In South Africa 6 out of every 10 children live in poverty (The Presidency A Report on the State of the Nation’s Children 2001 National Programme of Action for Children in South Africa 33). Apart from the poverty situation the Aids pandemic in South Africa is also worsening the situation. A disturbing feature of the rapid increase in HIV infection, and one that is linked to the high incidence of infection among women, is the growing number of children infected with the virus. Children who are born with the AIDS virus seldom live beyond 5 years. Apart from an actual loss of infant and child life, the pandemic is certain to give rise to a generation of AIDS orphans as it has done in a number of other African countries. The pressure which this state of affairs will place on the resources of society and on the well being of the children themselves (in terms of impoverishment, limited education and psychological deprivation) is likely to be considerable (South African Law Commission Discussion Paper 103 Project 110 Review of the Child Care Act Chapter 13 [ISBN: 0-621-31810-8] February 2002 p 535). While the fundamental rights of children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS are protected in the South African Constitution, current legislation and administrative systems fail to ensure that they can realise these rights. One way of addressing these poverty-related problems is through the realisation of human rights or the so-called rights-based approach. This paper intends to explain the importance of justiciable socio-economic rights (with special emphasis on the right to access to medical care (section 27(1) and the child's right to basic health care services (section 28(1))) in the South African Constitution and the role the South African Constitutional Court plays in the enforcement of these rights in an effort to transform South African society by addressing the needs of its most vulnerable members.