The ability of South Africa’s Constitution to improve the lives of millions of citizens living in abject poverty was among the key issues discussed during a gathering of current and future legal experts in Stellenbosch in the Boland.
As South Africa marks Nelson Mandela Month and the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, in partnership with Stellenbosch University, hosted a Career Day.
The event brought together law students from universities across the Western Cape, members of the legal profession, the justice system, academia and government.
Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel says the country must critically assess the progress made under constitutional democracy over the past three decades.
Nel says, “We need to reflect critically on the past 30 years of our constitutional democracy, to also examine critically whether the promises of the constitution correspond to the lived reality of many millions of South Africans. In that context, we need to be open to looking at fine-tuning, amending, adjusting those aspects of our constitution that we need, based on our experience to amend. But we also emphasise that that mustn’t be done uncritically. We do need to recognise that we took fundamental decisions years ago. Many of those still remain valid.”
VIDEO | Career day for law students at Stellenbosch University
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