MOGOENG CJ The right to human dignity [45] There is a history and context to the right to human dignity in our country. As a result, this right occupies a special place in the architectural design of our Constitution, and for good reason. As Cameron J, correctly points out, the role and stressed importance of dignity in our Constitution aims “to repair indignity, to renounce humiliation and degradation, and to vest full moral citizenship to those who were denied it in the past.”37 Unsurprisingly because not only is dignity one of the foundational values of our democratic State, but it is also one of the entrenched fundamental rights.38 And section 10 of the Constitution provides: “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.” [46] Children are constitutionally recognised independent human beings, inherently entitled to the enjoyment of human rights, regardless of whether they are orphans or have parents. The word “everyone” in this section also applies to them. In S v M this Court gave appropriate recognition to the child’s rights to dignity in these terms: “Every child has his or her own dignity. If a child is to be constitutionally imagined as an individual with a distinctive personality, and not merely as a miniature adult waiting to reach full size, he or she cannot be treated as a mere extension of his or her parents, umbilically destined to sink or swim with them. . . . Individually and collectively all children have a right to express themselves as independent social beings, to have their own laughter as well as sorrow, to play, imagine and explore in their own way, to themselves get to understand their bodies, minds and emotions, and above all to learn as they grow how they should conduct themselves and make choices in the wide social and moral world of adulthood. And foundational to the enjoyment of the right to childhood is the promotion of the right as far as possible to live in a secure and nurturing environment free from violence, fear, want and avoidable trauma.”39 Cameron “Dignity and Disgrace: Moral Citizenship and Constitutional Protection” McCrudden Understanding Human Dignity (Oxford University Press, Oxford 2012) at 476. 37 38 See sections 1(a) and 10 of the Constitution. 39 S v M [2007] ZACC 18; 2008 (3) SA 232 (CC); 2007 (12) BCLR 1312 (CC) at paras 18-9. 17