The Developments of South Africa’s Constitution in Regards to Access to Reproductive and Other Health Care Services

THE DEVELOPMENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA’S CONSTITUTION IN REGARDS TO ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE AND OTHER HEALTH CARE SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

HOPE … was given to South Africans in the statement: “a better life for all”.¹

Food and finding work is what most South Africans have to struggle and fight for on a daily basis. Health Care is not on top of their ‘survival list’. HIV/AIDS together with TB, maternal and childhood diseases, non-communicable diseases, malaria, etc. are the front runners of health killers in South Africa.¹

HEALTH CARE FOR ALL

In 1994 a new page was turned for the poor by the ‘Mandela Government’, who gave the neglected health care system a face lift, by implementing PHC values and updating the health system according to the DHS.¹

With these changes South Africa’s economy increased and for most, the standard of living improved. Poverty were declining but the HIV/AIDS epidemic was still increasing even though the AIDS policy’s primary focus was on the vulnerable groups in society.²

In 1996 the Final Constitution replaced the Interim Constitution bringing along with it a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights introduced inter alia socio-economic rights for all citizens. These rights include a health care for all and a promise that no citizen in an emergency will be denied health care.³

Unfortunately for some this wasn’t an answer to their health problems. In the Soobramoney case⁴ the court held that Soobramoney’s medical condition was not an ‘emergency’ and therefore it was subject to the availability of resources. Even though the judgment was a devastating blow for the poor, all was not lost.

¹ MacMillan http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/apartheid/yachkistnasamyp2.pdf (Date of use: 25 October 2014)

² Nattrass and Kalichman Denying AIDS

³ Section 27(1)(a) of the Constitution

⁴ Soobramoney v Minister of Health

In the Grootboom case⁵ the court held that measures that do not include meeting the needs of the poor...