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Disability Equity Management

Introduction Session 4


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Promotion of Equality andPrevention of Unfair

Discrimination Act, 2000


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Equality and Equality Court

"equality"

includes the full and equal enjoyment of rights & freedomsas contemplated in the Constitution & includes de jure and

de facto equality and also equality in terms of outcomes;

"equality court"

means a court contemplated in section 16, read with section31, & includes reference to "court";

"complainant" means any person who alleges any contravention of this Act

and who institutes proceedings in terms of the Act;

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Discrimination

"discrimination"

means any act or omission, including a policy, law,

rule, practice, condition or situation which directlyor indirectly-

(a) imposes burdens, obligations or disadvantageon; or

(b) withholds benefits, opportunities oradvantages from,

any person on one or more of the prohibitedgrounds;

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Harassment

"harassment"

means unwanted conduct which is persistent orserious and demeans, humiliates or creates a

hostile or intimidating environment or is calculatedto induce submission by actual or threatenedadverse consequences and which is related to-

(a) sex, gender or sexual orientation; or

(b) a persons membership or presumedmembership of a group identified by oneor more of the prohibited grounds or acharacteristic associated with such group;

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Prohibited Grounds [1/2]"prohibited grounds" are-

(a) race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnicor social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age,disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture,

language and birth; or(b) any other ground where discrimination based on that

other ground-

(i) causes or perpetuates systemic disadvantage;

(ii) undermines human dignity; or

(iii) adversely affects the equal enjoyment of a personsrights and freedoms in a serious manner that iscomparable to discrimination on a ground inparagraph (a);

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2. Objects of the Equality Act

The objects of this Act are-

(a) to enact legislation required by section 9 of theConstitution;

(b) to give effect to the letter and spirit of theConstitution, in particular-

(i) the equal enjoyment of all rights andfreedoms by every person;

(ii) the promotion of equality;(iii) the values of non-racialism and non-sexism

contained in section 1 of the Constitution;

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(iv) the prevention of unfair discrimination andprotection of human dignity as contemplatedin sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution;

(v) the prohibition of advocacy of hatred, basedon race, ethnicity, gender or religion, thatconstitutes incitement to cause harm ascontemplated in section 16(2)(c) of theConstitution and section 12 of this Act;

(c) to provide for measures to facilitate theeradication of unfair discrimination, hatespeech and harassment , particularly on thegrounds of race, gender and disability;

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(d) to provide for procedures for the determinationof circumstances under which discrimination isunfair;

(e) to provide for measures to educate the publicand raise public awareness on the importance ofpromoting equality and overcoming unfairdiscrimination, hate speech and harassment;

(f) to provide remedies for victims of unfairdiscrimination, hate speech and harassment andpersons whose right to equality has beeninfringed;

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(d) to provide for procedures for the determinationof circumstances under which discrimination isunfair;

(e) to provide for measures to educate the publicand raise public awareness on the importance ofpromoting equality and overcoming unfairdiscrimination, hate speech and harassment;

(f) to provide remedies for victims of unfairdiscrimination, hate speech and harassment andpersons whose right to equality has beeninfringed;

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(g) to set out measures to advance personsdisadvantaged by unfair discrimination;

(h) to facilitate further compliance withinternational law obligations includingtreaty obligations in terms of, amongstothers, the Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Racial Discrimination andthe Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women.

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3. Interpretation of the EqualityAct

(1) Any person applying this Act must interpretits provisions to give effect to-

(a) the Constitution, the provisions of which include

the promotion of equality through legislative andother measures designed to protect or advancepersons disadvantaged by past and presentunfair discrimination;

(b) the Preamble, the objects and guiding principlesof this Act, thereby fulfilling the spirit, purportand objects of this Act.

.

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3. Interpretation of the EqualityAct

(2) Any person interpreting this Act may be mindfulof-

(a) any relevant law or code of practice in terms

of a law;(b) international law, particularly theinternational agreements referred to insection 2 and customary international law;

(c) comparable foreign law.(3) Any person applying or interpreting this Act must

take into account the context of the dispute andthe purpose of this Act.

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Chapter 2: Prevention, Prohibition andElimination of Unfair Discrimination, HateSpeech and Harassment

6. Prevention and generalprohibition of unfair

discrimination Neither the State nor any

person may unfairly

discriminate against anyperson..

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7. Prohibition of unfair discrimination onground of race

See section 7

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8. Prohibition of unfair discriminationon ground of gender

See section 8

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9. Prohibition of unfair discrimination onground of disability

Subject to section 6, no person may unfairlydiscriminate against any person on the ground ofdisability, including-

(a) denying or removing from any person who has a disability,any supporting or enabling facility necessary for theirfunctioning in society;

(b) contravening the code of practice or regulations of theSouth African Bureau of Standards that governenvironmental accessibility;

(c) failing to eliminate obstacles that unfairly limit or restrictpersons with disabilities from enjoying equal opportunitiesor failing to take steps to reasonably accommodate theneeds of such persons.

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11. Prohibition of harassment

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14. Determination of fairness orunfairness

(1) It is not unfair discrimination to take measures designed toprotect or advance persons or categories of personsdisadvantaged by unfair discrimination or the members of suchgroups or categories of persons.

(2) In determining whether the respondent has proved that thediscrimination is fair, the following must be taken into account:

(a) The context;

(b) the factors referred to in subsection (3);

(c) whether the discrimination reasonably & justifiably differentiates

between persons according to objectively determinable criteria,intrinsic to the activity concerned.

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14. Determination of fairness orunfairness

(3) The factors referred to in subsection (2)(b) includethe following:

(a) Whether the discrimination impairs or is likely to impair

human dignity;(b) the impact or likely impact of the discrimination on the

complainant;

(c) the position of the complainant in society and whether heor she suffers from patterns of disadvantage or belongs to

a group that suffers from such patterns of disadvantage;(d) the nature and extent of the discrimination;

(e) whether the discrimination is systemic in nature;

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