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“The constitution contained in the Bill before us is the product of negotiation and compromise. Yet the central tenets of a democratic, just and equitable society remain uncompromised, because freedom is non-negotiable.”

Source: Speech on the adoption of the Constitution, Constitutional Assembly, Cape Town, 8 May 1996

Context As chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, he addressed its members in Cape Town as they voted to adopt South Africa's final post-apartheid Constitution.

Portrait of Cyril Ramaphosa
Cyril RamaphosaSouth Africa · b. 1952
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