Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
General: Godfrey Pitje Inaugural Memorial Lecture
The Godfrey Pitje Inaugural Memorial Lecture, to be hosted by the Black Lawyers Association, will be delivered at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, on Friday (18:30 for 19:00) by Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. The lecture will focus on the principles of the late Godfrey Mokgonane Pitje under the title ‘The life of Godfrey Mokgonane Pitje as a professional, activist, educator: Reflections to aspiring lawyers.’ For more information, contact Busani Mabunda, at busani@mabundainc.co.za or 082 964 4490.
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