Deadline for public submissions to Joint Constitutional Review Committee ends TODAY

The Weekend View

The deadline for the public to make submissions to the Joint Constitutional Review Committee ends TODAY and those that have not done so have a few hours left to do so. The annual review of South Africa's Constitution by the committee is a process designed to assess whether a submission has sufficient merit to warrant a possible amendment to the Constitution, based on the proposals it contains. The purpose of the review is to determine and recommend to Parliament whether a submission justifies a constitutional amendment in line with the will of the public. So far, the committee has received over 200 submissions and it has been urging to public to exercise their democratic right by putting forward proposals before the end of TODAY's deadline. A few people have been making their submissions known on social media with some wanting a change in the preamble of the Constitution which states that " South Africa belongs to all who live in it" to read: South Africa belongs to all citizens who live in it. Others say they want to see the return of the death penalty and for the President of the republic to be directly voted by popular vote, not through parliament. For more on this Bongiwe Zwane spoke to CASAC's Executive Secretary, Lawson Naidoo