This is an edited version of the address by Professor Sandra Liebenberg on 20 June 2025 at the Conference Celebrating 30 years of the Establishment of the Constitutional Court.

Chief Justice, it is a great honour to be invited to deliver these reflections on the Court's role in enforcing socioeconomic rights at such a historical milestone in the Court's illustrious history.

I will focus on three main themes: (1) the significance of including socioeconomic rights as justiciable fundamental rights in the Constitution; and (2) the impact of the Court's socioeconomic jurisprudence; and (3) the model of review it has developed for adjudicating these rights.

I will conclude with some general remarks on the Court's role against the background of the challenges of poverty and inequality that continue to blight our society.

The significance of including socioeconomic rights as justiciable rights in the Constitution

The integration of both civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights, including land rights in the Bill of Rights, was a response to the nature of the oppression experienced by black people under successive colonial and apartheid regimes. Political, social, economic and cultural repression were closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing. The denial of the right to vote of the black majority was accompanied by the dispossession of their land,...