Constitution history

The New Constitution was negotiated between May 1994 and October 1996 in the country's first democratically elected convention, the Constitutional Assembly. However, the demand for a democratic constitutional dispensation was not new, and was in fact as old as South Africa itself. The Constitution was not a product solely of negotiation in the Constitutional Assembly. Experiences in other parts of the world played a role in its development, and many of its provisions are the realisation of years of struggle and are imbued with historical significance.

The history of this constitutional development spans nine decades between two major milestones, both peace treaties that ended conflict and gave birth to new constitutional orders. The first was the Treaty of Vereeniging of 31 May 1902, which ended the Anglo-Boer War and laid the basis for the adoption of South Africa's first constitution. This constitution was drafted in an unrepresentative convention. The second was the 1993 interim constitution, which has also been described as a peace treaty that ended conflict. Like the previous peace treaty, it laid the basis for a new constitution, only this time it was to be drafted in a democratically elected convention, the Constitutional Assembly.

back to top