Time to relook on whether Constitution has served aspirations of our people: SA Prez Ramaphosa

The contours of our racist and sexist past still feature in private and public institutions, in business, in access to skills, wealth and opportunity, and in the spatial configuration of our cities, towns and rural areas, he said, adding that the success of South Africas constitutional democracy will, to a large extent, depend on how these challenges are addressed.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday said the country's 26-year-old Constitution should be scrutinised to see how well it has served the aspirations of its citizens. Ramaphosa was speaking at the national conference on the Constitution titled ''Reflections and the Road Ahead''.

South Africa's Constitution was promulgated by then-president Nelson Mandela on 18 December 1996, and came into effect on 4 February 1997, replacing the Interim Constitution of 1993. He asserted that there is a need to relook at the Constitution, with the aim of evaluating whether it has served the citizens well or whether it had hindered steps toward addressing the injustices of the past. "South Africa's constitutional project will fail if vast inequalities and existing levels of poverty are not addressed by all levels of government," Ramaphosa said. The President said there were still many challenges in the realisation of the vision, values and prescripts of the Constitution despite these advances. "The persistently high levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality, corruption and violence show that our journey to the promised land is far from over,'' he said. "The contours of our racist and sexist past still feature in private and public institutions, in business, in access to skills, wealth and opportunity, and in the spatial configuration of our cities, towns and rural areas," he said, adding that the success of South Africa's constitutional democracy will, to a large extent, depend on how these challenges are addressed. Ramaphosa, 69, set the tone for discussion by delegates at the conference as he called on them to reflect on issues such as electoral reforms and governance and transformation of the economy. "The Constitution places on all institutions of state a responsibility to take those measures necessary to build a society that is in nearly all respects different from the society that came before," he added.

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