LEGAL RESOURCE CENTRE

Law and Freedom

Director: Zackie Achmat

Part 2: It's a Nice Country! We meet courageous women and men who have used the Constitution to build democracy and a better life for all. First, we meet Irene Grootboom whose struggle for housing culminated in a landmark ruling of the Constitutional Court that is seen as crucial for the establishment of greater socio-economic rights. In the case of Ngxuza and others v the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, we meet the Meltafas, who even in the new democratic order, had to challenge abuse of power when their grants were unlawfully withdrawn. When labeled a troublemaker by officials, Mrs Meltafa responds, "You have been sleeping, I have woken you up!". It's a Nice Country! also explores the case of the Treatment Action Campaign's battle for the use of antiretrovirals to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In this personal reading of the "Nevirapine case," Achmat pays tribute to TAC members who, through their work of education and community mobilisation, used the Constitution to achieve access to life saving treatment.