About two decades after signing the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), South Africa finally ratified the instrument in January 2015. In accordance with the provisions of the ICESCR, the South African government submitted its initial report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in April 2017, where it articulated the steps and measures taken to comply with the provisions of the Covenant.

To complement the effort of the South African government, a coalition known as South Africa’s Ratification Campaign of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its Optional Protocol (the Campaign), in collaboration with the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, and with input and participation of some individual experts, has produced this joint submission.

The report aims to provide a civil society perspective on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in South Africa as well as to raise questions on each selected issue as a means of promoting greater accountability. Moreover, it reports on the compliance status of the government with regard to the ICESCR. Finally, it intends to propose a set of practical recommendations for the government to initiate necessary actions.