ANC TODAY VOICE OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 4 – 10 June 2021 Conversations with the President Relegating the apartheid constitution to the dustbin of history n By President Cyril Ramaphosa ST May is the anniver- public’ is generally defined as gave them this as their own.” sary of an event in our state in which supreme power is history that most South held by the people and their elect- It was a Constitution written by Africans would rather ed representatives, this was not and for a racial minority, and it 31not remember. the case in South Africa. used faith to justify tyranny. It out- lined the administration of gov- Sixty years ago, in 1961, apart- The Constitution of the apartheid ernment, providing that only white heid South Africa became a re- republic pledged allegiance to people were eligible to vote and public, cutting its ties with the God, “who gathered our forebears serve as public representatives. It British Empire. But while a ‘re- together from many lands and contained no Bill of Rights. Revolutionary Dear Mr President We stand with the women of morality Youth and Morality: Palestine: their struggle A New Programme is our struggle 4 of Action 7 9 2 ANC Today CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PRESIDENT We have said that in our demo- cratic republic, everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. South Africa today is a country where the administration of justice is vested in independent courts and a judiciary that is subject only to the Constitution. We live in a country where everyone has the right to approach the courts for the fulfillment of their rights. We live in a country where com- Architect of Apartheid - Hendrick Verwoerd munities can stake a legal claim on land they were forcefully moved The country’s majority was rele- celebrate the 25th anniversary of from, and where individuals or gated to a footnote towards the the adoption by the Constitutional families are protected against ar- end of its 121 provisions, in a sec- Assembly of our new democratic bitrary eviction from their homes. tion titled ‘Administration of Bantu Constitution, which became the Affairs, etc.’. birth certificate of a real united na- We live in a country where every- tion. one is permitted to freely practice In a televised message from the their culture and traditions. It is a Prime Minister’s residence, now Now we have one law for one na- country where anyone can freely known as Mahlamba Ndlopfu, tion. protest in support of social, polit- Prime Minister HF Verwoerd said: ical and other causes anywhere. “We seek the gradual develop- Together, we have chosen ment of each of our groups in a for ourselves a system of Our constitutional dispensation is certain direction. Here the solu- government that gives true premised on accountable govern- tion is openly sought by retaining meaning to the concept of a ment, where the Executive is an- the white man’s guiding hand.” republic. swerable to the people and where “We are very happy to be a united people,” he declared to the world. But the reality was that we were not a united people. We were inhabitants of a country where one’s rights, prospects and life expectancy were determined by one’s race. For two decades, the Republic of South Africa Con- stitution Act of 1961 was the le- gal impetus for the repression of nearly ninety per cent of the South African population. It provided le- gal cover for discrimination, dis- possession and exploitation. This unhappy anniversary takes Jackson Mthembu place in the same month that we 3 ANC Today CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PRESIDENT Parliament is representative of moral validity. lives of our people. Unless we do the people. It is a country where so, this progressive and revolu- the law applies equally to any cit- Indeed, no system that entrenches tionary document will be rendered izen. We now have a government the systematic denial of people’s irrelevant and meaningless. of the people, for the people, and rights can be sustained. Though it by the people. would be over three decades be- We have long decided what kind fore the demands of the liberation of society we want to be. It is a We share a common responsibil- movement were met, we eventu- society rooted in human dignity, ity, as both the state and citizens, ally won our freedom. equality, freedom and non-dis- to respect, protect, promote and crimination. fulfill the Bill of Rights. In relegating the apartheid con- stitution to the dustbin of history, For a quarter of a century we have As elected officials, we have a we committed ourselves to a new worked to build such a society. We responsibility to uphold our oaths constitution and a new set of val- have made undeniable progress, of office, and to not steal from the ues. but we still have many challenges state, engage in corruption, or and there is much work still to be mismanage resources meant for When I addressed the Constitu- done. the benefit of our citizens. tional Assembly 25 years ago, I said our Constitution must be- As we mark the anniversary of the When the apartheid regime trium- come more than words on a page; adoption of our democratic Con- phantly paraded its racist consti- it must become a reality in the stitution, let us remember what tution to the world 60 years ago, a decisive break it was with the it had misplaced confidence that it In relegating the apartheid system underpinned by racism, would endure. exploitation, dispossession and constitution to the dustbin oppression that had come before. In an unanswered letter to Verwo- Let us also remember that it is up erd a month before the Republic of history, we committed to us to make the vision contained was declared, Nelson Mandela af- ourselves to a new in our Constitution a reality. firmed the liberation movement’s ‘ rejection of the forcibly imposed constitution and‘ a new For it is only by ensuring that all white republic. He said that no South Africans are able to freely constitution or form of government set of values. and fully exercise their constitu- decided without the participation tional rights, that we will truly be- of the African people would enjoy come a united people. 4 ANC Today COMMENT & ANALYSIS Revolutionary Morality n Remarks by the ANC National Chairperson, Comrade Gwede Mantashe during a virtual political lecture hosted by the ANC Sarah Baartman Region, in the Eastern Cape E were asked to talk We must understand the princi- on a very complex ples guiding the revolutionary pro- subject “Revolu- gramme of the ANC. Is the ANC tionary Morality”. programme revolutionary? It is W that programme that will make the For me, morality must be under- ANC to be known and accepted stood first in many of its aspects. as a revolutionary movement. If That is, morality as determined by there is doubt on the revolutionary society, morality as determined nature of the programme of our by religion and morality as deter- movement, then, we would be in mined by the revolution. trouble. Any revolutionary who does not The question that must be an- pay attention to standards set up swered is, what is a revolution in by society in general cannot be simple terms? a good revolutionary. Adhering to these standards distinguishes It is a change in the governance revolutionaries from elitists. Elit- of society for the better. It is about ists at times project themselves changing a repressive regime as having monopoly of ideas and Comrade Gwede Mantashe and replace it with a democrat- ic government. This change may wisdom. For example, Gender be smooth and negotiated, it may Based Violence (GBV) is the en- Morality as a set of principles, be violent or it may be a combi- emy of society irrespective of their making a distinction between right nation. This may end in a violent stand or identity in society. If one and wrong, and between good rupture and violent takeover of of us is soft or non-committal on and bad behaviour: It is based on power. It may be a smooth hando- this major challenge to society but values and principles of conduct. ver of power on negotiated terms claim to be a revolutionary, that in- If you are a member of the ANC, or it may go through a painful dividual must be examined. you must understand the values transition. When power changes of the ANC and respect them hands, it is a milestone in a rev- Believers always fight about the all the time. Without those basic olution. Transformation of society relevance of the “Book of Leviti- rules and values, the ANC will not and changing the life of the peo- cus” in setting up standards that be a revolutionary movement. We ple begins in earnest. make a distinction between them must make a distinction between and the ordinary. Many of the strict an ANC that worked under condi- The revolution is executed within rules are said to be out-dated but tions of illegality, where discipline a frame of rules and prescriptions. without clear replacement test of and security were intertwined, Development of an individual from compliance with religious morality. and an open ANC where it is an being an activist through to being I am not arguing for any change all-comer movement. Therefore, a revolutionary is a long journey. thereof, but I am asking a ques- that should tell us that not every It is not mere membership of a tion as to how do we practically member of the ANC is a revolu- movement but an outcome of a see morality in religious terms? tionary.