South Africa

The first free elections in South Africa in 1994 ushered in a demo-cratic era. For the better part of this period the new African National Congress (ANC) government was involved in a process of creating a new society which was underpinned by equality and the rule of law. In doing this the government promulgated a battery of progressive legislation, on the one hand, and repealed racist legis-lation which was couched in an ideology of racial separation and differentiation, on the other. In the same period the country arrived at an interim constitution which was later refined and adopted in 1996. Dubbed as one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, it guarantees not only a host of rights for the citizenry but goes further by recognizing socio-economic rights such as the rights to education, health and a safe environment. Also, various policies were passed for the purpose of redressing many of the socio-economic imbalances that had been fashioned by the previous National Party government. The whole process of human resources development began to be articulated by the different govern-ment departments and organs of civil society. Great strides were made in the building of schools, clinics, houses, and the connection of piped water and electricity for poor communities. Despite suc