Introduction

In line with the conceptual and methodological approach that was adopted in the last chapter, the same kinds of issues that were raised in that context with regard to the impact of the African system within Nigeria also animate the discussion here. As the nature of those approaches and related issues have been discussed extensively in chapter 4 it will not be repeated here in any detail. What this chapter focuses on is the systematic examination and discussion of the available evidence relating to the impact of the African system within South Africa. Has this system impacted judicial reasoning and action, executive deliberations and action, legislative debate and action, and the work of civil society actors (CSAs) in South Africa? If so, to what extent has its impact been felt within these institutions and groups? What factors have facilitated or impeded this impact? Do the various processes via which this impact has been produced (what I have referred to elsewhere in this book as “correspondence”) differ from the “state compliance” which is traditionally focused upon in most of the literature? If so, how do they differ? What was the role of activist forces (such as some CSAs, judges, and MPs) in these processes in South Africa? What does the character of these other processes tell us about the adequacy or otherwise of the dominant state compliance measure and the way in which we evaluate and imagine international human rights institutions (IHIs)?