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PART A: SAMRC MANDATE

1 SAMRC Mandate 2 South African Constitution

The mandate of the South African Medical Research 2.1 Constitutional mandate
Council is legislated in terms of Act 58, 1991 (as
amended): ‘the objects of the SAMRC are, through The South African Constitutional base which
research, development and technology transfer, to supports the SAMRC’s mandate are Chapter 2- Bill
promote the improvement of the health and quality of Rights, Chapter 10 - Public Administration and
of life of the population of the Republic, and to Chapter 13- Finance. The following sections of the
perform such functions as may be assigned to the Bill of Rights, without limitation, are particularly
SAMRC by or under this Act’. relevant for the SAMRC.

2.1.1 Chapter 2: Bill of Rights

Table 1. Relevant section of the South African Constitution - Bill of Rights

SECTION HEADING DESCRIPTION
9 Equality All the rights contained in this equality section
10 Human dignity Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity
respected and protected

12(2)(c) Freedom and security of the Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which
person includes the right not to be subjected to medical or scientific
experiments without their informed consent

14(a) Privacy Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have
the privacy of their communications infringed
16(1)(d) Freedom of expression Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes
academic freedom and freedom of scientific research
23 Labour relations All the rights contained in this labour relations section
24(a) Environment Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their
health or wellbeing
27 Healthcare, food, water and Everyone has a right to have access to (a) health care services,
social security including reproductive health; (b) sufficient food and water; and social
security, including if they are unable to support themselves and their
dependants, appropriate social assistance
28(2) Children A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter
concerning the child

32 Access to information Everyone has the right of access to any information held by the state
33(1) Just administrative action Everyone has the right to administrative action that is lawful,
reasonable and procedurally fair
36(1) Limitation of rights The rights in the Bill of Rights may be limited only in terms of law of
general application to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and
justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity,
equality and freedom, considering all relevant factors…

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