A concise assessment of the (mal)performance of the section 185 Commission in relation to the rights of communities
'n Beoordeling van die (wan)prestasie van die artikel 185-Kommissie met betrekking tot die regte van gemeenskappe

Ernst Roets, Koos Malan
2019 Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe  
A concise assessment of the (mal)performance of the section 185 Commission in relation to the rights of communities Ernst roEts Doktorale student Departement Publiekreg Universiteit van Pretoria volgende publikasie, 'n vakkundige monograaf, There is no supreme constitution -a critique of statist individualist constitutionalism verskyn binnekort. Hy publiseer ook van tyd tot tyd oor grondwetlik verwante kwessies in die populêre media. graph, There is no supreme constitution -a criti que of
more » ... t individualist constitutionalism, is due for publication shortly. From time to time he also addresses constitutionally related matters in the popular media. ABSTRACT A concise assessment of the (mal)performance of the section 185 Commission in relation to the rights of communities gives further effect to the relevant constitutional provisions namely, most notably in section 4 and section 5(g) and (i) of the Act. However, the prevalent consensus is that the Commission has been unsuccessful in discharging its responsibilities in relation to community rights. The primary reason is that the Commission has failed to grasp the notion of the rights of communities, thus causing it to be incapable of giving effect to them. This failure is particularly serious especially in view of convincing theoretical arguments in favour of collective rights. It has for example been shown that the existence and recognition of communities are not only essential for cultural, language and religious rights but also for seemingly unequivocal individual rights such as the right to freedom of association and expression. These rights can be exercised only within a communal setting. This point has been demonstrated convincingly by scholars such as Denise Réaume, Rodolfo Stavenhagen and Helen O'Nions and many others. Moreover, there are important developments in international law supporting the recognition of the rights of communities. Three points are significant in this regard.
doi:10.17159/2224-7912/2019/v59n3a7 fatcat:dks76xnpxzc4zca3p7rzvarhvq