Page 41 - University of Pretoria Research Review 2017

Foreword
Introductory Messages
DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
PEOPLE AND CONTEXTS
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
PLANET AND SUSTAINABILITY
Human Rights and Dignity
HUMAN RIGHTS
AND DIGNITY
Awards
Lead Researchers
39
designated the Chinese as ‘prohibited immigrants’ along with other so-called ‘aliens’ that the Union government was intent on excluding.
The fourth wave of Chinese immigrants to South Africa was to appear in the latter half of the 20th Century, when apartheid South Africa developed trade relations with the Republic of China, via Taiwan.
When the new democratic South Africa was founded and immigration regulations were relaxed, a fifth wave of Chinese from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) began arriving in South Africa as small-scale traders and shop owners, now also in rural areas. This influx of immigrants was further enhanced by South Africa forming official diplomatic relations with PRC in 1998.
However, the South African-born Chinese were to find themselves excluded from the benefits of the new South Africa inaugurated in 1994. Although having been classified as ‘non-white’ under apartheid, they were now considered ‘not previously disadvantaged’ and were thus forced to take the matter to court (in 2000) to rectify their dignity and their place in South African society and history. The court case dragged on for eight years. Professor Harris was intimately involved in this case, with an affidavit given, based on her two decades of research and publications on the Chinese in South Africa. Renowned human rights Advocate George Bizos appeared in the High Court, where it was finally declared that the Chinese fall within the definition of black people in the Constitution.
Nevertheless, having been ostracised from the outset of their arrival in the Cape, continually restricted and prohibited by colonial and apartheid authorities, and initially excluded by the new democratic South Africa, many of the younger members of the community formed a sixth wave out of South Africa. This move signifies the loss of one of the oldest and most professionalised communities in southern Africa who, although marginalised, have been integral to the fibre of this society.
Freedom Park, Pretoria
The UN Agenda 2030 and SDGs are grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. The Agenda envisages a world of universal respect for human rights and dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination; of respect for race, ethnicity and cultural diversity; and of equal opportunity. It also affirms the commitment to the implementation of the SDGs to be in a manner that is consistent with the rights and obligations of states under international law.
South Africa’s Bill of Rights, adopted in 1996, powerfully sets the scene for the attainment of human rights and dignity, and incorporates both the expectations of South Africans, and the universal rights of all people, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.