The discourses on the right to housing in Gauteng Province, 1994-2008.

[摘要] The post-apartheid government of 1994 is a product of the 'Age of Rights’. Statemakingprocesses and the exercise of state powers is managed by the rule oflaw based on a constitution. Constitutionally recognised rights, and rightsprotection institutions, animate a transition from a legacy of Black politicalexclusion and underdevelopment. Intensifying class stratification and inequalityconstrain Black’s formal realisation of citizenship rights, placing great pressureon creative interpretation of constitutionally legitimated claims.My thesis examines the rights discourse informing the Constitution, particularlyissues about the realisation of social and economic rights. I examine theunfolding of discourses on the right to housing between 1994 to 2008, toillustrate of the complexity of the discourse. Episodic housing protests suggestsignificant degrees of alienation, marginalisation, and disappointment withexpectations of citizenship and the non-realisation of social and economic rights.Housing rights is an issue that will affect the democratic consolidation andpolitical stability prospects of the new political order. I examine the interfacebetween macro-economic policies, budgets, and the realisation of housing rights,and assess the impact of an identifiable configuration of forces expected to playimportant roles in realising a rights culture and broadening the discourse.My study draws on a spectrum of qualitative, interpretive, and analysis ofdiscourse approaches, using data from: published articles, annual reports andarchives, speeches, court proceedings and statements, interviews with personswhose scope of activities impact the unfolding of the concerned rights, namely,representatives of government departments, private sector developers,financing institutions, and civil society formations.My main findings are that few actors in the configuration support the view thatthe Constitution should be changed to make explicit the state’s obligations on therealisation of social and economic rights. Nevertheless, there are isolated casesof people expressing an absolute entitlement sense of rights --- the state shoulddeliver when demands are made. My conclusions are that considerable politicalunrest about non-realisation of these rights will persist, but will not cause acollapse of the post-1994 political institutions and processes. More likely,political actors, legal scholars and jurists, will persistently engage the prevailingrights discourse and the variety of institutions acting towards their realisation,without effecting drastic changes to these, but always invoking positions abouthow they still are suited for a post-apartheid transformation project yet needcritical interrogation and improvisation.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand