Cape Town - Parliament’s constitutional review committee has received more submissions that propose amendments to the Constitution.
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) on Friday made a presentation before the committee, proposing that there should be a single human rights body that would take the responsibilities of some of the existing chapter nine institutions.
Lawson Naidoo, director of Casac, said former Minister Kader Asmal had led a parliamentary committee that looked at the chapter nine institutions in 2007.
“We hope the sixth Parliament takes some steps to move into discussion on the Asmal report. It is an opportunity to properly engage based on the Asmal report,” he said.
The Asmal report had recommended the establishment of a single human rights body that would comprise the South African Human Rights Commission, the Commission for Gender Equality, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, the Pan South African Language Board and the National Youth Development Agency.
Casac senior researcher Dan Mafora said the Asmal report has envisioned that the single human rights body would be more accessible to the public, with a one-point stop for the lodging and processing of complaints.
The committee also received a presentation from Valodagoma Non Profit Organisation to have KheLobedu recognised as an official language.
The organisation’s presentation showed that officially recognising KheLobedu was not just about securing the constitutional mandate allocated in terms of language rights, but also about restoring Balobedu into the franchise of the South African nation.
“It carries the importance of reassuring Valovedu that they are a part of South Africa by elevating their language, culture and identity.”
Matome Chidi of Afrikana Justice Association made a presentation on the need to move away from the common law as the central law to Afrikan law.
“Afrikan law is certainly not equal to and with the common law. The latter is treated as superior,” Chidi said.
“Afrikan law should reach a stage of equality, and go beyond that. It must be the main law applicable,” he said in his presentation.
Committee co-chairperson Enock Mthethwa said all the deliberations by the interest groups would be noted and be discussed in a full committee meeting for recommendation in their report to the House.
The committee met two weeks ago to receive other submissions that were made by various groups as far back as 2020.
Mthethwa said they needed to find time to consolidate all the submissions and identify those that were “low hanging fruit”.
“We need to resolve one or two of these issues,” he said.
Co-chairperson Mathole Motshekga agreed that it would help to advance and make recommendations.
Cape Times