144 | Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal
“The right to life includes the right to live with human dignity and all that goes with it, namely, the
bare necessaries of life such as adequate nutrition, clothing and shelter and facilities for reading,
writing and expressing oneself in diverse forms, freely moving about and mixing and comingling
with fellow human beings. The magnitude and components of this right would depend upon the
extent of economic development of the country, but it must, in any view of the matter, include the
bare necessities of life and also the right to carry on such functions and activities as constitute
the bare minimum expression of the human self”.
Similarly, the Zimbabwean Supreme Court sitting as a Constitutional Court in the case of Rattigan
and Ors v Chief Immigration Officer and Ors Gubbay CJ, observed as follows;
“This Court has on several occasions in the past pronounced upon the proper approach to
constitutional construction embodying fundamental rights and protections. What is to be avoided
is the imparting of a narrow, artificial, rigid and pedantic interpretation; to be preferred is one
which serves the interest of the Constitution and best carries out its objects and promotes its
purpose…”
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Similarly, the South African Constitutional Court in Government of the Republic of South Africa and
Others v Grootboom and Others observed as follows;
“Our Constitution entrenches both civil and political rights and social and economic rights. All the
rights under the Bill of Rights are inter related and mutually supporting. There can be no doubt
that human dignity, freedom and equality, the foundational values of our society, are denied to
those who have no food, clothing or shelter. Affording socio-economic rights to all people therefore
enables them to enjoy the other rights enshrined under Chapter 2. The realisation of these rights
is also key to the advancement of race and gender equality and the evolution of a society in which
men and women are equally able to achieve their full potential.”14
1994 (2) ZLR 54 (S) at 57 F-H , see also the case of Daniel Madzimbamuto v Registrar General & Ors [2014] ZWCC 5 in
which Ziyambi JA followed with approval the passage in Rattigan.
14
Government of the Republic of South Africa & Ors v Grootboom and Others CCT/00,Para 23
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