We cannot change the Bible but we can change the constitution
05 September 2022 - 15:22
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By now we are all aware there are people who label the late president Nelson Mandela a sellout. There are a lot of good things enshrined in our constitution, but if we look back to the time the constitution was drafted, everything has changed drastically.
SA was relatively stable economically. Trains were running uninterrupted, planes were flying, electricity — though focused on the privileged few — was never interrupted; clinics, hospitals, schools, and training of all categories of health professionals and a lot more worked well. We were the envy of many countries.
Botswana does not allow foreigners to use public hospitals but does not deny them access to health care as foreigners can use the private sector and pay for the service. Maybe the “best constitution in the world” is coming back to haunt SA.
Free health services for pregnant women and children under six, free water and electricity, free housing, lax border controls, free everything. Were all the countries of the world mocking us when they hailed our constitution as the best in the world knowing what was to follow a few years down the line?
Must we blame Mandela for every disappointment we suffer today? Hardly. We can keep what has worked for the country and amend what is not working. We can’t change the Bible, but we can change the constitution. Mandela was no sellout.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa Midrand
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: We were once the envy of many countries
We cannot change the Bible but we can change the constitution
By now we are all aware there are people who label the late president Nelson Mandela a sellout. There are a lot of good things enshrined in our constitution, but if we look back to the time the constitution was drafted, everything has changed drastically.
SA was relatively stable economically. Trains were running uninterrupted, planes were flying, electricity — though focused on the privileged few — was never interrupted; clinics, hospitals, schools, and training of all categories of health professionals and a lot more worked well. We were the envy of many countries.
Botswana does not allow foreigners to use public hospitals but does not deny them access to health care as foreigners can use the private sector and pay for the service. Maybe the “best constitution in the world” is coming back to haunt SA.
Free health services for pregnant women and children under six, free water and electricity, free housing, lax border controls, free everything. Were all the countries of the world mocking us when they hailed our constitution as the best in the world knowing what was to follow a few years down the line?
Must we blame Mandela for every disappointment we suffer today? Hardly. We can keep what has worked for the country and amend what is not working. We can’t change the Bible, but we can change the constitution. Mandela was no sellout.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa
Midrand
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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