UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
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From: pdog@leland.stanford.edu (peter Bouckaert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Date: 30 Mar 1994 22:33:47 GMT
Organization: Law School
Message-ID:
CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, ACT 200 OF 1993
[ASSENTED TO 25 JANUARY 1994] . .[DATE OF COMMENCEMENT: 27 APRIL 1994]
(Unless otherwise indicated: see s. 251 (2))
(Afrikaans text signed by the State President)
ACT
To introduce a new Constitution for the Republic of South Africa and to
provide for matters incidental thereto.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sections
CHAPTER 1 Constituent and Formal Provisions. . . . . . . . .. . .1-4
CHAPTER 2 Citizenship and Franchise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
CHAPTER 3 Fundamental Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-35
CHAPTER 4 Parliament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-67
- The National Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..40-47
- The Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48-54
- The National Assembly and the Senate . . . . . . . 55-67
CHAPTER 5 The Adoption of the new Constitution . . . . . . . . 68-74
CHAPTER 6 The National Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75-95
CHAPTER 7 The Judicial Authority and the Administration of
Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96-109
CHAPTER 8 The Public Protector, Human Rights Commission,
Commission on Gender Equality and Restitution of
Land Rights
- The Public Protector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110-114
- Human Rights Commission. . . . . . . . . . . . . 115-118
- Commission on Gender Equality. . . . . . . . . . 119-120
- Restitution of Land Rights . . . . . . . . . . . 121-123
CHAPTER 9 Provincial Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
- Provincial Legislative Authority . . . . . . . . 125-143
- Provincial Executive Authority . . . . . . . . . 144-154
- Provincial Finance and Fiscal Affairs. . . . . . 155-159
- Provincial Constitutions . . . . . . . . . . . . 160-162
- Commission on Provincial Government. . . . . . . 163-173
CHAPTER 10 Local Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174-180
CHAPTER 11 Traditional Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . 181-184
CHAPTER 12 Finance
- General Financial Affairs. . . . . . . . . . . . 185-190
- Auditor-General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191-194
- South African Reserve Bank . . . . . . . . . . . 195-197
- Financial and Fiscal Commission. . . . . . . . . 198-206
- Commission on Remuneration of Representatives. . 207-208
CHAPTER 13 Public Service Commission and Public Service
- Public Service Commission. . . . . . . . . . . . 209-211
- The Public Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
- Provincial Service Commissions . . . . . . . . . . . 213
CHAPTER 14 Police and Defence
- South African Police Service . . . . . . . . . . 214-223
- National Defence Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224-228
CHAPTER 15 General and Transitional Provisions . . . . . 229-251
SCHEDULE 1 Part 1: Definitions of Provinces
Part 2: Contentious Areas
SCHEDULE 2 System for Election of National Assembly and
Provincial Legislatures
SCHEDULE 3 Oaths and Affirmations of Office
SCHEDULE 4 Constitutional Principles
SCHEDULE 5 Procedure for Election of President
SCHEDULE 6 Legislative Competences of Provinces
SCHEDULE 7 Repeal of Laws
Preamble
In humble submission to Almighty God,
We, the people of South Africa declare that-
WHEREAS there is a need to create a new order in which all South
Africans will be entitled to a common South African citizenship in a
sovereign and democratic constitutional state in which there is equality
between men and women and people of all races so that all citizens shall
be able to enjoy and exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms;
AND WHEREAS in order to secure the achievement of this goal, elected
representatives of all the people of South Africa should be mandated to
adopt a new Constitution in accordance with a solemn pact recorded as
Constitutional Principles;
AND WHEREAS it is necessary for such purposes that provision should
be made for the promotion of national unity and the restructuring and
continued governance of South Africa while an elected Constitutional
Assembly draws up a final Constitution;
NOW THEREFORE the following provisions are adopted as the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa:
CHAPTER 1
CONSTITUENT AND FORMAL PROVISIONS (ss. 1-4)
1 Republic of South Africa
(1) The Republic of South Africa shall be one, sovereign state.
(2) The national territory of the Republic shall comprise the areas
defined in Part 1 of Schedule 1.
2 National symbols
(1) The national flag of the Republic shall be the flag the design
of which is determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette.
(2) The national anthem of the Republic shall be as determined by
the President by proclamation in the Gazette.
(3) The coat of arms of the Republic and the seal of the Republic
under the previous Constitution shall be the national coat of arms of
the Republic and the seal of the Republic under this Constitution.
3 Languages
(1) Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho,
siSwati, Xitsonga, Setswana, Tshivenda, isiXhosa and isiZulu shall be
the official South African languages at national level, and conditions
shall be created for their development and for the promotion of their
equal use and enjoyment.
(2) Rights relating to language and the status of languages
existing at the commencement of this Constitution shall not be
diminished, and provision shall be made by an Act of Parliament for
rights relating to language and the status of languages existing only at
regional level, to be extended nationally in accordance with the
principles set out in subsection (9).
(3) Wherever practicable, a person shall have the right to use and
to be addressed in his or her dealings with any public administration at
the national level of government in any official South African language
of his or her choice.
(4) Regional differentiation in relation to language policy and
practice shall be permissible.
(5) A provincial legislature may, by a resolution adopted by a
majority of at least two-thirds of all its members, declare any language
referred to in subsection (1) to be an official language for the whole
or any part of the province and for any or all powers and functions
within the competence of that legislature, save that neither the rights
relating to language nor the status of an official language as existing
in any area or in relation to any function at the time of the
commencement of this Constitu tion, shall be diminished.
(6) Wherever practicable, a person shall have the right to use and
to be addressed in his or her dealings with any public administration at
the provincial level of government in any one of the official languages
of his or her choice as contemplated in subsection (5).
(7) A member of Parliament may address Parliament in the official
South African language of his or her choice.
(8) Parliament and any provincial legislature may, subject to this
section, make provision by legislation for the use of official languages
for the purposes of the functioning of government, taking into account
questions of usage, practicality and expense.
(9) Legislation, as well as official policy and practice, in
relation to the use of languages at any level of government shall be
subject to and based on the provisions of this section and the following
principles:
(a) The creation of conditions for the development and for the
promotion of the equal use and enjoyment of all official South African
languages;
(b) the extension of those rights relating to language and the
status of languages which at the commencement of this Constitution are
restricted to certain regions;
(c) the prevention of the use of any language for the purposes
of exploitation, domination or division;
(d) the promotion of multilingualism and the provision of
translation facilities;
(e) the fostering of respect for languages spoken in the
Republic other than the official languages, and the encour agement of
their use in appropriate circumstances; and
(f) the non-diminution of rights relating to language and the
status of languages existing at the commencement of this Constitution.
(10) (a) Provision shall be made by an Act of Parliament for the
establishment by the Senate of an independent Pan South African Language
Board to promote respect for the principles referred to in subsection
(9) and to further the development of the official South African
languages.
(b) The Pan South African Language Board shall be consulted, and be
given the opportunity to make recommendations, in relation to any
proposed legislation contemplated in this section.
(c) The Pan South African Language Board shall be responsi ble for
promoting respect for and the development of German, Greek, Gujerati,
Hindi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telegu, Urdu and other languages used by
communities in South Africa, as well as Arabic, Hebrew and Sanskrit and
other languages used for religious purposes.
4 Supremacy of the Constitution
(1) This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the Republic and
any law or act inconsistent with its provisions shall, unless otherwise
provided expressly or by necessary implication in this Constitution, be
of no force and effect to the extent of the inconsistency.
(2) This Constitution shall bind all legislative, executive and
judicial organs of state at all levels of government.
--
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Art McGee [amcgee@netcom.com]
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