Durban - Human rights advocate and struggle veteran George Bizos said the respect for the country’s constitution should begin with the government.
“Government should be its primary guardian and champion, and should lay the foundation for others to follow,” Bizos said on Thursday at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College in Durban.
He was delivering a lecture titled “Respect, but do not blame, the constitution”.
Bizos said the constitution should be allowed to fulfil its function for which it was intended.
“Its institutions should be fiercely guarded and protected, and it should be a source of pride for us all,” he said.
“Those who seek to vindicate their rights and of others, and who challenge the State to give effect to the Bill of Rights should not be seen as enemies of the State, but rather as cohorts seeking to further the same ideals.”
However, Bizos hastened to say the protection of the constitution should not be a role of government alone, as it was also a role of everyone.
He insisted that the country’s constitution was good for South Africa as a whole.
“It frustrates me when people try to vilify the constitution as being the cause of the ills in society in order to further their own political motive.”
Bizos took a swipe at those who wished to have the constitution amended in a manner that undermined its essence.
“Those who call for these amendments purport to do so in the name of our constitution, when instead these amendments have the potential to hinder rather than advance our constitutional aims and values,” he said.
Bizos said the arguments advanced by those calling for constitutional amendments should not be accepted without careful scrutiny.
“I should note at the outset that this is not meant as an attack on those whose views differ from my own, and as always, I welcome a discussion on these issues.”
Referring to the right to life, Bizos said it was a fundamental right to the country’s constitution.
“It must be respected and protected, and it has been described as ‘the most fundamental of all human rights’,” he said.
Bizos said although the Constitutional Court had declared the imposition of the death penalty unconstitutional, there were still calls for the reinstatement of capital punishment.
He asked if bringing back the death penalty would not fly in the face of the Bill of Rights and the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
Turning to the Marikana massacre, where mineworkers were shot by police three years ago, Bizos said it would be a blight on the country for many years to come.
“There is no good reason in a constitutional democracy such as ours for South Africa to have a largely militarised police force that is not properly trained in public order policing.”
Bizos expressed his concern that there were still “churlish calls” that police should not be constrained in use of lethal power when under threat, and that homeowners should be allowed to protect their property from unlawful intrusion.
Daily News