Imagine being in the shoes of a person suffering without sufficient water or access to healthcare. Imagine how you would feel if you couldn't eat every day. Imagine not being able to sleep because you hear your people fighting for their lives. Unfortunately, these situations are not fictional. In South Africa, human rights are violated because basic resources are limited, the police abuse their power and people are forced to work. In South Africa, the population suffers from a lack of basic resources. The story of Butsi Mashilone is a striking example of how urgent and difficult it is to obtain water. This grandmother from Pietersburg, South Africa, has to walk miles to get bits of water to support her six nephews (McClure). His story represents the suffering of thousands of South African citizens. “The “statistics” revealed that in 1999, only 27% of non-urban households headed by an African had access to running water inside the home or in the yard, compared to 83% of urban African households. “This shows that access to water for the population was very limited in 1999 and that it still exists today (Kehler). In addition to the problem of water supply, many women struggle for the chance to obtain good health care. Health care in South Africa lacks services, equipment and advanced knowledge and because of this, there are on average 4,500 deaths per year, of women and children alone. These deaths are mainly due to HIV/AIDS. In conclusion, there is a human drama of suffering and death of people who could have been saved if they had obtained basic services in a timely manner. This situation can improve if South Africa makes better use of its economic resources to provide basic services...... middle of paper ...... after giving birth to its children. (Baker) Even though people suffer from horrible working conditions, they continue to do so because they need money to survive and provide for their families. South Africa has many problems, as previously mentioned, such as brutality, lack of vital resources, and sweatshops. Works Cited Baker, Mallen. “South Africa: sweatshops.” Mallenbaker.net. Np, and Web. Evans, Sarah. “Login to Mail and Guardian account.” The M&G online. ORIGINAL, January 15, 2014. Web. April 3, 2014. Kehler, Johanna. “Women and poverty: the South African experience.” Journal of International Women's Studies. Np, November 2001. Web. McClure, Vicky. “Water shortage in South Africa – the future looks dry. » Np, nd Web “Human Rights in South Africa”. International amnesty. Amnesty International USA, “Sugar factories are sweatshops”. Split. Np, March 12, 2012. Web.