'Ordinary South Africans do not link their lives to constitution'

Adv Mojanku Gumbi says there is a disconnect between the lived experiences of ordinary South Africans and the constitution, which is hailed as one of the best in the world.

Gumbi, the University of Venda chancellor and former legal advisor to former president Thabo Mbeki, was speaking at the opening of the three-day National Conference on the Constitution held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Wednesday.

She said ordinary citizens do not relate the constitution to their lives. "There’s a certain disjuncture in their lives. People here go on about this lovely constitution and to them it’s not something they relate to their lives.

“When they stand up against not having water for six months or having no access to regular and reliable energy, they don’t link it to the constitution. For them the system is just not working.

“People are killed in Khayelitsha every other weekend, people feel the insecurity of the state, feel the neglect, feel hopelessness in their society but most of the time they don’t link it to constitution.

"They just think this country isn’t working for them but we have to correct that in the foundational documents and ask what kind of society do we want to build,” she said.

The conference is held to reflect and engage in dialogue on the past 25 years of the constitution, nation building, gender equality, youth economic empowerment, service delivery and social stability, with the objective of charting a way forward that builds on the gains of democracy.

Gumbi said the constitution did not address who South Africans are right now and if these difficult issues and discrepancies aren’t dealt with “we won’t build the society we wish and that will blow up in our faces”.

Constitution Hill Trust chair Vali Moosa said the country's constitution was a vision of where the nation wanted to go but had not yet reached.

“It’s a political statement and a set of claims by our citizens. The constitution is only protected by the people of the country and it has relevance as long as people want it.

“The people will only protect it once and when we have knowledge and understand the constitution,” he said.