Celebrating 30 years of our Constitution through popular participation 

Dear Fellow South African, 

As we mark thirty years since the adoption of our country’s constitution this month, we can reflect with pride on the political culture we have built as a nation – a culture that is robust, participatory, continuously evolving and firmly anchored in the democratic values we hold dear. 

We are fortunate to live in a society with a vibrant public space and deeply engaged citizens who know that they have a voice, and more importantly, that their voice matters. It is this active participation by the people of South Africa that continues to give life, meaning and resilience to our constitutional democracy.

Civil society in our country remains vibrant and resilient. Our constitution safeguards freedom of conscience, thought and expression, whilst firmly entrenching media freedom as one of the cornerstones of democracy. Political contestation takes place openly and freely, reflecting the strength and maturity of our democratic order.

Our courts continue to serve as institutions that our people trust, and provide recourse for ordinary South Africans, political actors and organisations. In our country, no one is above the law and scrutiny – and no individual or institution is beyond accountability. It is this commitment to constitutionalism, transparency and the rule of law that sustains public confidence in our democracy.

These are all a credit to the constitutional order we have worked to build over the last three decades. 

There is a strong culture of participatory democracy in our country, which began with the constitution-making process itself. The Constitutional Assembly was determined that all South Africans should participate meaningfully in drawing up our first democratic constitution. 

As I said at the time, we wanted a People’s Constitution where every South African would be able to put his or her own brick towards building the new South Africa. 

For nearly a year and a half, we criss-crossed the length and breadth of the country to get people’s inputs on the type of constitution they wanted to see as the supreme law of the land. Citizens of all races, ages and classes participated. We facilitated community meetings and engaged with people at their places of work and study. 

I remember taking part in radio shows where listeners would call in with their ideas on what should be in the constitution. The callers had a deep understanding of why human rights mattered, which was born out of their own personal experiences with injustice. What some of them related about their own harrowing experiences of apartheid oppression was a painful reminder of why we needed this constitution. They spoke of unfair dismissals by employers, of being denied access to beaches, of land being taken from them and of unfair treatment at the hands of public officials.

We received thousands of written submissions on a range of issues such as reproductive health rights, taxation, gun ownership, conserving the environment, and animal welfare. There were submissions about protecting the elderly and people with disabilities, on language preservation and on sexual orientation.

The outcome of all the submissions, that ran into hundreds of thousands of pages and words, was a homegrown constitution that reflects the aspirations of the South African people who had a hand in drafting it. 

The participatory approach that produced our constitution continues to guide our efforts to transform South Africa. 

Members of the public participate in law-making through public hearings. They are able to comment on draft policies, regulations and environmental decisions. Through the annual Taking Parliament to the People programme convened by the National Council of Provinces, people are able to interact directly with their elected representatives. 

South Africa ranks amongst the leading countries in the world for an open, transparent and participatory budget process. Through the annual parliamentary budget hearings that are currently underway, the budgeting process is open to public scrutiny and Parliamentary oversight. 

While some may argue that participatory democracy slows decision-making or leads to excessive contestation, it is a fundamental tenet of our constitutional order. For our democracy to retain legitimacy, citizens must be confident that their voices are counted when making decisions that affect them most. 

Soon, the next phase of the National Dialogue process will commence in earnest, and we must together strive for the broad participatory inclusivity that characterised the constitution-making process. 

The National Dialogue Steering Committee has announced that between June and August this year, they will be holding up to 195 pilot dialogues across the nine provinces that will include ward-based engagements, digital engagements and sectoral dialogues. They will be prioritising direct community participation. 

We are determined that the National Dialogue should fully reflect South Africa’s racial, cultural, social, economic and geographic diversity. 

Just as the 1994 generation played a direct role in the production of the birth certificate of the new South Africa, so too does today’s generation carry a responsibility to participate meaningfully in the National Dialogue. This is particularly important for the young people who will live with the impact of the decisions we make today. 

As we look with optimism to this new phase in the life of our nation, I call on all South Africans to come together once more and be part of crafting a new vision for South Africa that both speaks to our contemporary challenges and lays the groundwork for the South Africa we want to be.