OUR nation unites today, 21 March, as we celebrate Human Rights Day.
This public holiday serves as an annual reminder of the basic human rights our new Constitution affords us.
“It is a great day for active reflection on the everyday rights we tend to overlook,” said Adrian Goslett, regional director and CEO of REMAX of Southern Africa.
Since the 1996 Constitution was enacted, every South African citizen – no matter where they sit on the colour spectrum of our rainbow nation – has been afforded with an equal set of property rights and freedoms.
“Today, South Africans can proudly boast about a Constitution that is centred around inclusive property legislation that allows all of its citizens the freedom to live and purchase property wherever they choose,” said Goslett.
As great as this sounds, very few of us have taken the time to sift through the rights that our constitution affords us. Understandably, the legal jargon can be a touch tricky to wrap your head around, and does little to hold attention.
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Not to worry. Here to help you in your civic duty to reflect upon your rights this Human Rights Day, Goslett has compiled a highlights reel of some of our most basic property rights:
Equal opportunities
According to section 25 (1) of the 1996 Constitution: “No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property.” In summary, this means that every citizen – regardless of their age, gender, or race – is afforded equal opportunity to rent and buy property. Legally, the only thing that stands in your way is the regular rules of application (that is, whether you have provided the correct documents and have qualified financially, etc.).
Fair market
In addition this, point (5) under section 25 asserts: “The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.” In short, the political environment is constitutionally bound to nurture a fair and inclusive real estate market. In terms of the legal implications, this means that no land owner is allowed to deny a person their right to purchase that land if they have the funds to do so.
Fiscal freedom
Financial exclusion is also guarded against within the constitution. Point (2) under section 26 posits that the state must do all it reasonably can within its available resources to ensure that all citizens enjoy the right to basic housing.
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For this reason, various initiatives have been developed to assist South African citizens who cannot afford to own or rent property, such as the historically significant Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing project, as well as the more recently introduced Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Program (FLISP) subsidy that assists South African buyers who earn between R3,501 and R15,000 per month purchase their first home.
“Looking solely at our current constitution, South Africa presents an impartial real estate market that seeks to assist all of its citizens in acquiring the right to basic housing – a prospect which probably would have seemed like an impossible dream to those living in the pre-1994 political dispensation. These basic rights are well worth celebrating as we take the day to reflect on our freedoms this Human Rights Day,” added Goslett.
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