Amnesty International says that 30 years after the advent of democracy and the end of apartheid in South Africa, the right to life and dignity continues to be trampled on, and some lives are deemed more valuable than others.
This was revealed in the organisation’s annual report, which also warns that the fight for freedom, dignity, and human rights is far from over.
Spokesperson for Amnesty International South Africa, Genevieve Quintal says, “Nothing new we’re saying, I think it’s just really a stark reminder as we will be celebrating 30- years since the end of apartheid and freedom in this country. While a lot has improved over the last three- decades, there are still a lot of issues.
She adds, “Gender-based violence, the rampant rape that just remains really high rates of this, issues with education. We’ve been talking about pit latrines, yet we saw just on Friday, a three- year old child drowning in a pit latrine in Eastern Cape- literacy levels, the state of our healthcare and accessibility to healthcare in this country, water, we talk about crime levels.”
