Protect our constitution, the legacy our founders left for us: Public Protector appeals to legal graduates
Thursday, 14 April 2016
Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela on Wednesday urged young legal graduates
to protect the constitution and the legacy our democratic founders left for
the country.
Speaking at the University of Pretoria�s law faculty recognition of achievers
awards, Public Protector Madonsela said the current generation was the one
the country, the continent and the world had been waiting for.
Adv. Madonsela based her view on the World Economic Forum�s study on the
millennials which found, among others, that this generation was socially
conscious, concerned about social justice and ready to take up positions
in society to effect progress for common good.
She used a narrative from George O�well�s Animal farm to drive home her
message, warning graduates that it was up to them to ensure that this
country did not descend into the farm as described in the book.
�Do not allow our beautiful country,� the Public Protector warned, �to
become something similar to the animal farm.�
The Public Protector told graduates that protecting the legacy the
constitutional democracy founders left for the country, called on
them to play their part in ensuring that the state operated as envisaged
in the constitution and created necessary conditions for speedy progress
towards the constitutional promise of an improved quality of life for all
and a freed potential for every person.
She said it was important for the country to note that the constitution
of the republic established a constitutional democracy. This, the Public
Protector said, meant that the constitution, and not parliament, was
supreme and signified a break from the apartheid state which was based
on parliamentary sovereignty.
The Public Protector warned graduates that their quest to protect the
constitution and the country was not going to be an easy task and
carried, among other things, attacks, insults and being labelled
as �counter-revolutionaries�.
Adv. Madonsela, however, asked them to draw motivation from true
revolutionaries such as Che Guevara, Amicar Cabral and Oliver Tambo.
Quoting from the Guevara, who said stealing public resources aimed
at delivering fruits of the revolution to the people was counter-revolutionary, the
Public Protector encouraged graduates who packed the university�s lecture
hall to go with the Argentinian born Cuban revolutionary�s definition of
counter-revolutionary.
�If they call you counter revolutionary because you seek to play
a part in protecting the legacy,� the Public Protector said, �wear
that as a badge of honour knowing that true and selfless revolutionaries
like Guevara, Cabral and Tambo would view counter revolutionaries as those
that steal or enable the stealing of state resources meant to deliver the
constitutional dream.�
The Public Protector extended her warning to society and opined that people
who turned against those that reminded their consciences about values underpinning
the South Africa the people signed up to become when the Constitution was
adopted, were no better than the pigs in the Animal farm storyline.
She narrated how pigs protected wrongdoers and wrongdoing in the farm after
people had been thrown out of the farm in the name of revolution and even
redefined what was revolutionary in a perverted way.
Adv. Madonsela assured the youth that the country counted on them as lawyers
and members of society to play their part as earnestly as possible in
preserving the legacy and taking the nation towards a society envisaged
by the constitution.
Pledging her support and that of her office to their quest for social
justice and an accountable state, the Public Protector said this could be
achieved by citizens playing their part in ensuring that state actors, who
exercise state power and control public resources carried such responsibilities
in a manner that is accountable, has integrity and is responsive to the rights
and needs of all.
For more information contact:
Ms Kgalalelo Masibi
Spokesperson: Public Protector South Africa
Public Protector South Africa
012 366 7066
079 507 0399
Email: [email protected]
www.publicprotector.org
@PublicProtector
Public Protector South Africa
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