so i went to this national conference, and there he was, Hon Mohammed Bhabha, a South African politician who shared the following lessons:
- politicians come and go, and so we should ensure that they do not hold us at ransom
- the strength of institutions is primary...all our efforts should be there
- we should ensure a independent and impassionate electoral management body
- the demarcation process should be above board...citizens should not perceive, be witnesses to or be victims of gerrymandering
- the judiciary should be independent ...presidents should be able to comfortably go to court to seek justice
- we should do everything to avoid interference by politicians
- civic education should not at any time relay information that there is a problem with the constitution ... every constitution provides for a mechanism to redeem itself
- develop and sustain a consistent national morality (drawn from the values) and use it to measure all aspects of governance
- do not remove protections that favour others today, they may favour you tomorrow
- make all efforts to ensure that the people take ownership of the constitution
- the constitution must be used to protect citizens from the practice and use of power
Phew! sounds like the eleven cardinal principles, but well ... damn good
Haraambeeee!