The Co-Chairperson of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee, Mr Vincent Smith, has emphasized the Committee's satisfaction with the concluded Gauteng leg of public hearings on the possible review of Section 25 of the Constitution.

The quality of argument and the number of people who attended were of the highest order and was on par, if not better, than in provinces already visited. "We continue to stress that the Committee's main consideration will be the quality of argument placed before it and will use the wisdom given to us through written and oral submissions to come to a decision," Mr Smith said.

The decision to take the Tshwane Hearings to a bigger venue was also the correct one as over 1000 people attended and participants did so under favourable conditions. "We were always confident that the decision made, albeit late, was the correct one. That decision contributed to the overall conducive environment," Mr Smith said.

The entire Committee (Two delegations) has now concluded hearings in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape and will next week hold hearings in the Western Cape. The Committee extends its gratitude to the people of these provinces on the wisdom they have imparted on the committee which will be used as a basis of the final decision.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.