Ramaphosa to give keynote speech at conference of the constitution

President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver a keynote address on Wednesday, the first day of the National Conference on the Constitution.

The conference, titled “Reflections and The Road Ahead”, will kick off at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, under the theme “rule of law, accountability, social and economic justice”.

According to the Presidency, the conference will “give the nation an opportunity 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.

“As a platform for deliberating on continuous, robust debate on the purpose and effectiveness of the constitution, the national conference on the constitution intends to broaden the discourse on the constitution and encourage members of the public to participate in the conversation on constitutionalism and the state of democracy in the country.”

Some of the focus areas include:

• transforming and building an independent and resilient judiciary;
• transforming and growing the economy as a constitutional imperative;
• progress on land reform, restitution and distribution;
• governance and electoral reform; and
• effectiveness of constitutional and independent statutory bodies in strengthening constitutional democracy.

Delegates will include academics, members of legislatures, constitutional and independent statutory bodies, mayors, political parties, youth, students, business leaders, religious leaders, representatives of the legal fraternity, traditional leaders, media and others.

The conference will run until March 24.

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