South Africa's legal framework often symbolises equality, yet fails to address ongoing harm to the poor, emphasising the need for restorative constitutionalism that repairs, rather than merely complies.
South Africa's Constitution promises equality. Yet for millions of poor South Africans, equality remains far more visible in judgments than in daily life. Rights are affirmed, policies struck down, and remedial orders issued, while conditions on the ground remain stubbornly unchanged. This disconnect is not accidental. It reflects a legal culture that too often treats neutrality as justice and compliance as closure.
Recent litigation and public debate around failing service delivery, delayed housing projects and the uneven implementation of court orders have once again exposed a familiar pattern: constitutional violations are acknowledged, but the harm they cause is rarely repaired. The poor carry the consequences long after legality has been restored.
Formal equality assumes that once a rule is applied evenly, justice is done. But South Africa is not a society of equals starting from the same position. Poverty here is cumulative, shaped by historical dispossession, spatial exclusion, administrative neglect and persistent institutional failure. When the law responds to this reality with neutrality, it risks entrenching inequality rather than dismantling it.
This is where restorative constitutionalism matters.
Restorative constitutionalism begins from the recognition that constitutional harm does not end when a court order is issued. For communities waiting years for...
