Question 5

"There is a mighty ideological struggle taking place in South Africa at present. At stake is the future of our country and the soul of the nation. In crude terms, it is a battle between 'Liberals' on the one hand, and 'Radicals' on the other. The former generally support South Africa's present constitutional dispensation, whereas the latter are generally opposed to it. The fundamental nature of this struggle is not unique to South Africa - it has taken place at other times and in other places, most notably in north America and France towards the end of the eighteenth century. The American and French revolutions of 1776 and 1789 respectively, reveal different philosophical and jurisprudential paths which may be taken. If South Africa is to survive as a prosperous, free and open modern democracy, it is vital for us to place our faith in thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, as well as in the U.S. Constitutional Model which was so heavily influenced by their ideas. Furthermore, we should be wary of more radical theories such as those advanced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, lest our history begins to mimic that of France in the decades following the revolution of 1789." (Anon 2022)

Discuss the above statement critically.

Question 6

"South Africa's racist, paternalist, tribalist, homophobic and sexist past casts a long shadow over the present. So brain-washed are we by different flavours of collectivist 'group think', that we are unable to think for ourselves. To become truly free, each and every South African must be able to constitute him/herself as an autonomous individual, with his/her own authentic thoughts, values, opinions and beliefs. But this is only possible if we take seriously the injunctions of John Stuart Mill in his Essay on Liberty, which were later defended by Herbert Hart in his famous debate with Patrick Devlin on the findings of the Wolfenden Committee of Inquiry. The essentially collectivist thinking which infuses much so-called 'radical' theory - its focus on race, class, gender, and so on - fails to appreciate the importance of adopting the autonomous individual as the fundamental point of departure in our political and legal thinking. The autonomous individual is and must remain the primary focal point in any discussion about the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the South African Constitution." (Anon 2022)

Discuss the above statement critically.