Human Rights Day is fast approaching, and what better way for Joburgers to reclaim their dignity than to participate in this year’s commemorations at Constitution Hill in Braamfontein.
Free to the public and back for the fourth time, this year’s Human Rights Festival will be commemorated over three days from Saturday, 19 until Monday, 21 March.
The 2022 Human Rights Festival promises a long weekend filled with a variety of fun things to experience, from film and poetry to theatre and live performances by Solidarity Express, Ms Party, and the legendary Vusi Mahlasela.
An integral part of the festival includes the Activism Village, where a series of exhibitions and stalls that bring social justice organisations together at this significant site to interact directly with citizens, can be found.
Constitution Hill will offer free public tours on Human Rights Day, Monday, 21 March to acknowledge the immense sacrifices made by countless South Africans in the country’s liberation struggle.
Abigail Noko, the Regional Representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, says in the face of deepening inequalities and rising exclusion, the festival is an opportunity for all to come together and renew their commitment to a just, equal, and non-discriminatory society.
“The diverse voices represented through the festival’s numerous platforms are a vibrant reflection of the action we need to take to realise human rights for all in South Africa. We must support and build a constituency for human rights, and each one of us has a role to play,” Noko says.
Constitution Hill Chief Executive, Dawn Robertson, concurs that the impact and importance of the festival are paramount in reminding South Africans of the hardships overcome and signifies the better country envisaged by all.
“The programme this year will encourage attendees to interrogate their own beliefs and values and to examine what they are doing to help create a ‘just’ society for all that actively foregrounds economic, political, and social human rights,” Robertson notes.
She adds that the festival’s mission is to evoke a sense of community. “It nurtures a culture of human rights activism by engaging, facilitating, and catalysing us to take action. The Human Rights Festival is where we come together to take a stand,” Robertson says.
The Human Rights Festival coincides with the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, which enshrines the rights of all people in South Africa and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality, and freedom. It will culminate on Monday, 21 March, which marks the 62nd anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, the commemorative observance of National Human Rights Day, and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Maverick Citizen is honoured to partner with festival organisers and is proud to have a platform to highlight the importance of human rights in South Africa.
“Human rights have never been more important in South Africa or the world, so the festival is coming at exactly the right time. It’s a chance to learn, to share, to debate, and most importantly, to find ways to get active and unleash your power to fix the world. No one else will do it for us,” says Mark Heywood, Maverick Citizen Editor.
It is no secret that Covid-19 has proven to be one of the greatest accelerators and exacerbators of long-standing inequalities within society. Thus, coming together at Constitution Hill—a site of conscience, a place where you can take a stand, where shared ideas of human rights and human dignity can be imagined—is the perfect starting point.
Written by Sascha-Lee Joseph
17/03/2022