Why South African Constitution is better than the United State's constitution - Essay Example

Why South African Constitution Is Better Than the United s Constitution 3April Why South African Constitution Is Better Than the United State's Constitution Introduction One of the most important documents in the governing of a country is the constitution, in it, there are several issues articulated including the core values that a country upholds. The constitution also provides for the bills of right, how it enshrines bills of right is one of the most important issues that are being looked for in the constitution to demonstrate its efficacy.

One can make a conclusion whether the constitution is meant to suppress its citizen or for their prosperity. How it recognizes the freedom and the rights of the citizen for economic growth is also a factor to consider in assessing the accommodative nature of the constitution.1 Difference in the US and SA Constitution Mark Kende in his writing has compared the constitution of the US and that of South Africa with assertion that the South African constitution in this regard remains detailed and inclusive than that of the US.

Kende posits that the US constitution provides more for the negative values as compared with the South African constitution, this he summarizes in his theory that liberty should presume subsistence.2 Kende also urges that the human right experts have caste the fundamental human rights in to three generations; the political and civil rights, socio-economic rights, and green right. In this reference of human rights classification, Cass Sustein also resonates with Kende that in the consideration of the three classifications, the South African constitution remains admirable compared with that of the US.

3 This is because it elaborates on the provision of the socio-economic rights; this was deliberately crafted to help in cushion the victims of the Apartheid regime who had grown poor and vulnerable. The constitutional court of South Africa also requires the government to implement these rights without any hesitation. Contrary, the US courts have not put the government on task to implement the provision of the socio-economic rights for the protection of the vulnerable despite the proposal by Franklin D.

Roosevelt. The difference between the US and the South African constitution therefore comes when one looks at the manner in which the second and third human rights categories are detailed. For the US to catch up with the South African Court, they have to resolve the hurdle of separation of powers so that the implementation of two human rights can be achieved. The US has come to their defense that the separation of powers in their country has immensely contributed t the kind of constitution that they have.

4 Separation of Powers There are usually, three arms of the government that works in tandem in governance, the legislative, executive, and the Judicial arm, the writing of the constitution is made and enforced by the three bodies in a government. The US supreme courts have raised some of the concerns as being responsible for the failure of the constitution to shed light on the socio-economic rights of the US constitution. It says that it is the legislature and not the courts that should enact socio-economic rights and not the courts, they also says that the judiciary’ incompetence informs that they cannot make such decisions and finally, the problems of the separation powers can be minimized if the negatives rights are enshrined in the constitution.

5 To implement the constitutional requirement by the US, there should be a systematic flow of the law from the legislature to the judiciary for implementation and enforcement similar to the situation in South Africa. Conclusion It will be remembered that the American constitution is one of the oldest in the history of the world, in this regard, most of the people including the American can be deceived that it is the best constitution in the world but this is not the case. It is time that the Americans be conscious and less self-centered given that there are contemporary constitution in some of the countries that have come up with a better constitution compared to that of the US.

South Africa is one such country that has come with a constitution that is much inclusive and accommodative than that of the US, in South Africa, the constitution is much comprehensive, much detailed, and clearly enumerates the human rights as appreciated by the norms of the international human rights. The United States constitution does not enshrine this compared to that of South Africa, which detailed these provisions and upholds them. It is therefore a lesson that the US should open up and borrow from other foreign jurisprudence on the constitutional issues.

Bibliography Banks, Joan. The U.S. Constitution. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2006. Dickens, Thomas. "South Africa's new constitution." Faces: People, Places, and cultures, February 1, 2007. Kekana, Artwell Gomolemo. Justiciability of qualified socio economic rights. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Kende, Mark S. "Why the South African Constitution is BETTER than the United States's." autoredirect to main site. Race Relations 2011. Accessed April 3, 2013, http://academic.udayton.

edu/race/06hrights/georegions/africa/safrica03.htm