On this Human Rights Day, the Cry of the Xcluded joins millions across South Africa in remembering the lives lost in the struggle for freedom and dignity. This day commemorates the sacrifice of those who stood against apartheid brutality, including the 69 people who were killed during the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960. Their courage secured the democratic rights we are told we enjoy today.

Yet, for the working class, the unemployed, mining-affected communities and people with low incomes, the promise of human rights remains largely unfulfilled. Human Rights Day has become a symbolic ritual, while the lived reality of millions is one of hunger, neglect, violence, and exclusion. We therefore use this day not for celebration, but to expose the widening gap between constitutional rights and daily life in our communities.

Service delivery failures are human rights violations

The South African Constitution guarantees access to water, housing, healthcare, education and dignity. When the government fails to provide these basic services, it is not merely an administrative failure; it is a violation of human rights.

Across townships, informal settlements, and rural villages, communities continue to live without a reliable water supply, sanitation, electricity, safe roads, and functional clinics. Children walk long distances to overcrowded schools. Families rely on unsafe water sources. Clinics run out of medicines. These are not natural disasters; they are the direct result of political neglect and misplaced priorities.

For years, the government has blamed budget constraints, corruption or “capacity challenges.” But the reality is that public resources are mismanaged while communities are expected to survive on promises. Human rights cannot exist where people are forced to live in degrading conditions. A right delayed is a right denied.

Opposition parties cannot be the voice of the people

The Cry of the Xcluded recognises that many South Africans are losing faith not only in the governing party, but also in opposition political parties. Communities are repeatedly told to “vote differently” as a solution to their suffering. But elections alone have not delivered dignity, jobs, or services.

Opposition parties, like the ruling elite, enjoy parliamentary salaries, benefits and protections that isolate them from the daily struggles of ordinary people. Too often, they speak loudly during election campaigns and fall silent once in office. As a result, communities are left without genuine representation.

Our message is clear: the liberation of the poor will not come from politicians speaking on our behalf, but from organised communities speaking and acting for themselves—nothing about us without us.

Unemployment and Crime: the daily reality of exclusion

South Africa continues to face one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Recent figures place the official unemployment rate at over 31%, while the expanded rate, which includes discouraged job seekers, exceeds 40%. 

Unemployment is not just an economic statistic; it is a human rights crisis. It strips people of dignity, fuels hunger, and destroys hope. Entire communities are trapped in cycles of poverty where young people grow up without ever seeing stable employment.

This economic exclusion feeds into rising crime levels. When young people are denied opportunities, education, and social support, criminal networks fill the vacuum. Communities become both victims of crime and victims of policing that treats them as suspects rather than citizens.

Government responses often focus on militarisation and policing rather than addressing root causes such as unemployment, inequality, and lack of social services. Security without social justice cannot produce lasting safety.

Communities have the right to say no to mining

One of the most urgent human rights struggles in South Africa today is taking place in mining-affected communities. Across the country, residents are resisting destructive mining projects that threaten their land, water, health and cultural heritage. They are asserting a simple democratic principle: the right to say no.

Yet instead of listening to communities, the government frequently sides with mining corporations. Communities report intimidation, harassment and, in some cases, the assassination of activists who oppose mining operations. This pattern reflects a dangerous alliance between state power and extractive industries, where profit is placed above people’s lives.

Mining has enriched corporations and political elites, while leaving behind poisoned water, cracked homes, and unemployed youth. Communities that demand consultation and consent are treated as obstacles to development rather than as citizens with rights.

Human Rights Day must recognise that the right to land, safety, and a healthy environment is as important as the right to vote. When communities are silenced for opposing mining, democracy itself is undermined.

The struggle of mining-affected communities cannot be fought in isolation. Civil society, faith organisations, labour movements, legal organisations and academic institutions all have a role to play.

What communities can do to confront government neglect

While the government has a constitutional duty to provide services, communities are not powerless. Across South Africa, grassroots organising has proven to be the most effective tool for forcing accountability.

Communities can take the following actions:

1. Build strong local committees and community forums
Organised structures allow residents to document problems, develop collective demands, and present a united voice when engaging municipalities or companies.

2. Use constitutional and legal mechanisms
The Constitution, access-to-information laws, and public-participation processes provide tools for communities to challenge unlawful decisions, demand transparency, and hold officials accountable.

3. Engage in peaceful mass mobilisation
Marches, pickets, public meetings and community assemblies remain powerful tools for raising awareness and applying pressure. History has shown that rights are rarely granted without organised struggle.

4. Form alliances across communities
Service delivery failures and mining exploitation are not isolated problems. By building networks across provinces and sectors, communities can amplify their voices and prevent the government from ignoring their demands.

The critical role of local government in addressing unemployment and crime

Local governments are the closest sphere of government to the people. Municipalities are responsible for basic services, local economic development, spatial planning, and community safety. When municipalities fail, the consequences are immediate and devastating.

As we prepare for the local government elections, we urge municipalities to create jobs through infrastructure maintenance, waste management, environmental rehabilitation, and housing upgrades. These programs not only provide employment opportunities but also improve living conditions.

They must support small businesses and informal traders by providing safe trading spaces, access to water and electricity, and reducing bureaucratic barriers. Municipalities can stimulate local economies and create livelihoods.

Lastly, they must ensure transparent and participatory governance by involving communities in budget planning, development plans and service delivery monitoring. Participatory governance reduces corruption and ensures resources are allocated according to real community needs.

Our call

On this Human Rights Day, the Cry of the Xcluded calls on:

• Government to stop treating people living in poverty as statistics and begin fulfilling its constitutional obligations.
• Mining companies to respect community consent and human rights.
• Opposition parties to prove their commitment to the people through action, not rhetoric.
• Civil society and organised labour to deepen solidarity with communities resisting exploitation.
• Communities themselves to continue organising, mobilising and asserting their rights without fear.

Speeches or commemorative events do not secure human rights. They are secure when people have water in their taps, food on their tables, safety in their streets, and the power to decide what happens to their land. The struggle for human rights did not end in 1994. It continues today, in our communities, in our workplaces, and in our streets.

The Cry of the Xcluded will continue to organise, mobilise and fight for a South Africa that truly works for those who built it, the workers, the unemployed, the rural poor and the mining-affected communities whose voices have been ignored for too long.Today, we will join a rally to commemorate Sikhosiphi Bazooka Rhadebe, the Chairperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, who was assassinated on March 22, 2016, for leading the opposition to titanium mining in Xolobeni. A decade has passed, yet no one has been held accountable for his murder.