, it has to pay you the right price for it.

Housing

You have the right to proper housing.

The state must work to make sure you have housing.

You have the right not to be evicted from your home, or have your home torn down, without a court ordering it.

Healthcare, food, water and social security

You have the right to basic healthcare. This includes the right to reproductive health care – for contraception, pregnancy and childbirth.

You have the right to the food and water you need.

You have the right to emergency medical treatment. If your life is in danger, no hospital or healthcare worker may refuse to treat you.

If you can’t afford to support yourself or your family, the state must help you.

Children

Every child – anyone under 18– has the right to a name and nationality from birth.

Children have the right to be cared for by their parents or family, or to get proper foster care if needed.

They have the right to basic food, shelter, healthcare and social support.

Children must be protected from abuse and neglect.

They also have the right to be protected from work that is harmful or takes advantage of them.

Find out more about children’s rights.

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Education

You have the right to basic education, whether you are a child or an adult.

You have the right to further education.

In public schools, universities and colleges, you have the right to be educated in the official South African language of your choice – where this is possible.

Language and culture

You have the right to use whatever language you want, and take part in any cultural life – as long as this doesn’t infringe on the rights of others.

Cultural, religious and linguistic communities

You have the right to enjoy your culture, practise your religion and use your language.

You may also form, join and maintain cultural, religious and language organisations.

But you can’t exercise these rights in a way that infringes on the rights of others.

Access to information

You have the right to access any information held by the state.

You have the right to get any information held by someone else if you need it to protect or exercise your rights.

Just administrative action

You have the right to fair, legal and reasonable decisions by government or public officials.

If a decision harms your rights, you must be given written reasons.

The law must allow you to challenge unfair decisions in court or through an independent body. It must also make sure the government respects your rights and that public services run efficiently.

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Access to courts

You have the right to have any legal dispute settled in a fair public hearing by a court or by another independent and unbiased body.

Arrested, detained and accused people

If the police arrest you, you have the right to remain silent. They must tell you this right as soon as possible, and explain what could happen if you do speak.

You have the right to speak to a lawyer.

No-one can force you to say anything that could be used against you in court.

You must be brought to court as soon as possible – within 48 hours, or by the end of the first court day after 48 hours.

At your first court appearance, the court must either charge you with a crime or explain why you are being kept in jail. Otherwise, you must be released.

Limitation of rights

Some of your rights are limited if exercising those rights would infringe on the rights of others. Rights may also be limited under strict conditions such as a state of emergency.

These limitations may only be set out in laws that apply to everyone, and only if the limitation is reasonable and can be justified in a democratic society. The importance of the right must be examined, as must the purpose of the limitation and whether there are less restrictive ways to achieve the purpose.

Rights can never be limited without good reason. And some core rights – non-derogable rights – may never be limited, even under a state of emergency.

The non-derogable rights are:

• Equality
• Human dignity
• Life
• Freedom from torture and cruel treatment
• Freedom from slavery and forced labour
• Children’s rights
• The rights of arrested, detained and accused people

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The text in all languages

Read the full text of the Bill of Rights (PDF) in 11 of South Africa’s official languages:

Afrikaans | English | isiNdebele | isiXhosa | isiZulu | Sepedi | Sesotho | Setswana | siSwati | Tshivenda | Xitsonga

Constitutional and statutory bodies

Constitutional Court of South Africa – The highest court in South Africa on constitutional matters. It interprets, protects and enforces the constitution.

South African Human Rights Commission – Independent state institution established by the constitution to promote, monitor and assess observance of human rights.

Public interest law centres and legal advocacy organisations

Legal Resources Centre – Nonprofit public interest law centre that provides legal services to poor and marginalised communities.

Section27 – Public interest legal organisation focusing on access to healthcare services and basic education.

Lawyers for Human Rights – Nongovernmental organisation offering legal services and advocacy, including refugee and migrant rights programmes.

Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University – Human rights law clinic engaged in legal research, strategic litigation and advocacy.

Academic and research-based human rights centres

Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria – Academic department and advocacy centre working to promote human rights through education, research and litigation.

African Centre for Migration & Society at Wits University – Research institute focused on human mobility, migration and related policy issues in the Southern African region.

Social justice and community advocacy organisations

Black Sash – Nongovernmental organisation promoting social justice and access to social protection in South Africa.

Equal Education – Movement advocating for equality and quality in public education, involving learners, parents and community members.

Sonke Gender Justice – Civil society organisation that supports gender equality and works to prevent gender-based violence.

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation – Nonprofit organisation promoting nonracialism, constitutional democracy and active citizenship.

Migrant, refugee and anti-xenophobia organisations

Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town – Nonprofit organisation providing support and advocacy for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) – Civil society network that promotes the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in South Africa.

International human rights bodies in South Africa

Unicef South Africa – South African office of the United Nations Children’s Fund, focusing on child rights, education, health and protection.

UNHCR regional office for Southern Africa – The United Nations Refugee Agency’s regional office supports and protects refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa and neighbouring countries.

Amnesty International South Africa – Branch of the global human rights organisation, focusing on advocacy, campaigns and research on human rights in South Africa.

Human Rights Watch (Africa division) – Monitors and reports on human rights developments in South Africa and across the region, with periodic investigations and advocacy.

News and information

GroundUp – Independent news service reporting on community-level issues, socioeconomic rights, service delivery, housing, education, migration and legal developments.

Spotlight – Public interest health journalism platform monitoring South Africa’s response to TB, HIV, health systems performance and health rights.

Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism – Nonprofit health media organisation producing evidence-based reporting on public health policy and social justice impacts.

Africa Check – Nonprofit fact-checking organisation verifying public claims and data across Africa to support informed public debate and counter misinformation affecting policy and rights.

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Image credits

All images are in the public domain, licensed as Creative Commons (CC). Credit for specific images as follows:

• Political rights, citizenship, children, communities, just administration, arrested & accused people courtesy of GCIS. Licensed CC BY-ND 4.0.
• Slavery, servitude & forced labour courtesy of Image Journeys. Licensed CC BY-ND 2.0.
• Limitation of rights courtesy of JackAZ Photo. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
• Human rights bodies courtesy of Brian Smithson. Licensed CC BY 2.0.
• All other images courtesy of MediaClub. Licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated August 2025.
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: This is a guide. It is not legal advice.

The post The plain language guide to South Africa’s Bill of Rights appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

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In between, life expectancy has risen and fallen. The most severe drop was during the crisis of the HIV and Aids epidemic, from 1995 to 2005. In 2005, life expectancy was the same as it had been in 1960.

After antiretroviral medication to treat HIV became available in all state hospitals and clinics in 2005, life expectancy rose again until, in 2015, is was where it had been in 1994.

Read more: HIV and Aids in South Africa

Other periods of our history can also be recognised.

The economic growth of the 1960s and early 1970s, spurred by South Africa’s mineral wealth, created many more jobs – and people could expect to live longer. But from the 1970s life expectancy began to level out. The country’s economy was hit hard by the 1974 oil crisis, and continued to stagnate through the 1980s. South Africa was increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, and the cracks of an inherently inefficient economy designed to exclude the majority began to show.

The 1980s were also a time of violence, when the country came dangerously close to civil war.

Life expectancy rose again in the late 1980s, when apartheid was slowly reformed, and early 1990s, after apartheid was finally abandoned.

Read more: South Africa’s population

What is life expectancy?

Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Life expectancy in 1960

Total life expectancy: 52 years
Male life expectancy: 50 years
Female life expectancy: 54 years

Life expectancy in 1965

Total life expectancy: 54 years
Male life expectancy: 52 years
Female life expectancy: 56 years

Life expectancy in 1970

Total life expectancy: 56 years
Male life expectancy: 53 years
Female life expectancy: 59 years

Life expectancy in 1975

Total life expectancy: 57 years
Male life expectancy: 54 years
Female life expectancy: 61 years

Life expectancy in 1980

Total life expectancy: 58 years
Male life expectancy: 54 years
Female life expectancy: 61 years

Life expectancy in 1985

Total life expectancy: 60 years
Male life expectancy: 56 years
Female life expectancy: 63 years

Life expectancy in 1990

Total life expectancy: 62 years
Male life expectancy: 58 years
Female life expectancy: 66 years

Life expectancy in 1995

Total life expectancy: 61 years
Male life expectancy: 58 years
Female life expectancy: 65 years

Life expectancy in 2000

Total life expectancy: 56 years
Male life expectancy: 53 years
Female life expectancy: 60 years

Life expectancy in 2005

Total life expectancy: 53 years
Male life expectancy: 50 years
Female life expectancy: 55 years

Life expectancy in 2010

Total life expectancy: 56 years
Male life expectancy: 53 years
Female life expectancy: 59 years

Life expectancy in 2015

Total life expectancy: 62 years
Male life expectancy: 58 years
Female life expectancy: 66 years

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated  16 August 2021.

The post Infographic: Life expectancy in South Africa from 1960 to 2015 appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

Click animation to view from the start.

READ MORE: South Africa’s population

Most black South Africans die young. Most white South Africans live long lives.

In between, coloured South Africans statistically live a bit longer than black people. Indian South Africans tend to have shorter lives than white people.

Inequality and social injustice don’t only limit how people live. They also limit how long people live.

South Africa isn’t unusual in the way wealth and privilege run with race. What is unusual is that, thanks to the old apartheid state’s attention to bureaucratic detail, we still have a system of recording life and death statistics by race.

Race isn’t a real thing. But the concept has a history in South Africa, and still affects people’s lives. We still need statistics on it.

Statistics South Africa uses “population group” as a better term for “race”. France stopped recording population statistics by race in 1978. According to the Guardian, this now has “the side-effect of making systemic racism in the labour market much harder to quantify”.

South African notions of race, made law as late as 1950, are maybe more absurd than most. Our “races” are weird.

We have black people. We have white people. We have “coloured” people. But – wait. Black people, and coloured people? We also have a population group known as “Indian or Asian”.

Black, coloured, white, Indian-or-Asian. The labels come from history. In biology they are meaningless. In culture they describe nothing.

But they still determine who will live a longer life, and who won’t.

READ MORE: Infographic: The people of South Africa by age, sex and race 

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated 17 June 2019.

The post Animation: How long do South Africans live? appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

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READ MORE: HIV and Aids in South Africa

The presidents

• FW de Klerk was apartheid South Africa’s last State President. He held office from 15 August 1989 to 10 May 1994.
• Nelson Mandela was democratic South Africa’s first President. He held office from 10 May 1994 to 14 June 1999.
• Thabo Mbeki was democratic South Africa’s second President. He held office from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008.
• Kgalema Motlanthe was democratic South Africa’s third President. He held office from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009.
• Jacob Zuma was democratic South Africa’s fourth President. He held office from 9 May 2009 to 14 February 2018.
• Cyril Ramaphosa is democratic South Africa’s fifth President. He took office on 15 February 2018.

Written, researched and designed by Mary Alexander
Updated 14 October 2019

The graphic on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

The post Infographic: HIV and Aids in South Africa 1990 to 2016 appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

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Read more: Animation: How long do South Africans live?

South Africa’s population structure reveals facts of history and continued inequality. Black South Africans are in the majority in every age group. But this majority decreases as the age of the population rises. Coloured, Indian and – especially – white South Africans tend to live longer.

The dent in South Africa’s population pyramid at ages 10 to 24 may be a legacy of South Africa’s Aids epidemic of the 1990s and 2000s.

Read more: South Africa’s population

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated 10 March 2018.
Comments? Send them to southafrica.gateway@gmail.com

More infographics

The post The people of South Africa by age, sex and race appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

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READ MORE: South Africa’s population

In the 1970s most South Africans were kept in poverty and denied quality education, healthcare and access to meaningful jobs. Social welfare was virtually nonexistent. The economy was in recession. The policy of apartheid had brutal consequences for children.

As the system was slowly reformed through the 1980s, and then abandoned in the 1990s, child mortality dropped. It reached a rate of 42.9 for infants and 55.1 for under-fives in 1992. Then it rose again as South Africa’s Aids epidemic took hold. By 2004 infant mortality was 49.3, and under-five mortality 74.4 – the same rate it had been in 1987.

The world’s largest antiretroviral HIV treatment programme, launched in 2005, quickly had an impact. Child mortality began to fall again.

Today South Africa’s healthcare system is by no means perfect, but it is available to all. The social welfare net is wide and includes grants for children and for foster care. The economy has grown at an uneven but still significant rate since the end of apartheid.

In 2016 child mortality in South Africa was 34.2 for infants and 43.3 for under-fives, the lowest rate recorded.

READ MORE: HIV and Aids in South Africa

Child mortality in 1974

Infant mortality rate: 88.1 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 125.5 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 1980

Infant mortality rate: 65.9 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 90.4 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 1985

Infant mortality rate: 53.1 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 70.4 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 1990

Infant mortality rate: 44.6 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 57.4 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 1995

Infant mortality rate: 43.6 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 57.2 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 2000

Infant mortality rate: 46.3 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 66.7 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 2005

Infant mortality rate: 48.9 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 74.3 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 2010

Infant mortality rate: 37.3 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 53.7 deaths per 1,000 live births

Child mortality in 2016

Infant mortality rate: 34.2 deaths per 1,000 live births
Under-5 mortality rate: 43.3 deaths per 1,000 live births

Data source: ChildMortality.org

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated 28 February 2018.

The post Infographic: Child mortality in South Africa from 1974 to 2016 appeared first on South Africa Gateway.