Violations of the right to equality remain commonplace in South Africa despite the country’s democratic dispensation‚ a report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says. The number of complaints received by the commission had increased dramatically in the years since its inception‚ said spokesman Isaac Mangena on Thursday.More than 450 complaints on the basis of unfair discrimination were registered by the SAHRC in the year ending March 2013. “A staggering 45% of these were complaints of unfair discrimination on the basis of race‚ and 11% were related to disability status.”The widening socio-economic inequalities and poverty in South Africa had also contributed significantly to discrimination‚ the Equality Roundtable Dialogue Report states. “This impedes the realisation of social‚ economic and cultural equality rights and freedoms for the majority of individuals and is also manifested in race and gender characteristics.”There was a need for special focus on the social conditions of miners‚ as well as the inequalities and social exclusion experienced by persons living on farms and in rural areas‚ and the challenges these people face to access housing‚ education‚ health‚ water and sanitation.There was also an urgent need for concerted public education and advocacy to help people understand the obligations the state has towards non-nationals and to promote recognition that discrimination against these individuals is contrary to the spirit and purport of the South African Constitution.The SAHRC report follows a roundtable dialogue on equality hosted in March last year. The dialogue took place during Human Rights month in the context of public outcry against continued incidences of hate speech and racism.-RDM News Wire..