We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to
- Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
- Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
- Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
- Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
May God protect our people. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso. God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa. Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.
The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on the following values:
- Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms.
- Non-racialism and non-sexism.
- Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.
- Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.
A diverse group of leading South Africans participated in a scenario planning exercise in 2009, 15 years into the democratic South Africa called Dinokeng Scenarios which has been helpful for us to understand our context. The group’s analysis of the current context and possible future scenarios provide a useful starting point when considering the context within we find ourselves. The team described the current situation (in 2009) as one where significant political, economic and social achievements have been made – mostly relating to the new constitution, free and fair elections, economic growth and progress in redressing some of apartheid’s unjust government spending patterns. But, the group also noted that
“…the achievements of the last 15 years, however significant, are overshadowed by the old and new challenges facing the nation. The South African honeymoon is over. The “Mandela and liberation dividend” has been fully settled. When the euphoria is over, it is easy for cynicism to creep in. What has fundamentally gone wrong? The nub of it is that we have failed to appreciate and understand the imperatives of running a modern democratic state. In addition, while South Africa has a strong civil society in general, since 1994 citizens have largely disengaged or been co-opted into government or party structures. Democracy and development are seldom gifts from political parties. More accurately, they are functions of a healthy interface between the state and an alert and active citizenry. It is our contention that the nature of this interface will largely determine the direction taken by the country in the next ten years.”
Our experience has shown that South African society is a multiply-wounded. Our history of colonialism, apartheid and current economic inequality have caused and is continuing to cause deep emotional and spiritual hurt. It also continues to cause very real physical pain in the present and it puts our collective future at risk. For many reasons, the typical way of dealing with these hurts is to cover it up in favour of an artificial unity. This is obviously not sustainable and leads to eruptions of anger, hurt and chaos from time to time which, in turn, is most often not dealt with in the open but rather oppressed.
In our view, the strength of our country’s civil society in future will be determined by our response to the challenges facing South Africa by:
- Enabling healthy identity formation and true reconciliation
- Working towards creating equal opportunities (especially focusing on youth development, health and job creation) and
- Leading to an engaged and lively civil society in a specific context.