The Bill of Responsibilities

As South Africans, we take our rights seriously. The fight to ensure that these rights are shared by every single citizen is not over, and many of us live with survivors, or still mourn those who fell. It was through this fight that we carved out one of the freest, fairest, and most progressive Constitutions in the world. It contains our comprehensive Bill of Rights which every one of us can always be proud of, rather than the usual woes of crime, corruption, energy crises and infrastructure collapse.

But how do these two things fit together? How do we have this fantastic constitution and yet the daily lives of the majority of our people are still more strain than gain? Simply put, the Rights are only half of it. We know that if someone infringes our rights, we have the protection of the law, and that person will be punished for their actions. However, this is after someone has already interfered with your rights and putting that situation to rights can take ages due to the Constitutional responsibilities of our legal system. The key word there is “Responsibilities”.

We are well acquainted with our rights, but not so much with our responsibilities to those rights. You might think that this is unnecessary, but if it takes a village to raise a family, it takes a nation to realise our Constitution. Our phenomenal Bill of Rights will only ever be words on paper unless every single South African takes responsibility to not only uphold their own rights, but to uphold the rights of others. These responsibilities apply to every citizen, regardless of position, salary, or opinion.

This is not news. In 2008, the Department of Basic Education, Lead SA and the South African Interfaith Council launched a Bill of Responsibilities to be taught in schools. On 23 March 2011, the Minister of Basic Education launched the Bill of Responsibilities Campaign to try and instil the value of these responsibilities in everyone, not just school children.

Some of us may remember the BrandSA Campaign on How to be a Good South African and the loads of other initiatives that have been run throughout the years to achieve that sense of responsibility. Is it working?

While it can be tempting to throw one’s hands up in despair and blame those at the top for the scale of the work that is required; the potholes, the loadshedding, the water, etc., that doesn’t achieve anything. It is a battle that will be won by millimetres, not kilometres. It is all 70 odd million of us, choosing to take daily responsibility for upholding the rights of the group, not just the individual. For example:

We are responsible for equality.

The right to equality places on each individual the “responsibility to treat every person equally and fairly, and not discriminate unfairly against anyone on the basis of race, gender, religion, national, ethnic or social origin, disability, culture, language, status or appearance.”

And for human dignity.

The right to human dignity places on us the responsibility to treat people with reverence, respect, and dignity. Be kind, compassionate and sensitive to every human being, including greeting them warmly and speaking to them courteously.

And for protecting the right to life.

The right to life comes with the responsibility to protect and defend the lives of others, to not endanger those lives by carrying dangerous weapons or by acting recklessly or disobeying our rules and laws.

You can read the rest of the Bill of Responsibilities for all twelve, but the focus remains the same: You only have rights, as long as we all take responsibility for upholding and protecting those rights for others. Our rights and responsibilities are complex and deeply intertwined, but that is the strength of our Constitution, and the pride of our Nation.

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