Affirmative action and the interim constitution

The stately inauguration of President Nelson Mandela on 1 O May 1994 sounded the death knell of the longest and most stubborn era of institutionalised racism and inequality known to mankind. The generals who escorted him safely onto the podium will never again receive their orders from a chain of command borne in an exclusively white caucus under the guise of parliamentary sovereignty. The new presidential authority is contained in an Interim Constitution which declares itself to be the supreme law of the Republic (1 ), embodying the concept of constitutional sovereignty for the first time in South Africa. The decisions of Parliament can no longer receive the majoritarian rubber stamp of approval from within its own ranks, but will be tested against the provisions of the Interim Constitution by an independent Constitutional Court. Those which are found to be inconsistent with the provisions of the Interim Constitution will be of no force or effect

Grantor

Centre for Law and Society

Year dc:date.issued

1995

Author dc:creator

• Sauerman, Anthony Edward

• Law

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40620

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40620