A birthday gift for Madiba

Today we take great pride in wishing Nelson Mandela a happy ninetieth birthday. We pay tribute to the man who did more than any other to overcome the dehumanising system of apartheid. Through his humility, moral conviction and bold leadership he gave us a gift for which we are eternally grateful. It was the vision of a free and inclusive South Africa and the unwavering belief that it could be achieved in his lifetime.

This vision continues to sustain us as we enter choppy and unchartered waters in our politics. It is an opportune time to reflect on Nelson Mandela's legacy and to recall his vision for a democratic South Africa.

But we must acknowledge that his legacy is being undermined by powerful elements in the ruling party. His vision is in danger of being relegated to a halcyon moment in our nation's history. We cannot allow that to happen. Mandela's vision needs to be resuscitated. This would be the best birthday gift we could ever give him.

The most powerful summation of Mandela's vision remains the statement he made from the dock before being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. I mentioned it in this column last week, but it is worth repeating here:

 "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Mandela's vision is a society in which every South African - no matter their race or background - is free to pursue their dreams and ambitions. It is a society in which every person is given a fair opportunity to make a success of their life. It is a society in which the principles of our Constitution and the rule of just law are regarded as paramount.

This is a vision shared by all genuine democrats in South Africa . They understand that the principle of constitutional limits on the power of leaders is an essential component of a democratic state. Mandela's vision is, ironically, being undermined by the new ANC leadership. For them, the Constitution and the rule of just law is an impediment to their personal ambition for total control. As ANC President Jacob Zuma has repeatedly stated, he believes the ANC is more important than the Constitution, and that the party will rule until Jesus comes back.

In contrast, Nelson Mandela affirmed his commitment to the rule of just law protected by a Constitution many times during his term as President of the Republic. In his first State of the Nation address in 1994, Mandela committed the ANC to building "a democracy in which the government, whomever that government may be, will be bound by a higher set of rules, embodied in a Constitution, and will not be able govern the country as it pleases."

When the ANC's 1994 election victory was announced he said, "I hold out a hand of friendship to the leaders of all parties and their members" and "an ANC government will serve all the people of South Africa , not just ANC members."

He knew that if democracy was to succeed, it required an acknowledgement that opposition parties have a legitimate role to play in building democracy and that the power of the ruling party must be constrained by a higher law in the interests of all the people.

Looking back now, this commitment to a multi-party constitutional democracy seems out of place coming from a loyal ANC cadre which Mandela undoubtedly was. But, unlike his successors, he never allowed his loyalty to the party to supersede his allegiance to the Constitution. He realised that no party is more important than our nation's founding compact. This is why he, unlike his successors, managed to transcend the narrow confines of party politics.

The hope now lies with redoubling our efforts to keep Mandela's legacy alive. It may have been betrayed by some in the ruling party, but it continues to burn brightly in the hearts and minds of the South African people.

And it is the people of South Africa who will ensure that Mandela's efforts are not relegated to a halcyon moment in our nation's history. Mandela himself was a firm believer in the power of the people to effect change.

As Bill Clinton said when he paid tribute to Nelson Mandela in 1998: " South Africa 's story is embodied by your heroic sacrifice and your breathtaking walk out of the darkness and into the glorious light. But you are always the first to say that the real heroes of South Africa 's transformation are its people, who first walked away from the past and now move with determination, patience, and courage toward a new day."

The new day that we must strive towards is the society so movingly referred to in Mandela's statement from the dock. It is an ideal which nobody need die for to be realised. It just requires vigilance and dedication from those of us who believe that South Africa can once again take its place as a moral beacon for the rest of the world.

As he enters his ninety-first year, the best birthday present we can give Madiba is a joint commitment to making the Constitution a living, breathing reality. The man who sacrificed so much for freedom deserves no less.

This article by Helen Zille first appeared SA Today, the weekly online letter of the Democratic Alliance leader, July 18 2008