South Africa continued to face a number of human rights challenges, as the government struggled to stop attacks on businesses and homes of refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants, denying they were motivated by xenophobia or other forms of intolerance.

The report of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the deaths of 44 people, including the police killing of 34 miners in 2012, was finally published, but civil society groups and the families of the deceased and injured expressed disappointment with the findings.

President Jacob Zuma continued to face criticism over his handling of a 2014 report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela about the president's alleged misuse of state funds for a security upgrade to his private residence in Nkandla, Kwa Zulu Natal. Human Rights Watch criticized the government for its failure to realize the right to education for an estimated half-a-million children with disabilities.

In June 2015, South African authorities violated a domestic court order and its international obligations as a member of the International Criminal Court when it permitted President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to leave the country without arrest. Bashir, who faces charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in connection with the conflict in Darfur, was in South Africa for an African Union (AU) Summit.

Violence against women, including rape and domestic violence, remained very high. Although annual crime statistics released by the South African Police Services showed that sexual offences decreased slightly by 3 percent, many gender activists and human rights groups expressed concerns about the continued under-reporting of rape and the failure of the government to introduce a national strategy to combat violence against women.

Police Conduct

Serious concerns remained about the conduct and capacity of the South African Police Services (SAPS). A number of incidents in 2015 highlighted police brutality and the use of excessive and disproportionate force.

On November 11, a South African judge sentenced eight former policemen to 15 years in prison for the 2013 murder of Mido Macia, a Mozambican taxi driver.

Three months earlier, the Pretoria High Court had found them guilty of murdering Macia, who died in police custody after being tied up by his arms to a police truck and dragged behind along the tarmac road.

In August, 10 police officers were arrested and charged with torturing and murdering Khuthazile Mbedu who was allegedly assaulted and tasered in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg.