| Summary: | This study examines the effectiveness of environmental and developmental
rights within the SADC region, especially the status of their implementation and
enforcement in the DRC and the RSA. The SADC Treaty recognizes implicitly
the rights to environment and to development. Unfortunately, the unequivocal
commitment to deal with human rights within the region is not translated with
equal force into the normative framework established by the Treaty or into
SADC’s programmed activities. No institution has been established with the
specific mandate to deal with human rights issues, neither are there any
protocols or sectors especially entrusted with human rights protection and
promotion. The SADC member States do not share the same understanding or
agenda on matters pertaining to the respect for, and the promotion, protection
and the fulfilment, of human rights at the regional level. The inception of
environmental and developmental rights within the Constitution of the DRC is
still in its infancy compared to the situation in South Africa. Implementation and
enforcement remain poor and need important support from all organs of state
and from the Congolese citizens. A strong regulatory framework pertaining to
human rights (environmental and developmental rights) remains an urgent issue.
Guidance may be found in the South African model for the implementation and
enforcement of human rights, although the realization of the right to
environment in South Africa is hampered by a number of factors that cause the
degradation of the environment. Against South Africa’s socio-economic and
political background, the constitutionalization of the right to development
remains of critical concern to a sustainable future for all. The Congolese and
South African peoples need to be made aware of their constitutional rights,
especially their environmental and development rights, and the institutions and
the mechanisms available to enforce them. They need to be empowered to demand justice as a right not as an act of charity. It is patently clear that the
authorities will not protect the environment or tackle the development agenda
unless there is a strong people’s movement to challenge the State and other role
players over environmental and development issues and ethics. === Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law === LL.D.
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