REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA elaborate normative mechanism for defining what constitutes unfair discrimination. The Court has not only declared several laws and practices to be unconstitutional, but it has also furthered the object and purpose of the Protocol in many of its decisions. 42. In respect to article 31, South Africa stated that since its Bill of Rights contains a limitation clause, it should not be interpreted to offer less favourable protection of human rights than the Protocol, which does not expressly provide for limitations. The South African Bill of Rights is expansive in the rights it guarantees and may well be said to, in many instances, be more favourable than the Protocol. The Constitutional Court has developed very strict criteria for justifying any limitation of any of the rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Institutional mechanisms to combat all forms of discrimination against women 43. In 1994 South Africa established an elaborate National Gender Machinery, composed of an integrated package of structures located at various levels of the state, within statutory bodies that include the Parliament, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and in civil society. The South African National Gender Policy Framework, 2000 provides for the coordination of these structures. The mechanism meets frequently to evaluate the progress in achieving equality for women in all spheres of life, and for planning and coordinating the gender agenda in the country. 44. Government established an Office on the Status of Women in 1996, which was located within the highest level of Government, i.e. the Presidency. The creation of the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities in May 2009, following the general elections, and the proclamation of the Department in July 2009 was also seen as another means to protect and enhance development opportunities for women, children and people with disabilities. 45. However, the strategic evolution of the institutional mechanisms for advancing women was heightened when the President proclaimed a Ministry in the Presidency Responsible for Women and devolved the functions of children’s rights and the rights of persons with disabilities to the line function Department of Social Development following the May 2014 general election. In July 2014, the Department of Women was proclaimed. Such a dedicated institutional arrangement for women’s empowerment is a clear articulation of the commitment of the country to advancing and developing women. 46. At provincial levels, there are also Offices on the Status of Women located mainly within Premiers’ Offices. In some cases, they are located within Provincial Departments of Social Welfare. Gender Focal Points exist in all national and provincial departments, albeit not all at the desired reporting and decision-making rank and level. While there are gender focal points appointed in most major metros in the country, it has not sufficiently cascaded at lower levels in local government sphere. This is a challenge that the country is currently addressing. 47. At the Parliamentary level, a Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women as well as the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities prior to May 2014 monitored and provided oversight for Government’s 149