Retired Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Honourable Justice Yvonne Mokgoro has called on the people of the North West to work together to find practical solutions to the challenges facing the province.
Judge Mokgoro appealed to delegates on the first day of the two-day Provincial Social Cohesion and Moral Regeneration Summit in Mahikeng on Monday that there was a need to go back to the culture of Letsema or voluntarism. She said instilling the culture of voluntarism would ensure that people were able to serve selflessly, dealing with problems for the greater benefit of society without expecting to be paid.
Mokgoro said the summit was appropriate because there are always factors that require people to come together and talk about them with a view to resolve, rather than fighting against each other.
“There can be no social cohesion without addressing those issues that create difficulties in our lives. It is therefore appropriate for people to stand up and voice their concerns because it may be these difficulties that preclude us from coming together as a society,” said Justice Mokgoro.
“If we can make sure that we have inter-generational solutions to these problems, we would know that we have achieved something. We must create a nation. There is no way in which we can create a cohesive nation if we don’t deal with our challenges. We are here to express ourselves with a view to resolves our issues,” added Mokgoro.
She said social cohesion is not an event but a process.
