The question before the Constitutional Court, whether the South African Human Rights Commission’s findings and recommendations should have binding legal force, is not an abstract legal debate. It goes to the heart of transformation, accountability and the lived experiences of pupils in SA’s schools. The recent high court and Supreme Court of Appeal decisions, which held that SAHRC findings are not binding unless confirmed by a court, align closely with the findings of my own research during my master’s degree in international and comparative education.
My work examined the role of human rights education in SA schools, with a particular focus on how oversight bodies like the SAHRC influence transformation, school governance and the protection of pupils’ rights. What I found is troubling and directly relevant to the case now before the Constitutional Court. One of the cases central to my research was the SAHRC’s report on the lack of racial transformation in a former white school.
The investigation followed a complaint by a parent who raised concerns about the school’s slow pace of racial transformation, particularly regarding the demographic composition of both pupils and teachers. Though the school is now legally required to be inclusive, its racial makeup remained largely unchanged, a pattern mirrored across many historically white schools. A careful analysis of the SAHRC’s report reveals something deeper than bureaucratic caution: the language itself reflects entrenched power dynamics and an institutional reluctance to confront inequality.
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Transformation is described as something that might happen in the future, once conditions are right, once processes unfold, rather than as a constitutional requirement that must be implemented immediately. In doing so, the report subtly shifts responsibility away from the school, suggesting that transformation is an ongoing aspiration rather than an urgent obligation.
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