Minority Protection in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Human Rights, Minority Rights, and Self-Determination

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Introduces a theoretical framework on appropriate accommodation of population diversity in plural states. Accommodation of population diversity is a vital issue for any multinational society. The legacy of Apartheid in South Africa complicates this effort considerably. Henrard introduces a theoretical framework regarding how to accommodate minority protection in the most appropriate way and analyzes the respective contributions of individual rights, minority rights, and the right to self-determination. Subsequent chapters examine the case study of post-apartheid South Africa and attempt to investigate its constitutional development. Henrard finds that provisions within the 1996 Constitution do acknowledge an interrelation between these three important factors; however, implementation of minority protection policy is often quite a different matter. In seeking appropriate means of minority protection, this study stresses inclusionism, integration, and the essential right to identity and real equality. While Henrard reviews and discusses the entire democratic transformation process in South Africa, she cautions that, because current developments are characterized by their unsettled nature, major transformation and flux, analysis of the implementation phase can be only indicative. The apartheld history does not in itself inhibit progressive stances on this important issue. Still, despite the promising nature of the 1996 Constitution, the picture that emerges in terms of policy development aimed at minority protection is ambivalent.

Reviews

[A] fascinating snapshot of a major constitutional transformation of a country with a highly diverse population, and one dealing with the legacy of apartheid. The description and analysis of the constitutional negotiations and of the case law of South Africa's constitutional court against the background of the theoretical framework of minority protection ... sheds an enriching light on the minority rights literature, as all aspects which from near or from far could relate to this topic are present in the South African case ... [V]aluable reading for those students, scholars and practitioners interested in and dealing with minority protection.-Maastricht Journal
[T]his is an informative and balanced overview of the sesitive issue of minority rights in postapartheid South Africa, and it deserves to be commended for its clarity of style and argument.-African Studies Review
This massively documented legal tome provides a snapshot of South Africa's rapidly evolving human rights scene from the perspectives of minority rights and self-determination....Recommended. Researchers, faculty, and professionals.-Choice
"A fascinating snapshot of a major constitutional transformation of a country with a highly diverse population, and one dealing with the legacy of apartheid. The description and analysis of the constitutional negotiations and of the case law of South Africa's constitutional court against the background of the theoretical framework of minority protection ... sheds an enriching light on the minority rights literature, as all aspects which from near or from far could relate to this topic are present in the South African case ... Valuable reading for those students, scholars and practitioners interested in and dealing with minority protection."-Maastricht Journal
"This is an informative and balanced overview of the sesitive issue of minority rights in postapartheid South Africa, and it deserves to be commended for its clarity of style and argument."-African Studies Review
"[T]his is an informative and balanced overview of the sesitive issue of minority rights in postapartheid South Africa, and it deserves to be commended for its clarity of style and argument."-African Studies Review
"This massively documented legal tome provides a snapshot of South Africa's rapidly evolving human rights scene from the perspectives of minority rights and self-determination....Recommended. Researchers, faculty, and professionals."-Choice
"[A] fascinating snapshot of a major constitutional transformation of a country with a highly diverse population, and one dealing with the legacy of apartheid. The description and analysis of the constitutional negotiations and of the case law of South Africa's constitutional court against the background of the theoretical framework of minority protection ... sheds an enriching light on the minority rights literature, as all aspects which from near or from far could relate to this topic are present in the South African case ... [V]aluable reading for those students, scholars and practitioners interested in and dealing with minority protection."-Maastricht Journal

Author Bio

Kristin Henrard is a lecturer in the Department of International and Constitutional Law at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her main publications pertain to human rights, minority rights, and constitutional law.