Public interest litigation in South Africa: special issue introduction

Intro: The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 has been aptly termed a transformative one, a framework for the large-scale transformation of the South African society through law. Reflecting in 2011 on nearly two decades of legal reform in South Africa, much preceded by public interest litigation, we can conclude that many changes have indeed occurred to much (but not all) of the doctrine of the law. And yet, the desired societal transformation has not occurred. Levels of inequality are increasing and the effect, positive or negative, of governance remains debated. This SAJHR Special Issue aims to recover the impetus of a transformative constitutional project through attention, not to changes in the doctrine of the law, but rather to the organisational modes of human rights advocacy and litigation, focusing on one of these modes – public interest litigation.