This convention had to be representative of the people South Africa, and it had to consider a new political dispensation and individual fundamental rights.
On 25 March the All-in Conference met and called for the negotiation of a democratic dispensation. Fourteen hundred delegates from all over the country representing different religious, social, cultural, and political bodies gathered.
At this conference, Nelson Mandela's call for a national convention of elected representatives to determine a new non-racial democratic constitution for South Africa was adopted. The conference resolved that:. WE DECLARE that no constitution or form of government decided without the participation of the African people who form an absolute majority of the population can enjoy moral validity or merit support either within South Africa or beyond its borders.
WE DEMAND that a National Convention of elected representatives of all adult men and women on an equal basis irrespective of race, colour, creed or other limitation, be called by the Union government not later than 31 May ; that the convention shall have sovereign powers to determine, in any way the majority of the representatives decide, a new non-racial democratic constitution for South Africa.
The conference also directed Mandela to draw Prime Hendrik Verwoerd's attention to the resolution. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mandela referred to the rising tide of unrest in many parts of the country, and stated that 'It was the earnest opinion of the Conference that this dangerous situation could be averted only by calling of a sovereign national convention representative of Africans, to draw up a new non-racial and democratic Constitution.
Such a convention would discuss our national problems in a sober manner, and would work out solutions which sought to preserve and safeguard the interests of all sections of the population'. Unfortunately, this call, like Luthuli's, went unheeded. In an attempt to gain further support for the idea, Mandela addressed a further letter to the leader of the parliamentary opposition, Sir de Villiers Graaf:.
We can see no workable alternative to this proposal, except that the Nationalist Government proceeds to enforce a minority decision on all of us, with the certain consequence of still deeper crisis, and a continuing period of strife and disaster ahead.
Stated bluntly, the alternatives appear to be these: talk it out, or shoot it out. Outside of the Nationalist Party, most of the important influential bodies of public opinion have clearly decided to talk it out. The South African Indian Congress, the only substantial Indian community organisation, has welcomed and endorsed the call for a National Convention. So, too have the Coloured people through the Coloured Convention movement which has backing of the main bodies of Coloured opinion.
A substantial European body of opinion, represented by both the Progressive and the Liberal Parties, has endorsed our call. Support for a National Convention has come also from the bulk of the English language press, from several national church organisations, and from many others. But where, Sir, does the United Party stand? We have yet to hear from this most important organisation - the main organisation in fact of anti-Nationalist opinion amongst the European community.
Or from you, its leader. If the country's leading statesmen fail to lead at this moment, then the worst is inevitable.
It is time for you, Sir, and your Party, to speak out. Are you for a democratic and peaceable solution to our problems? Are you, therefore, for a National Convention?
We in South Africa, and the world outside expect an answer. Silence at this time enables Dr. Verwoerd to lead us onwards towards the brink of disaster.
This appeal also came to nought, and the tension in the country had reached breaking point. A successful national general strike was called with the start of a massive defiance campaign, during which more than 10 people were arrested. There were clear signs of frustration on the part of the African nationalists. The change of tone between the letters by Luthuli in and those of Mandela in clearly reflect a growing militancy in ANC thinking. On 31 May the government, after holding a whites-only referendum, declared South Africa a republic.
This marked a decisive break in South Africa's history, for the country was to slide into an armed conflict lasting 30 years. Instead of heeding the advice of the All-in Conference, the government banned the ANC and other organizations, and left them with no legal avenue to pursue their interests. They found they had no option but to resort to armed struggle.
The ANC had been transformed from a non-violent African nationalist organization into a revolutionary liberation movement. By , most of the ANC's leaders were jailed and the resistance seemed effectively silenced. However, this silence did not last. In June the government met its fiercest resistance yet from students protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of education.
Several hundred students were killed in the uprisings that ensued and South Africa became a focus of attention throughout the world as apartheid was condemned internationally. Thousands left the country to join the liberation movements, and the armed struggle gained momentum.
The government was obliged to prove willingness to reform. Upon coming to power in , Prime Minister and later President P. Botha began reorganizing the state. One of the significant developments was the creation of a new government department, Department of Constitutional Development and Planning.
This unusual delegation of tasks was given effect through the creation of a multi-tiered, interdepartmental structure dominated by the military but staffed by civilians, called the National Security Management System NSMS. The role of the NSMS was to address economic and social problems in local 'hotspots', in a designed to win the support of the populace in a given area.
The idea was that this would isolate those responsible for 'political unrest' and leave them to the mercy of the state's repressive might. As part of Botha's reform strategy, the next major constitutional development took place in , in the form of a new Tricameral Parliament and a President's Council. Parliament was made up of three houses: the white House of Assembly, the coloured House of Representatives, and the Indian House of Delegates. Africans were excluded from this dispensation.
Differences between the three houses were referred to the President's Council. Botha's regime was characterized by a dual approach to the growing militancy of the anti-apartheid forces - reform and repression. It was a method informed by Botha's militarized style of government, learnt while in office as Minister of Defence, and drawing on the strategies of the military dictatorships of Latin America. While maintaining the apartheid project, the NP had begun to focus more closely on other cleavages that could be exploited within the black community.
This was the aim that informed both the Riekert and Wiehahn Commissions and the constitution. The reform and repression approach employed by the NP, at its most sophisticated in the form of the NSMS, created a brief respite for the Botha regime, for it was able to quell some of the political turmoil of the mid-eighties, and to illustrate the sophisticated might of the apartheid state.
In retrospect, it appears that at this point in South Africa's history an impasse had been reached. The NSMS clearly showed the military might of the South African regime, ruling out the possibility of any successful military victory by the anti-apartheid forces. On the other hand, real tensions were developing within the state itself as securocrats and political reformers began plotting different trajectories for South Africa's future.
The strategy of reform and repression had only limited success. Armed resistance intensified, and by armed actions had risen to an average of fifty operations per year. In the ANC first deployed landmines and began to develop a presence in rural areas. The organization declared the year of the people's army, Umkhonto we Sizwe MK.
As alternative township structures, street committees, and people's courts began functioning in many areas, the state, whose agenda was dominated by insurrectionary politics, was struggling to govern much of the country. The next step for the resistance was 'the transformation of armed propaganda into a people's war'. From onwards the number of attacks rose to between and per year.
It was also during this period that a vigorous debate arose within the liberation movement between those who argued for an 'insurrectionary people's war' and those who wanted a war to force the regime to the negotiating table Lodge, It was in this context that the first exploratory discussions began in between Nelson Mandela and representatives of P.
Botha's government. It had become apparent to Botha that the crisis in South Africa was reaching unmanageable proportions, and that drastic political changes had to take place. He also realized that constitutional changes would have to include representatives of the black majority.
In August he was confronted with a choice between two broad approaches: he could release political leaders and start a process of genuine negotiation, or he could consult with representatives hand-picked by himself in a process that he could manage, and be reasonably certain of a satisfactory outcome.
Botha was not bold enough for negotiation, and chose the latter; he was not yet prepared to cross the Rubicon. However, this arrogance did not last much longer. The period saw a similar attitude in South Africa's relationship with its neighbours. South Africa. Constitution making for a Democracy. Patterns of Constitutional Design. Post Sovereign Constitution Making. Constituting Democracy. Public Participation in African Constitutionalism. Civil rights. The Politics of Accomodation.
Comparative Constitution Making. Albie Sachs and Transformation in South Africa. Ethnic Diversity and Federalism. Serious violation of the Constitution is one of the grounds on which the President may be removed from office, also on a two-thirds majority. The Constitution goes on to deal with the courts and administration of justice, state institutions supporting constitutional democracy, public administration, security services defence, police and intelligence , the role of traditional leaders, and finance.
Coming late to democracy, South Africa was able to draw on the collective wisdom of the democratic countries of the world in creating its Constitution. Having come along a route of struggle and pain, the country took the process deeply to heart — and takes great pride in the result.
Thanks to Brand South Africa for this info. Click here to have your say on changing Section Skip to content. The highest law of the land, it is widely regarded as the most progressive Constitution in the world, with a Bill of Rights second to none. Human rights and freedoms Human rights are given clear prominence in the Constitution. The new design for local government, put forward in South Africa's Constitution, is based on the notion that local government should be the epicentre of development.
This has prompted the author to use this South African concept as well as the first experiences with the implementation of the new local government dispensation as a case study. The importance of the book thus lies in the fact that it produces an institutional model for developmental local government that is not only based on development and decentralisation theories but is also tested in practice.
It is hoped that those with an interest in the role of the state in development will find the arguments and conclusions useful. The book also provides a comprehensive overview of the South African design for local government, which is of interest to lawyers, policy makers and other parties involved in the implementation of the South African decentralisation strategy. Until the end of , he worked as a researcher for the Community Law Centre University of the Western Cape , specialising in local government law.
Parliament Download Sprache Macht Kultur books ,.
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