Human rights are sacred
Mmegi Editor | Friday December 12, 2025 10:41
It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.
It is time for both government and the citizenry to move beyond rhetoric and individual heroics to build the unshakeable institutions that make rights a daily reality for all.
The President’s commitment to establishing a Constitutional Court is a significant and welcome step. Such a court would provide a crucial, final defence for citizens whose fundamental freedoms are threatened, offering a legal, not just political recourse. This promise must be urgently and transparently enacted. A Constitutional Court must be more than a symbol; it must be independent, robustly funded, and accessible to the most vulnerable, turning the grand words of our constitution into enforceable judgments. However, a court alone is not a panacea to injustices or discrimination. As highlighted in recent discussions on breaking barriers, rights are hollow without the means to claim them. Education is the foundation for empowerment.
True rights enforcement begins with inclusive education systems that equip every child, regardless of background or ability, to understand and demand their rights. It extends to equitable employment, because economic marginalisation is itself a rights violation. We also call for accessible legal systems for persons with disabilities, a universal principle.
Justice delayed or denied due to procedural, physical, or financial barriers is justice extinguished. Our legal aid frameworks, court facilities, and police services must be designed for universal access.
Protecting rights means proactively dismantling the obstacles that prevent citizens from reaching the very institutions created to defend them.
Therefore, we call upon the government to accelerate the constitutional court process and to pair it with sweeping, tangible reforms in education, labour, and social protection. Allocate resources, pass implementing legislation, and train public servants in human rights principles.
But the responsibility does not rest with Government alone. The people must stand up. We must move from being passive beneficiaries of occasional intervention to being active claimants of our entitled rights. Civil society must watchdog, the media must illuminate, and every citizen must hold leaders accountable. The dialogue has been started, now we demand decisive action.
To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”- Nelson Mandela