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67-505: In the independent model the election commission is independent of the executive and manages its own budget. Countries with an independent election commission include Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Kingdom. In some of these countries the independence of the election commission is constitutionally guaranteed e.g. section 190 of

134-583: A referendum . Formal negotiations began in December 1991 at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA). The parties agreed on a process whereby a negotiated transitional constitution would provide for an elected constitutional assembly to draw up a permanent constitution. The CODESA negotiations broke down, however, after the second plenary session in May 1992. One of the major points of dispute

201-434: A Parliament made up of two houses: a 400-member National Assembly , directly elected by party-list proportional representation , and a ninety-member Senate , in which each of the nine provinces was represented by ten Senators, elected by the provincial legislature . The Constitutional Assembly consisted of both houses sitting together, and was responsible for drawing up a final constitution within two years. The adoption of

268-607: A change of government in which a new Prime Minister was appointed. The whole Senate could also be dissolved within 120 days after the dissolution of the House of Assembly. The Senate was permanently abolished in 1981 and replaced by the President's Council . Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament would become law when assented to by the State President (on the advice of the cabinet), and if he refused assent he could return

335-631: A limited extent by adopting its own provincial constitution. (The only province so far to have done this is the Western Cape .) The chapter provides for a unicameral legislature , a Premier elected by the legislature as head of the provincial executive, and an Executive Council appointed by the Premier as a provincial cabinet. The provincial government is given exclusive powers over certain matters, listed in Schedule 5, and powers concurrent with

402-554: A new constitutional text required a two-thirds supermajority in the Constitutional Assembly, as well as the support of two-thirds of senators on matters relating to provincial government. If a two-thirds majority could not be obtained, a constitutional text could be adopted by a simple majority and then put to a national referendum in which sixty per cent support would be required for it to pass. The Interim Constitution contained 34 constitutional principles with which

469-886: A number of other commissions and offices to protect and support democracy and human rights. These are the Public Protector (an ombudsman ), the South African Human Rights Commission , the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities , the Commission for Gender Equality , the Auditor-General , the Independent Electoral Commission and

536-507: A single "Category A" municipal authority and others are governed by a two-level system with a larger "Category C" municipality containing multiple "Category B" municipalities. The municipalities are granted the power to administer certain matters listed in Schedules 4 and 5, and the executive and legislative authority is vested in the municipal council. The chapter requires municipal elections to be held every five years. Chapter 8 establishes

603-518: A whites-only referendum, created the Tricameral Parliament , with separate houses representing Whites , Coloureds and Indians but without representation for Blacks . The figurehead State President and executive Prime Minister were merged into an executive State President, chosen by parliament. This contradiction remains to date and is nearly unique to South Africa (one exception being neighbouring Botswana ). The Constitution of

670-611: A year. The last parliament of the Union elected in 1958 would continue as the first parliament of the new Republic. The House of Assembly consisted of 150 members elected by white voters from single-member electoral divisions using first-past-the-post voting , six members elected by white voters in South-West Africa , and four members elected by coloured voters in the Cape Province . (The number of ordinary members

737-524: Is placed under the control of the national government but gives provincial governments some power to administer and oversee policing. Chapter 12 recognizes the status and authority of traditional leaders and customary law , subject to the Constitution. It allows for the creation of provincial houses of traditional leaders and a national council of traditional leaders. The Traditional leaders must have responsibilities in affairs and decision making of

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804-502: Is usually a matter for an executive department with varying degrees of supervision by the independent board. Countries with such a model include Cameroon, France, Germany, Japan, Senegal and Spain. In the executive model the election commission is directed by a cabinet minister as part of the executive branch of government, and may include local government authorities acting as agents of the central body. Countries with this model include Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia. In

871-555: The Cape and Transvaal , the provincial councils consisted of the same number of members as the number of members of the House of Assembly elected from the province, elected from the same electoral divisions. In Natal and the Orange Free State , which each elected less than twenty-five members of the House of Assembly, the provincial councils consisted of twenty-five members. The provincial council elected four members who, with

938-522: The Constitution of South Africa . In the branch model the election commission is often called an electoral branch, and is usually a constitutionally-recognized separate branch of government , with its members appointed by either the executive or the legislative branch. Countries with an electoral branch include Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Venezuela. In the mixed-model there is an independent board to determine policy, but implementation

1005-537: The Financial and Fiscal Commission which came into force on 1 December 2003. It made various amendments to provisions affecting the financial management of national and provincial government, including: Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961 The Constitution of 1961 (formally the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961 ) was the fundamental law of South Africa for two decades. Under

1072-540: The Financial and Fiscal Commission , to advise government on financial matters, and the Reserve Bank , to oversee the currency . Economist Jacques Jonker has criticised the provisions of Chapter 13 as being insufficient to guard against fiscal imprudence, and has suggested that it be amended in line with other constitutions such as that of Spain in order to enforce fiscal discipline. The final chapter deals with transitional and incidental provisions. In particular,

1139-936: The Independent Communications Authority . Chapter 10 lists values and principles for the administration of the civil service and establishes the Public Service Commission to oversee it. Chapter 11 establishes structures for civilian control of the Defence Force , the Police Service and the intelligence services . It makes the President the Commander-in-Chief of the defence force but places conditions on when and how it may be employed and requires regular reports to Parliament. The police service

1206-617: The Judicial Service Commission . These responsibilities were merged into a single post, reflecting the pre-eminence of the Constitutional Court at the apex of the court system. Other provisions of the amendment: The Constitution Seventh Amendment Act (formerly the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Second Amendment Act, 2001) came into force on 26 April 2002, except for provisions affecting

1273-460: The separation of powers with an impartial judiciary , provincial and local levels of government with democratic representation, and protection of the diversity of languages and cultures . The Bill of Rights, now in Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa , was largely written by Kader Asmal and Albie Sachs . The new constitutional text was to be tested against these principles by

1340-521: The 1960s. On 3 August 1960, the National Party government announced a referendum would be held in October of that year so that voters might weigh in on the question of whether the Union of South Africa should become a republic. The vote was restricted to white South Africans . More than 90% of eligible voters participated in the referendum, and 52.3% of votes were in favour of "a Republic for

1407-658: The Administrator, formed an Executive Council for the province. While the South Africa Act had made English and Dutch the official languages of South Africa, with Dutch defined to include Afrikaans under the Official Languages of the Union Act in 1925, the 1961 Constitution made English and Afrikaans the official languages and defined Afrikaans to include Dutch. This clause was entrenched by

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1474-611: The Constitution provides that a bill to amend the Constitution can only be passed if at least two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly (that is, at least 267 of the 400 members) vote in favour of it. If the amendment affects provincial powers or boundaries, or if it amends the Bill of Rights, at least six of the nine provinces in the National Council of Provinces must also vote for it. To amend section 1 of

1541-477: The Constitution, which establishes the existence of South Africa as a sovereign, democratic state, and lays out the country's founding values, would require the support of three-quarters of the members of the National Assembly. There have been eighteen amendments since 1996. The Constitution First Amendment Act (formerly the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act, 1997) was signed by

1608-564: The Constitutional Court". The presiding judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), who had previously had the title of Chief Justice, became instead "President of the Supreme Court of Appeal". The deputy heads of each court were also renamed similarly. Consequentially many provisions of the Constitution had to be amended where they made reference to the President of the Constitutional Court. These changes were intended to clarify

1675-416: The President and Cabinet. Chapter 6 establishes the nine provinces of South Africa and defines the powers and structure of the provincial governments. The boundaries of the provinces are defined by reference to Schedule 1A to the Constitution, which refers in turn to the boundaries of the metropolitan and district municipalities . In some respects, the chapter is a template which a province may modify to

1742-529: The President on 28 August 1997 but had effect retroactively to 4 February 1997 when the constitution came into force. It had three provisions: This last change allowed the TRC to deal with various violent events, particularly the Bophuthatswana coup d'état and its aftermath, that had occurred in the run-up to the 1994 general elections . The Constitution Second Amendment Act (formerly the Constitution of

1809-470: The Republic of South Africa Amendment Act, 1998) came into force on 7 October 1998. It had five provisions: The Constitution Third Amendment Act (formerly the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Second Amendment Act, 1998) came into force on 30 October 1998. It allowed for municipalities to be established across provincial boundaries by the agreement of the national and the relevant provincial governments. The changes it made were reversed in 2005 by

1876-468: The Republic of South Africa, 1993 or Interim Constitution was introduced at the end of apartheid to govern the period of transition. It introduced, for the first time, the framework of a liberal democracy, universal adult suffrage and a bill of rights . An integral part of the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa was the creation of a new constitution. One of the major disputed issues

1943-678: The Republic under the 1961 constitution was a Westminster system very similar to that of the Union under the South Africa Act 1909 , except that the Queen and the appointed Governor-General were replaced by a State President elected by Parliament . C. R. Swart , the last Governor-General became the first State President on 31 May 1961. The executive power was formally vested in the State President of South Africa , who as head of state had all powers previously belonging to

2010-699: The State President was required to appoint a Prime Minister and Cabinet that commanded the support of the House of Assembly; commonly the Prime Minister would be the leader of the majority party. The legislative power was vested in Parliament , which consisted of the House of Assembly (the lower house ) and the Senate (the upper house ). Parliament sat in Cape Town and was required to meet at least once

2077-502: The Sudan in 1957, election commissions were created across the continent especially after many African nations introduced a system of multi-party democracy in the early 1990s. Constitution of South Africa The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa . It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic , it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines

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2144-542: The Twelfth Amendment. The Constitution Fourth Amendment Act and Constitution Fifth Amendment Act (formerly the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act, 1999 and Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Second Amendment Act, 1999) came into force on 19 March 1999. They were passed as two separate amendments because the Fourth contained provisions affecting provincial government, which required

2211-646: The Union." The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill was introduced in January 1961. It came into force on 31 May 1961; 31 May was a significant day in South African history, being both the day in 1902 on which the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed, ending the Second Anglo-Boer War , and the day in 1910 on which the Union of South Africa came into being. The structure of the government of

2278-595: The United States, elections for federal, state, and local offices are run by the executive branch of each state government. In the judicial model the election commission is closely supervised by and ultimately responsible to a special " electoral court ". Countries with such a model include Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. As of 2021, 53 out of 55 African nations (save for Eritrea and Somalia , which do not hold elections) use or have used election commissions to organize and supervise their elections. First introduced in

2345-593: The approval of the National Council of Provinces , while the Fifth did not. The Fourth Amendment: The Fifth Amendment: The Constitution Sixth Amendment Act (formerly the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act, 2001) came into force on 21 November 2001. Its main effect was to give the title of " Chief Justice of South Africa " to the presiding judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa , who had previously been titled "President of

2412-506: The bill to Parliament with proposed amendments. Once assented to, no court had the power to review the validity of an Act of Parliament unless it affected one of the entrenched clauses of the constitution. The provincial governments were continued essentially unchanged. The Administrator of each province was appointed for a five-year term by the State President. The provincial council was elected by white voters from single-member electoral divisions using first-past-the-post voting . In

2479-607: The chapter contains a miscellaneous collection of provisions, Chapter 14 also repeals the Interim Constitution and refers to Schedule 6 to govern the process of transition to the new Constitution. Finally, it gives the Constitution its formal title, "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996," and defines the schedule for its commencement, under which the President set the date of commencement for most sections, although certain sections dealing with financial matters commenced only on 1 January 1998. Section 74 of

2546-455: The constitution key national principles, defines the country's flag and national anthem , and specifies the official languages and principles of government language policy. It defines South Africa as "one, sovereign, democratic state" based on principles of human rights, constitutional supremacy, the rule of law and universal adult suffrage. The chapter contains a supremacy clause which establishes that all other law and actions are subject to

2613-446: The constitution. Chapter 2 is a bill of rights which enumerates the civil, political , economic, social and cultural human rights of the people of South Africa. Most of these rights apply to anyone in the country, with the exception of the right to vote, the right to work and the right to enter the country, which apply only to citizens. They also apply to juristic persons to the extent that they are applicable, taking into account

2680-428: The courts. Chapter 4 defines the structure of Parliament , the legislative branch of the national government. Parliament consists of two houses, the National Assembly (the lower house ), which is directly elected by the people, and the National Council of Provinces (the upper house ), which is elected by the provincial legislatures . The Chapter defines the principles governing the election and dissolution of

2747-453: The declaration of states of emergency and provides for the rights of people detained as a result. Chapter 3 deals with the relationships between organs of government in the three "spheres" – national, provincial and local . It lays down a set of principles requiring them to co-operate in good faith and to act in the best interests of the people. It also requires them to attempt to settle disputes amicably before resorting to

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2814-462: The final constitution would have to comply, so that basic freedoms would be ensured and minority rights protected, without overly limiting the role of the elected constitutional assembly. The parties to the MPNP adopted this idea and proceeded to draft the Interim Constitution of 1993 , which was formally enacted by Parliament and came into force on 27 April 1994. The Interim Constitution provided for

2881-480: The first part deals with international law , providing that existing agreements binding South Africa will continue to bind it, and that new agreements (except those of a technical nature) will only be binding once approved by Parliament. It also provides that customary international law applies in South African unless it conflicts with national law, and that the courts must, where possible, interpret national law to be consistent with international law. The remainder of

2948-461: The houses, qualifications for membership of Parliament, quorum requirements, procedures for the election of presiding officers, and the powers and privileges and immunities of Parliament and its members. It lays down the process for enacting bills into law; different procedures are provided for constitutional amendments, ordinary bills not affecting provincial matters, ordinary bills affecting provincial matters, and money bills . Chapter 5 defines

3015-418: The longest-lasting to date. Since 1961 , the constitutions have promulgated a republican form of government. Since 1997, the Constitution has been amended by eighteen amendment acts. The Constitution is formally entitled the " Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 ." It was previously also numbered as if it were an Act of Parliament  – Act No. 108 of 1996 – but, since

3082-766: The monarch or the Governor-General of South Africa . The role of the State President was largely ceremonial, as he was required to act on the advice of the Cabinet . Actual executive power rested with the Prime Minister , who was head of government . The State President was elected, for a non-renewable seven-year term, by a joint sitting of Parliament in which each Senator or member of the House of Assembly had one vote. He could be removed for misconduct or incapacity by resolutions passed by both houses of Parliament after an investigation by joint committee. When

3149-485: The municipality in order to build proper sustainable development to the people that resides on that municipality. Because we have Traditional leaders that do not have daily duties day in and day out; in short they must be part of mayoral council. Chapter 13 deals with public finance . It establishes a National Revenue Fund , from which money may be appropriated only by an act of Parliament, and Provincial Revenue Funds , from which money may only be appropriated by an act of

3216-470: The national government over other matters, listed in Schedule 4. The chapter regulates the conflict between national and provincial legislation on the same topic, setting out the circumstances under which one or the other will prevail. Chapter 7 sets out a framework for local government . It requires municipalities to be established for the whole territory of South Africa, and provides for three categories of municipalities, whereby some areas are governed by

3283-415: The nature of the right. The rights enumerated are: Section 36 allows the rights listed to be limited only by laws of general application, and only to the extent that the restriction is reasonable and justifiable in "an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom." Section 37 allows certain rights to be limited during a state of emergency but places strict procedural limits on

3350-404: The new constitution was required to comply. These included multi-party democracy with regular elections and universal adult suffrage , supremacy of the constitution over all other law, a quasi- federal system in place of centralised government , non- racism and non- sexism , the protection of "all universally accepted fundamental rights, freedoms and civil liberties ," equality before the law,

3417-465: The newly established Constitutional Court . If the text complied with the principles, it would become the new constitution; if it did not, it would be referred back to the Constitutional Assembly. The Constitutional Assembly engaged in a massive public participation programme to solicit views and suggestions from the public. As the deadline for the adoption of a constitutional text approached, however, many issues were hashed out in private meetings between

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3484-546: The office of State President was vacant the President of the Senate would serve as Acting State President under the terms of a dormant commission . The State President would appoint a cabinet (formally the Executive Council) consisting of members of the Senate and the House of Assembly. The Westminster constitutional conventions that had applied under the Union were preserved by the 1961 constitution, so in effect

3551-502: The parties' representatives. On 8 May 1996, a new text was adopted with the support of 86 per cent of the members of the assembly, but in the First Certification judgment, delivered on 6 September 1996, the Constitutional Court refused to certify this text. The Constitutional Court identified a number of provisions that did not comply with the constitutional principles. Areas of non-compliance included failures to protect

3618-579: The passage of the Citation of Constitutional Laws Act , neither it nor the acts amending it are allocated act numbers. The South Africa Act 1909 , an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , unified four British colonies – Cape Colony , Transvaal Colony , Orange River Colony and Natal Colony  – into the Union of South Africa , a self-governing dominion . The Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961 transformed

3685-524: The previous text. Some dealt with the court's reasons for non-certification, while others tightened up the text. The amended text was returned to the Constitutional Court to be certified, which the court duly did in its Second Certification judgment, delivered on 4 December. The Constitution was signed by President Mandela on 10 December and officially published in the Government Gazette on 18 December. It did not come into force immediately; it

3752-542: The provincial legislature. It provides for an equitable distribution of national revenue to the provinces and municipalities, and grants provincial and local governments the powers to raise certain rates and taxes. It requires effective and transparent budgeting at all levels of government and gives the National Treasury the power to oversee budgetary processes. It places some restrictions on government procurement and government borrowing . The chapter establishes

3819-579: The right of employees to engage in collective bargaining; to provide for the constitutional review of ordinary statutes; to entrench fundamental rights, freedoms and civil liberties and to sufficiently safeguard the independence of the Public Protector and Auditor-General as well as other areas of non-compliance in relation to local government responsibilities and powers. The Constitutional Assembly reconvened and, on 11 October, adopted an amended constitutional text containing many changes relative to

3886-525: The structure of the Government . The current constitution , the country's fifth, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 in the South African general election, 1994 . It was promulgated by President Nelson Mandela on 18 December 1996 and came into effect on 4 February 1997, replacing the Interim Constitution of 1993. The first constitution was enacted by the South Africa Act 1909 ,

3953-473: The structure of the South African judiciary . Previously, the President of the Constitutional Court was responsible for various constitutional responsibilities, such as calling the first session of Parliament after an election and presiding over the election of the President of the Republic at that session, while the Chief Justice was responsible for judicial administration, including for example chairing

4020-472: The structure of the judicial system . It defines the hierarchy consisting of Magistrates' Courts , the High Court , the Supreme Court of Appeal , and the Constitutional Court . It provides for the appointment of judges by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission and establishes a single National Prosecuting Authority responsible for all criminal prosecutions. Chapter 9 creates

4087-405: The structure of the national executive and the powers of the President . It provides for the election and removal of the President by the National Assembly, and limits a President to two five-year terms. It vests in him or her the powers of the head of state and head of government; it provides for the appointment of a Cabinet by the President; and it provides for the accountability to Parliament of

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4154-493: The terms of the constitution South Africa left the Commonwealth and became a republic . Legally, the Union of South Africa , which had existed since 1910, came to an end and was re-established as the "Republic of South Africa". Republicanism was always a major tenet of Afrikaner nationalism . Even when nationalists controlled the government, however, political realities prevented this goal from being attained prior to

4221-522: The union into a republic, replacing the Queen with a State President , but otherwise leaving the system of government largely unchanged. In a referendum , the first national election with a solely white electorate, the Act was narrowly approved, with a substantial minority in the Cape province and a strong majority in Natal opposing it. The Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983 , again approved by

4288-407: Was brought into operation on 4 February 1997, by a presidential proclamation, except for some financial provisions which were delayed until 1 January 1998. The constitution consists of a preamble, fourteen chapters containing 244 sections, and eight schedules. Each chapter deals with a particular topic; the schedules contain ancillary information referred to in the main text. Chapter 1 enshrines in

4355-437: Was increased to 160 in 1966 and to 165 in 1974; the coloured representative members were removed in 1970, and the members representing South-West Africa in 1977.) The House of Assembly was elected for a five-year term, but could be dissolved early by the State President (acting on the advice of the cabinet). The Senate consisted of: Elected Senators held office for a term of five years, while nominated Senators held office until

4422-415: Was the process by which such a constitution would be adopted. The African National Congress (ANC) insisted that it should be drawn up by a democratically elected constituent assembly , while the governing National Party (NP) feared that the rights of minorities would not be protected in such a process, and proposed instead that the constitution be negotiated by consensus between the parties and then put to

4489-505: Was the size of the supermajority that would be required for the assembly to adopt the constitution: The NP wanted a 75 per cent requirement, which would effectively have given it a veto. In April 1993, the parties returned to negotiations, in what was known as the Multi-Party Negotiating Process (MPNP). A committee of the MPNP proposed the development of a collection of "constitutional principles" with which

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