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 CHAPTER 4: SPECIFIC DUTIES Article 25: Duty to promote awareness of the Charter 510. South Africa, through the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Arts and Culture and the SAHRC and CGE, has continued to roll out programmes that aim at raising awareness on rights and freedoms to which individuals are entitled to. The DoJ&CD runs a number of constitutional and human rights awareness campaigns, which focus on the SA Constitution, and human rights instruments in general, while the other government departments focus on constitutionalism and human rights within a context of nationbuilding and social cohesion. 511. Each year, as is now customary, for South Africa to celebrate the National Human Rights Day on 21 March. March is declared human rights month in South Africa, where celebrations and public awareness campaigns are held throughout the country, culminating into National Human Rights Day on 21 March. Other days of human rights celebration are on the Africa Human Rights Day of 21 October and the International Human Rights Day on 10 December. There are efforts by Government, National Human Rights Institutions and Civil Society Organisation to ensure a wide celebration of the Africa Human Rights Day in South Africa as it is currently not celebrated widely. 512. Since the submission of the First Periodic Report, the number of complaints of human rights violations received by the SAHRC has increased, testifying of the increasing awareness of human rights in the country. In addition to the above-mentioned educational interventions, the SAHRC on 26 January 2009 launched a Human Rights Journal as part of its activities aimed at increasing human rights awareness. The inaugural edition of the Journal covers a number of topical human rights issues in the country including the relationship between the South Africa’s constitution and international human rights norms. In addition to the abovementioned education interventions, the SAHRC regularly publishes reports on general human rights issues, as well as annual reports on equality, socio-economic rights, and international human rights developments. 513. Government is working on the Declaration under article 34(6) of the Protocol to the Charter on the establishment of the African Court on the Human and Peoples` Rights to allow individual access to the Court. Article 26: Duty to guarantee the independence of the courts 514. South Africa has an independent judiciary, subject only to the Constitution and the law. The Constitution is the supreme law of the country and binds all legislative, executive and judicial organs of state at all levels of government. No person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the courts, and an order or decision of a court binds all 139