Access to Justice Conference Underway at Sun City
Leaders are using the Constitution’s 30th anniversary to press for practical reforms that make legal aid, digital services and dispute resolution work for ordinary people.
Overview
- President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote at the conference opening on Thursday as Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and officials convened a three-day meeting at the Sun City Convention Centre.
- The event brought senior justice-sector figures from the United Nations, UNODC, the International Criminal Court, the OECD and ministers from SADC and BRICS countries to discuss shared responses to rule-of-law challenges.
- Panel sessions are focused on turning commitments into concrete changes by expanding legal aid, rolling out digital justice services, strengthening alternative dispute resolution and improving institutional cooperation.
- Kubayi told delegates that justice must be accessible to all and that no person is above the law as organisers pushed for people-centred approaches to make rights real for vulnerable communities.
- Framed by the 1996 Constitution’s 30th anniversary, organisers tied the conference to urgent problems — persistent inequality, corruption, gender-based violence, unemployment and falling public trust — and seek actionable, internationally supported strategies to address them.