Constitution history

The development of a vision

In August 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter. This agreement contained eight principles: renunciation of territorial aggression; no territorial changes without consent of the peoples concerned; restoration of sovereign rights and self-government; access to raw materials for all nations; world economic co-operation; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and the disarmament of aggressors. These principles inspired the emerging African nationalists of South Africa, for it raised the general issue of basic rights and, more particularly, the question of self-determination. Drawing from the Atlantic Charter, the ANC drafted its own 'African Claims', which demanded full citizenship, the right to land, and an end to all discriminatory legislation. This was the first time that the concepts of fundamental rights or self-determination were considered demands.

The Atlantic Charter was an Anglo-American statement of common principles issued on 14 August 1941 by United States President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. They had conferred for four days (9-12 August) abord the U.S.S. Augusta off Newfoundland. Although the United States had not yet entered World War II, the statement became an unofficial manifesto of American and British aims in war and peace. The charter's principles were endorsed by 26 allies in the United Nations Declaration signed in Washington D.C. on 1 January 1942.

In 1948 the National Party (NP) came to power, introduced the policy of apartheid, and enacted such notorious laws as the Suppression of Communism Act, the Group Areas Act, the Separate Registration of Voters Act, the Bantu Authorities Act, the pass laws, and the stock limitation laws. Apartheid provoked resistance. In response to these laws, the African, coloured, and Indian people found cause to unite in action, and launched a defiance campaign in 1952. The campaign commenced on 6 April 1952, the 300th anniversary of the arrival of van Riebeeck, a leader of the first Dutch settlers in South Africa.

On 26 June 1955 the Congress of the People took place, a meeting to which all political parties were invited. After nation-wide consultation, several thousand delegates met in Johannesburg to draft the Freedom Charter, which was in effect the first draft of a new constitution for South Africa. The political movement of the oppressed majority had finally matured, graduating from a simple opposition to a movement with leadership and solutions. This charter, particularly its opening paragraph, sketched a vision of what the country's political landscape ought to be, a vision that was to become deeply etched in the thinking of several generations of political leaders. The inspiration provided by the Charter can be seen clearly in the drafting of the final Constitution. Its opening paragraph states:

We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people; that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality; that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities; that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief.

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