What personal freedoms do citizens in South Africa have?

Answer 1

The Constitution of South Africa South Africa's Constitution was the result of remarkably detailed and inclusive negotiations - difficult but determined - that were carried out with an acute awareness of the injustices of the country's non-democratic past.

It is widely regarded as the most progressive constitution in the world, with a Bill of Rights second to none.

Human rights and freedoms

Human rights are given clear prominence in the Constitution. They feature in the Preamble with its stated intention of establishing "a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights".

In the first chapter, human rights appear in the first of the Founding Provisions of the Republic of South Africa: "Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms." Spelt out in detail, they occupy 35 sections of chapter 2.

Among the rights stipulated are those of equality, freedom of expression and association, political and property rights, housing, healthcare, education, access to information, and access to courts.

And all are taken extremely seriously by the citizens of the country.

There must be few places in the world where constitutional rights feature as much in public and private discourse, and there has been no hesitation in testing the provisions and implications of the Bill of Rights in the Constitutional Court.

Some of the more unusually progressive rights have come under particular spotlight, such as the unqualified "Everyone has the right to life", and the inclusion of sexual orientation as one of the grounds upon which discrimination is forbidden.

Any limitation of rights must be "reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society" and must take several factors into consideration. And although chapter 2 also acknowledges the possible need to derogate certain rights under states of emergency, it lists a number of non-derogable rights.

The remaining three Founding Provisions of the Constitution reaffirm South Africa's determination to build on a bedrock of equality, law and democracy. They are:

• Non-racialism and non-sexism.
• Supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.
• The provision that lays down the country's democratic philosophy by stipulating "universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness".

more info - http://www.southafrica.info/about/democracy/constitution.htm

Answer 2

platapus eggs!

Answer 3

VOTING, fools! It's a parliamentary democracy, remember?!

Answer 4

yes, like the U.S the South African constitute has a section that gives its citizens the right to freedom of speech