Constitutional Design

Apartheid

Apartheid is a system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa imposed by the white Europeans. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the trading companies from Europe occupied it with arms and force and became the local rulers. The system of apartheid divided the people and labelled them on the basis of their skin colour. The white rulers treated all nonwhites as inferiors. The non-whites did not have voting rights and were forbidden from living in white areas.

Apartheid

The blacks, coloured and Indians fought against the apartheid system, from 1950. The African National Congress (ANC) was the umbrella organisation that led the struggle against the policies of segregation. Nelson Mandela was one of the leaders amongst the eight who were tried for treason by the white South African government. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for daring to oppose the apartheid regime in the country.

Giving Rise to a New Constitution

As the protests and struggles against apartheid increased, the blacks could no longer be kept under the rule of the government through repression. The white regime changed its policies. Discriminatory laws were repealed. Ban on political parties and restrictions on the media were lifted. Nelson Mandela was released after 28 years in the Robben Island Prison. The apartheid government came to an end on the midnight of 26 April 1994, paving way for the formation of a multi-racial government.

Giving Rise to a New Constitution

Following the emergence of the new democratic South Africa, the party that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution. This constitution gave to its citizens the most extensive rights available in any country. Together, they decided that in the search for a solution to the problems, nobody should be excluded.