The greatest achievement in South Africa’s long and troubled history was the ability of the overwhelming majority of all its people to come together between 1990 and 1996 to move away from minority racial domination and to reach a negotiated agreement on the establishment of a new non-racial constitutional democracy.

This achievement laid the foundations for a new society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights. It was an inspiration – not only to the people of South Africa – but to the whole world. It showed that even the most intractable problems and bitter disputes can be resolved peacefully and rationally through negotiations.

The FW de Klerk Foundation accordingly decided in 2021 to establish the Centre for the Constitutional Transformation of South Africa to provide an audio-visual presentation of how all this was achieved – and to highlight the key importance to all South Africans of the 1996 Constitution that was the culmination of this process.