including irregular migrants, is perhaps less controversial than other socio-economic rights under international law.54 Under the constitution, international law must be considered in the interpretation of the Bill of Rights and other national legislation.55 South Africa has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights56 and signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.57 South Africa has also signed, but has not ratified, the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights.58 (A state is obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of a treaty when it has signed that treaty.)59 The Aliens Control Act, 1991, amended in 1996, encouraged and governed permanent immigration for Europeans. African migrants from the Southern Africa region seeking legal access to South Africa were subjected to a dual system of control. The Aliens Control Act provided specific exemptions from the Act for persons who entered South Africa for employment in terms either of any conventions with the governments of neighboring states or temporary employment schemes approved by the minister of home affairs. These exemptions were designed for the mining industry and white commercial farmers, and allowed them the right to employ non-South Africans under separate terms and conditions than those prescribed by the Act.60 The Aliens Control Act was replaced by the Immigration Act of 2002, which became effective in 2003. The 2002 immigration law was developed by then-Minister of Home Affairs Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi and his advisors, who were not members of the governing African National Congress party.61 The 2002 Act and the accompanying regulations were largely inconsistent with stated government policy to remove obstacles 54 Joan Fitzpatrick, “The Human Rights of Migrants” in Alexander Aleinikoff and Vincent Chetail, eds., Migration and International Legal Norms (The Hague: Asser Press), p. 180. 55 The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,, chapter 2, section 39(1)(b) and chapter 15, section 233. 56 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A(XXI), U.N. Doc. A/6316 (entered into force March 23, 1976), ratified by South Africa March 10, 1999, http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm (accessed July 10, 2006). 57 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A(XXI), U.N. Doc. A/6316 (entered into force January 3, 1976), signed by South Africa October 3, 1994, but not yet ratified, http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm (accessed July 10, 2006). 58 African (Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights, adopted June 27, 1981, O.A.U. Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev.5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982) (entered into force October 21, 1986), acceded to by South Africa July 9, 1996, http://www.africa-union.org/official_documents/Treaties_%20Conventions_%20Protocols/Banjul%20Charter.pdf (accessed July 10, 2006). 59 See Article 18, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331 (entered into force April 24, 1970). 60 Crush, Covert Operations, pp. 8, 23. 61 For details, see Crush and Williams, “International Migration and Development: Dynamics and Challenges in South and Southern Africa,” pp. 23-24; and Southern African Migration Project (SAMP), “Gender Concerns in South African Migration Policy,” Migration Policy Brief No. 4 (SAMP: 2001), http://www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/samppublications/policybriefs/brief4.pdf (accessed July 10, 2006). HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18, NO. 6(A) 18