The enforcement of the right of access to adequate housing in South Africa: a lesson for Lesotho

Abstract

South Africa is one of the countries with a very horrifying history. However, in the dawn of democratic governance, a worldly admirable constitution was brought into picture. The 1993 and 1996 South African Constitutions entrenched an elaborate Bill of Rights with provisions empowering courts to grant “appropriate relief and to make “just and equitable” orders. Happily, the Bill of Rights included justiciable and enforceable socio-economic rights. Amongst them, there is a right of access to adequate housing, for which this work is about. South Africa is viewed as a country with developed jurisprudence in the enforcement of socio-economic rights, hence it has been used as a lesson for Lesotho. Lesotho is still drowning in deep blue seas on enforcement of socio-economic rights either because the constitution itself hinders the progress thereon or because the parliament is unwilling to commit execute to the obligations found in the socio-economic rights filed. This work scrutinizes many jurisdictions and legal systems with a view to draw lively examples that may be followed by Lesotho courts towards enforcing housing rights. Indian and South African jurisprudences epitomize this notion.