By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
15 August 2025- The Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Andries Nel said that the National Convention and National Dialogue are important reminders of their joint responsibility to keep building a cohesive, inclusive society. Nel addressed the participants during the Closing Plenary of the Dullah Omar School for Paralegalism held at Southern Sun Hotel, Sandton on Thursday.
He further said they hope that one of matters that their National Dialogue will discuss is the practice of reciting the Preamble to the Constitution — a reminder never to take their democracy or hard-won freedoms for granted.
Nel added that the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of their past and honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in their land.
“Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
“We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights,” said Nel.
He said they lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law. Nel said they improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person.
“This includes building a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
“May God protect our people. Community Advice Offices – Champions of Participatory Democracy Community advice offices (CAOs) have been the heartbeat of grassroots justice in South Africa for nearly a century,” he said.
Nel said emerging in the 1930s from the activism of civic movements, churches, and labour unions, they were never simply offices – they were lifelines, sanctuaries, and centres of hope for those deprived of rights and resources.
He said during apartheid’s darkest days, advice offices stood firm – challenging pass laws, resisting evictions, and confronting a system designed to dehumanise.
“In rural villages and informal settlements, they provided trusted legal advice, advocacy, and moral support to the most vulnerable. Jackie Dugard and Katherine Drage observe in their 2013 paper “To whom do the people take their issues?
“The Contribution of Community-Based Paralegals to Access to Justice in South Africa, that advice offices often worked with progressive legal organisations like the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Legal Resources Centre, and Lawyers for Human Rights – enduring harassment and operating in an environment of state hostility, yet persisting in advancing justice,” said Nel.
The Guardian 