DEFENDING OUR LEGACY

On Heritage Day we should remember that we are all beneficiaries of legacies left to us by previous generations.

Some of us may have been fortunate enough to have inherited material possessions from our parents or grand-parents. However, their most important legacy may not have been the money they left us but the values that they instilled in us; the examples that they set and the memories that they left us of lives well lived.

All of us are beneficiaries of the rich legacies of knowledge, art and religion that we have derived from our cultures.  In this we all share in incalculable wealth:  we can access the plays of Shakespeare, the music of Mozart and the art of the impressionists.  This, too, is part of our legacy - and it is freely available to virtually anyone who wishes to access it.

One of mankind's most important and fragile legacies is our natural environment.  Just think of the turquoise seas, verdant forests, and rolling grasslands that we inherited from the past.   Think of vast shoals of silver fish; the teeming herds on the African plains; and the millions of species of plants and animals that were our legacy from three and a half billion years of evolution.  Unfortunately, we are thoughtlessly plundering the resources of our planet and destroying our inheritance.  Although we give lip service to the need for sustainable development most of us continue to live for the day with little consideration to the environmental legacy that we will pass on to our children. 

One of our most valuable - but often least acknowledged - legacies is the freedom that we derive from living in a constitutional democracy.  We take for granted that we can freely make decisions regarding our lives and the lives of our families and that we are protected from arbitrary action by the state.  We seldom consider that we enjoy fundamental rights to human dignity and equality and that we cannot be deprived arbitrarily of our property; that we have freedom of expression and freedom to practise - or not to practise - the religion or our choice.

For virtually all of human history this was not the case for the vast majority of mankind.  It is still not the case for more than 40% of the world's population.  Instead, most of human history has been characterised by massive injustice; exploitation; repression and   wanton cruelty.  In this sense, we share in the legacies left to us by the great reformers who laid the foundations of our freedom: 

• by parliamentarians in Britain who limited the power of the Stuart kings;
• by French philosophers who proclaimed the liberty, equality and fraternity of man;
•  by American rebels who firmly established the principle of constitutional government;
• by reformers like William Wilberforce who campaigned against the ultimate injustice of slavery;
• by suffragettes who demanded the vote for women; and
• by leaders like Martin Luther King, Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela who fearlessly campaigned against racial discrimination and who demanded the right to equality.

Our non-racial democratic legacy is very young.   It was conceived in December 1991 when representatives of all South Africa's significant political parties gathered at CODESA to commence negotiations on a new constitution.  It grew to fruition with the adoption of the 1993 interim constitution and it was born in 1996 when we adopted our present constitution.

Our Constitution was much more than simply a blueprint for how the new society would be governed and a shopping list of the rights that would be assured.  In a very real sense it was a solemn compact on how the issues that had divided South Africa for generations would be resolved.  

On the one hand it is unambiguously transformative.  It clearly requires action to promote equality.  It empowers the State to take measures to promote the achievement of equality.  

On the other hand it prohibits unfair discrimination - and requires proof that any discriminatory measures that are adopted are fair.

 Section 25 of the Constitution opens the way to expropriation in the national interest - including expropriation for the purpose of land reform. However, it also requires the payment of compensation that would have to be agreed by the parties involved or be decided by a court within the framework of a number of clear and objective criteria.

The Constitution calls for national unity - but recognises the diversity of South Africa's languages and cultures and assures everyone's right to speak the language and practise the culture - of their choice.

Our new constitutional legacy has served us well.  However, it is under pressure.

The language provisions in the Constitution are being increasingly ignored by government.  

The dividing lines between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are becoming less and less distinct as a result of the pervasive practice of cadre deployment.

The independence of key institutions that were established to support constitutional democracy - such as the National Prosecuting authority and the Judicial Services Commission - have been seriously undermined.  

Leading parties and politicians openly espouse programmes and ideologies that are irreconcilable with the letter and spirit of our Constitution.  

The language of some leaders grows more intemperate by the day in attacking the judiciary; in calling for the racial redistribution of wealth and in resurrecting the struggle language - and songs - of the past.

Despite these problems, the Constitution continues to provide a firm foundation for our young non-racial democracy.  Our challenge as South Africans is to uphold it and to defend the freedoms, rights and vision that it articulates.  This is not just another philanthropic cause. Our future happiness, prosperity and security depend directly on the rights, values and institutions that we derive from our constitutional legacy.  We are duty bound to strengthen this legacy and to hand it down intact to future generations.

This article is based on a speech that F W de Klerk delivered to the Deloitte's Partners and Directors Conference in Cape Town on 21 September 2011. Issued by the FW de Klerk Foundation, September 23 2011.

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter