This thesis, by reviewing a human rights project implemented by the Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD), a South African based non-governmental organization (NGO), seeks to address the ongoing discussion regarding the role of international human rights NGOs in promoting socio-economic rights, adding a local perspective to this debate. It argues that international human rights NGOs working on socio-economic rights issues need to evaluate their approaches to promoting socio-economic rights, including their methodologies and strategies, and to engage more substantively with local NGOs concentrating on these issues. Namely, this thesis reviews a recent article written by Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), expressing HRW's views on promoting socio-economic rights. In order to support its main arguments, this thesis, using AWARD's human rights project, introduces a clear conceptual framework for economic and social rights that focuses on the right to water, and considers various methodological approaches for promoting socio-economic rights.

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Millions of people in the world and especially in Africa are yet to be delivered from the scourge of poverty. „Over three billion people in the world live on less than $2.50 per day and more than 80% of the world‟s population are living in countries where income differentials are widening. About 1.1 billion people in developing countries lack access to clean water, one out of every three urban dwellers in the cities of developing countries are living in slum conditions and about 790 million people in the world are chronically undernourished‟. These statistics reveal the extent to which millions of people cannot access the very basic services needed for survival due to poverty. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Continuous reforms of pension systems of countries of the world remain significant considering the fact that many countries, including South Africa, face challenges of how to adequately provide for their ageing populations. South Africa’s retirement system takes a formal three-pillar approach; comprising the state old-age pension, occupational funds, and private savings. Pension provision (occupational) takes the form of retirement funds which are mostly established by employers, administered by insurance companies, and regulated by the state through legislation. South Africa does not have a public fund and relies solely on the private retirement system. Many workers in South Africa retire with no income or with insufficient benefits and end up relying on the state for support. The reasons for this include a general lack of a culture of saving, the absence of a public fund, the voluntary nature of the system, leakages that exist within the system, a lack of mandatory preservation of benefits, risks with lump-sum cash payments, and the fact that the system focuses more on those in formal employment. This raises the question whether the system is in line with what is guaranteed by section 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 that everyone has a right to have access to social security. The right guarantees “everyone” access to some form of income (protection) during retirement, which makes retirement provision an important social security component. Thus, pensions play an important social security role as they protect the elderly from falling into poverty. Benefits received from retirement savings serve as income replacement in retirement and should therefore receive adequate protection, and they must be able to provide adequate protection to the beneficiaries – beyond mere survival. Over the years South Africa has embarked on many reform processes to find ways to improve its retirement system. This study determines the adequacy of South Africa’s occupational retirement system along social security objectives. It describes the nature of the system, considers proposals made for reform purposes, examines international law, (including systems in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom for a comparative study), identifies weaknesses in the system, and makes some proposals to improve coverage and protection of benefits. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

The South African Constitution in section 27(1)(c) obligates the state to develop a comprehensive social security system. It affirms the universal right to access to social security, including appropriate social assistance for those unable to support themselves and their dependants. It orders the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights. The underlying normative commitment of social security is the improvement of the quality of life of the population by promoting economic or material equality. Social security ensures that all citizens have a stake in society and that each individual has an incentive to contribute to the development of the commonwealth. It plays a crucial role in the lives of communities and families viewed in the context of social transfers which provide broader development objectives and tackles income poverty transfers. The objectives of this study are threefold. Firstly, it examines the extension of social assistance coverage to the indigents in South Africa. Secondly, it looks at the legal mechanisms employed by courts and government in order to improve the social security rights of the poor in South Africa. Thirdly, the research investigates the possible reform and trends in India and Brazil with the aim of improving South Africa’s system of social security. For the avoidance of doubt, the law evaluated in this work is at 15 September 2015. / Jurisprudence / LL. D.