Understanding the past to shape the future is a concept that can only be achieved through critical thinking.
This simple yet impactful message formed the foundation for Professor Tembeka Ngcukaitobi’s presentation during a masterclass in African Indigenous Jurisprudence, hosted by the Nelson Mandela University faculty of humanities and law at the South Campus Auditorium on Monday.
NMU executive dean of the faculty of humanities Professor Pamela Maseko said the purpose of the masterclass was to expose students to the value of a historical archive and historicising disciplines, specifically law.
Ngcukaitobi — a lawyer, author and political activist — encouraged more than 100 students to be critical thinkers and be aware of their role in the world through a sound understanding of important historical documents such as the constitution.
“It is crucial for the current generation of students to know that people who criticise the constitution for being Eurocentric are doing it on a historical basis,” he said.
“Black students in particular of law should take ownership of the constitution and they should know its intention is to answer their current feelings of marginalisation.
“History is the foundation of everything, whether it is law, economics or politics.
“In SA it is particularly important, because we have a constitution whose purpose is to undo the legacy of apartheid and colonialism which was primarily based on racial discrimination.”
He said the constitution was translated through ideas relating to several documents through the Bill of Rights which was drafted in 1923 by members of the ANC.
The second Bill of Rights was produced in 1943 and spoke to individual rights and liberties that were carried through in the Freedom Charter in 1955.
The three documents were then used for the negotiations for democracy between the period 1991 and 1994.
“We have a parallel system of common law alongside the constitution developing.
“The intention of the constitution was to abolish the common law and start from a clean slate.
“That clean slate would be informed by the principles underpinning the constitution.
“The constitution is treated as a sideshow, when my argument is that the constitution should be at the centre.
“It has got to be understood foundationally through the lens of the constitution. The same thing with the law of delict and criminal law,” Ngcukaitobi said.
Programme director Dr Ongama Mtimka said NMU’s department of history and political studies was in a process of restrategising and finding ways to elevate such ideas.
History honours students Bongolethu Booi, Zizipho Booi and NMU chair of the Black Lawyers Association student chapter Oneza Potelwa thanked Ngcukaitobi for his presentation.
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