MADLANGA J negative element is about the freedom not to associate at all, if that be the individual’s choice.28 Starting with the positive element, its significance is highlighted by Alexis de Tocqueville who – more than one and half centuries ago – said: “The most natural privilege of [a person], next to the right of acting for [her- or] himself, is that of combining [her or] his exertions with those of [her or] his fellow creatures and of acting in common with them. The right of association therefore appears to me almost as inalienable in its nature as the right of personal liberty. No legislator can attack it without impairing the foundations of society.”29 Haysom says “[f]reedom of association . . . is constitutive of or foundational to democratic society itself”.30 Even without resorting to any philosophical underpinnings, it is axiomatic that generally we are stronger when we have the support of others; umntu ngumntu ngabantu.31 How many others depends on the nature and purpose of the association. For succour, solace, emotional support and sharing joy, pain and confidences, one may need no more than association with one person, an intimate partner or friend; or one Haysom, on the other hand, is of the view that the better approach is one that is more expansive at the limitation stage, but possibly restrictive with regard to these two instances when it comes to the section 36(1) justification exercise. See Haysom “Freedom of Association” in Cheadle et al in South African Constitutional Law: The Bill of Rights Service 27 (2019). Happily, this matter does not call for the taking of a view either way on this. Suffice it to say Woolman’s view appears to accord with what I would call the threshold approach of the Supreme Court of Canada in Lavigne v Ontario Public Service Employees Union [1991] 2 SCR 211. 28 For more detail on it, see later. 29 See De Tocqueville Democracy in America (Vintage Books, New York 1954) at 196, quoted in Cheadle et al above n 27 who, in turn, cite it from Beaudoin and Ratushny (eds) The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Carswell, Toronto) 1989 at 235. 30 Haysom above n 27. IsiXhosa for: “One becomes a fulfilled human being because of others.” Literally, “A person is a person because of other people.” Similarly, isiZulu says, “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.” 31 12