Socio-economic rights are the subject of much debate in South Africa and elsewhere. At first they were simply denied the status of any rights at all. Lately, there is a fair amount of recognition for them as rights. The tendency is, however, to relegate them to paper rights and invest very little effort in bringing about their actual realisation.

In this thesis I inquire into the question of what a human right, properly so called, is, and then whether, in the light of that inquiry, there is a basis for the reluctance to embrace socio-economic rights.

South Africa is uniquely fortunate in having a constitution that gives recognition to socio-economic rights and requiring the Human Rights Commission to monitor their implementation. But again there is a risk that the recognition of socio-economic rights is left as a constitutional matter, and nothing or little is done for their practical implementation.

Therefore I inquire into the manner in which the Human Rights Commission monitors the implementation of these rights. The inquiry into the Human Rights Commission’s monitoring role is largely a question of methodology. Whether, in other words, the methods of the Commission are such as to yield reliable information on the subject.

I also inquire whether the government’s budgetary allocations indicate a serious approach to these rights. The budgetary allocations that are brought under the microscope relate to the seven core rights enshrined in the constitution, namely, housing, health care, food, water, social security, education, and environmental rights.

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