The Constitution: An invaluable Foundation for the

The Keynote Address of the Dean of Students Division’s annual Constitution Week saw an esteemed speaker grace the stage and set the tone for the days to follow by eloquently sharing her wealth of legal knowledge.

Justice Kate O’Regan is one of the leading authorities on South Africa’s uniquely enlightened Constitution and has also been instrumental in the development of jurisprudence in the country. O’Regan is a prominent legal thinker who studied extensively both locally and abroad and earned a PhD before embarking on an illustrious legal career. She was admitted as an attorney in 1984 and, 10 years later, after the advent of democracy, was appointed as a judge of the newly formed Constitutional Court.

O’Regan operated in this capacity for an impressive 15 years, and much of that time was spent grappling with and tweaking the text of what is our nation’s most vital document. She states from this uniquely knowledgeable perspective that South Africans are truly blessed to have the “steady and wise way forward” that the document represents.

Rhodes’ Constitution Week presents an important opportunity to critically reflect on our collective aspirations enshrined in the text as well as the inroads into curing social maladies that we have already achieved.

As a prelude to O’Regan’s thought-provoking speech, a short prize-giving was held by the Centre for Social Development to honour photographers who artistically engaged with the issue of children’s rights.

O’Regan feels that the massive South African flag formed by hundreds of handprints of children at Rhodes Day Care, which was erected as part of the Constitution Week exhibition at Eden grove, is an excellent symbol for our Constitution.

The Constitution is a living document that requires constant support by all South Africans to endure. The handprint flag metaphorically captures the inherently collective and social nature of our nation’s foundational text.

One of the reasons that our constitution is historically lauded as a particularly advanced one is that public involvement was an integral part of its formation from the outset. Multilingual mass media campaigns urged the nation to participate and over 1.7 million submissions were received.

Crucially, the constitution contains provisions which ensure ongoing transparency with regard to the formation of new laws and to proposed amendments to the constitution. That it is amendable and not historically stagnant is also vital to its continued success.

O’Regan went on to note the importance of a participatory democracy as opposed to a representative democracy. Another unique benefit of the South African Constitution is its acknowledgement of the relationship between our civil and political rights and the social and economic rights upon which they depend.

Courts, O’Regan says, are the guardians of our constitution, and their primary roles are to protect people’s rights, to hold government accountable and to maintain democracy itself. O’Regan delved into the specific area of how courts deal with freedom of speech, freedom of information and media rights vs. the rights of public figures.

It is important to remember that no right is absolute and that rights frequently have to be curtailed to uphold other, more important rights. Current South African law strikes a sophisticated balance between media freedoms and individuals’ rights to privacy and dignity. This topic was addressed at a highly pertinent time as the government is preparing to propose several changes to these laws.

Last week in Johannesburg The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution was formed and O’Regan, who is an honorary member, was present. One of the purposes of this Council is to prevent the conservative corrosion of our constitution by what chairperson Sipho Pityana called “the very powerful in society”*. Responding to a query from the audience, O’Regan said that she would have to see the proposed changes when they are released before formulating a stance on the issue.