Chapter 4 Overview

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The 1993 Constitution and the 1994 Elections

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The Multi-Party Negotiating Forum

Formal negotiations resumed in March/April 1993. They included 26 parties with significant support and 11 organisations with observer status. They agreed to:

Take decisions by ‘sufficient consensus’;
Build on agreements reached at CODESA; and to
Establish a negotiating forum, a negotiating council, a planning committee; and a commission on the demarcation of provinces/states/regions.

Eight technical committees of non-partisan experts would produce reports on:

Arrangements for elections including an independent electoral commission, an independent media commission and a transitional executive council;
Combatting violence and support for the national peace accord;
Constitutional principles that must be included in the final constitution; and
An interim charter of human rights.

The Dismantling of South Africa's Nuclear Weapons

On 24 March 1993 President de Klerk announced in parliament that he had given instructions in 1989 to dismantle South Africa’s nuclear weapons capability – including 6 and a half atoms bombs – that had been developed since 1974.

He had done so because of:

The Tripartite agreement of 22 December 1988 leading to withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola and the independence of Namibia ;
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War; and
The prospect of improving South Africa’s international relations arising from the constitutional transformation process.

South Africa remains the only country that has ever dismantled a nuclear weapons capability that it, itself, had created.

Attempts to Disrupt Negotiations

The assassination of Chris Hani, the secretary-general of the SACP, on 10 April 1993, threatened the resumption of constitutional negotiations. The crisis was defused by:

A nationally broadcast appeal for calm from Nelson Mandela, and by
The quick arrest of the assassins – Polish immigrant Janusz Walus and conservative party MP, Clive Derby Lewis

SERVNevertheless, for the following week in the run-up to Hani’s funeral the country experienced rioting and unrest.

On 25 June 1993 members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) crashed into the World Trade Centre in Kempton park where the negotiations were being held. They occupied the centre for a number of hours before they were finally forced to withdraw.

The Adoption of the Interim Constitution

By the end of June, 1993, the negotiating council had reached sufficient consensus to draft an interim constitution that would make provision for:

The election on 27 April 1994;
A transitional parliament to draft a final constitution within the framework of 34 constitutional principles;
A transitional Multiparty Government of national unity;
Quasi-federal regional/provincial governments;
A transitional bill of rights; and
A constitutional court

On the evening of 17 November 1993 President de Klerk and Nelson Mandela resolved six outstanding issues on which the negotiating teams had failed to reach consensus.

This opened the way for parliament to adopt the 1993 constitution on 22 December, 1993.

The Nobel Peace Prize

Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 10 December 1993 in Oslo, Norway. They received the prize for “their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.”

“At the Southern tip of the continent of Africa a rich reward is in the making, an invaluable gift is in the preparation, for those who suffered in the name of all humanity…” – Nelson Mandela

“The new era that is dawning in our country, beneath the great southern stars, will lift us out of the silent grief of our past …” – FW de Klerk

The Roller-Coaster Ride to the Elections

The Bophuthatswana crisis:

The independent state of Bophuthatswana refused to allow political parties to campaign for the 27 April election. At the beginning of March, the country was invaded by an undisciplined force of AWB supporters. The AWB force was soon routed, president Mangope was deposed and electioneering was allowed.

IFP participation in the elections:

Despite pleas from Nelson Mandela and President de Klerk, the IFP continued to boycott the elections until 19 April when its leader, Prince Buthelezi, agreed to participate provided that constitutional recognition was given to the Zulu king. The IEC quickly made arrangements to include the IFP in tens of millions of ballot papers that had already been printed.

The 27 April 1994 Elections

South Africa’s first fully inclusive election took place as scheduled on 27 April 1994.
86,9% of registered voters cast their ballots.

The ANC won 62,6% of the vote;
The National Party – 20,6%;
The IFP – 10,5%;
The Freedom Front – 2,2%; and
The Democratic Party – 1,7%