The South African Bill of Rights Explained | Procedural & Substantive Limits to State Power

Welcome to CT Education. In this video, we break down the South African Bill of Rights and explore how it acts as both a shield and a sword in our democracy.

The Bill of Rights is more than a list of freedoms, it is a framework that limits state power in two critical ways:

Procedural Limits – How the state must act
• Application of the Bill of Rights (s 8)
• Jurisdiction and Standing (s 38)
• Justiciability of rights disputes
• Public participation and transparency (Doctors for Life case)
• Signature of the President

Substantive Limits – What the state may or may not do
• Interpretation of rights (s 39)
• Limitation of rights (s 36, the proportionality test)
• Remedies to enforce rights (s 38 & s 172; Fose and Grootboom)

We also cover sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution and insights from Currie & de Waal, The Bill of Rights Handbook (6th ed, 2013) to show how South Africa’s Constitution empowers ordinary people.

Key Cases Discussed:
• Doctors for Life International v Speaker of the National Assembly (2006)
• Ferreira v Levin (1996)
• Khumalo v Holomisa (2002)
• Fose v Minister of Safety and Security (1997)
• Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom (2000)

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