This report forms part of the Commission’s broader six-year Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights through the Resolution of the National Question Campaign, launched in March 2025. The Campaign recognises that many of the country’s most persistent human rights challenges, including structural inequality, gender-based violence, racism, xenophobia, institutionalised discrimination, shallow democratic participation and socio-economic exclusion, are rooted in the country’s unresolved national question.

The Report documents the proceedings and outcomes of a convening that sought to unpack the roles of civil society organisations and broader society in advancing a culture of human rights by addressing the structural conditions that continue to undermine social cohesion, equality, and constitutional democracy in South Africa.

Opening the Roundtable, Commissioner Tshepo Madlingozi emphasised that the engagement was a strategic intervention to interrogate the structural causes of recurring human rights violations. He added that the Commission’s complaints-handling experience demonstrates that many human rights violations are symptoms of deeper systemic failures that require structural solutions – rather than isolated remedies.

Throughout the Roundtable, participants reaffirmed that civil society organisations play an indispensable role in promoting accountability, facilitating democratic participation, and advancing inclusive nation-building. Discussions explored a wide range of interconnected issues affecting the realisation of human rights, including the political economy and inequality, anti-corruption, participatory budgeting, access to justice, migration, gender justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, reparations, reconciliation, land reform, and the continuing impact of colonialism and apartheid on contemporary social relations. Participants consistently emphasised that constitutional rights cannot be meaningfully realised where large sections of society remain excluded from economic opportunity, public services, justice, and meaningful participation in democratic life.

The Report further highlights the critical role played by civil society organisations in the strengthening of constitutional democracy through litigation, advocacy, public education, community mobilisation, policy development and accountability initiatives. Contributors stressed that civil society organisations serve not only as watchdogs which hold public institutions accountable but also as important partners in creating spaces for dialogue, fostering social solidarity, and developing people-centred solutions to South Africa’s enduring human rights challenges. A recurring theme throughout the discussions was that belonging must be understood as both material and affective. Participants argued that meaningful belonging requires access to land, housing, education, healthcare, employment and justice, while also ensuring that every person experience dignity, recognition and equal membership within South African society. The Roundtable concluded that social harmony cannot be achieved through symbolism alone but requires substantive transformation rooted in equality, justice and accountability.

The findings and recommendations emerging from the Roundtable will inform the ongoing implementation of the Commission’s National Question Campaign over the coming years and contribute to its broader programme of human rights promotion, public education, strategic advocacy and systemic intervention.

The Commission will continue to engage with civil society organisations and other sectors through future dialogues, collaborative programmes and policy interventions to address the structural drivers of bad governance, inequality, exclusion and a lack of social cohesion. As Madiba reminds us, "Nation building, transformation and the creation of a better life for all are the main national tasks facing us. In each of these interdependent areas of the national project, we need to forge strong partnerships across sectors and across social divides.”

The report can be found here: Promoting a Culture of Human Rights through the Resolution of the National Question: The Role of Civil Society Organisations

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION