A Crack Emerges, 9 May 1996 The day after the Constitution was accepted, the National Party walked out of the Government of National Unity. It stated that it preferred to develop its future as an opposition party. President Nelson Mandela tried to persuade the NP to return to the fold but FW de Klerk remained …
DEADLINE DAY The morning of Wednesday, 8 May was grey and wintry in Cape Town. Outside the Parliament building, television crews jostled for the best positions and buses of school children arrived from all over the city to bear witness to the moment. Cyril Ramaphosa, Leon Wessels and Hassen Ebrahim waited for the MPs to …
1 DAY AWAY I know it’s late but just twenty minutes more, just twenty minutes – for our Constitution which is for the next twenty years, no, fifty years, 100 years, 200 years. While the political parties were urgently engaged in bilateral and multilateral meetings, the IFP met elsewhere in the Parliament building to prepare …
2 DAYS AWAY The meetings on 6 May failed to produce any results. The atmosphere in the Constitutional Assembly was becoming acrimonious. There was no longer evidence of the consensus-seeking mode that had previously characterised much of the process. The parties were playing hardball. Once again, fatigue was a major issue. The negotiators were worn …
3 DAYS AWAY The press was now urging the negotiators to complete the job they had started. City Press said: “This week support, prayers and sheer old-fashioned staying power were the request we threw at the feet of men and women writing our country’s new constitution. The work has been hard. Almost back-breaking … But …
4 DAYS AWAY Poster from the Constitutional Assembly media campaign. Constitutional Assembly Negotiators were now confident that the technical refinement team could draft amendments for consideration by the political parties later in the day. Several ANC proposals had been tabled regarding the Bill of Rights, the property clause and the lock-out clause. There was agreement …
5 DAYS AWAY It’s 7 o’clock on Friday 3rd May 1996. You’re listening to AM Live on SAFM 104 to 107. Thank you, Sally. Good morning. The experts say, while it seems possible that agreement can be reached on the property and lock-out clauses, neither the ANC nor the National Party appeared prepared last night …
7 DAYS AWAY On 1 May, the Constitutional Committee began debating outstanding issues at two in the afternoon and ended at five o’clock the next morning, without reaching success. At this point there were real concerns that the Constitution would not be adopted on 8 May. Poster from the Constitutional Assembly media campaign. Constitutional Assembly …
8 DAYS AWAY A crisis loomed as COSATU refused to abandon its plan for a national strike. On Tuesday, 30 April COSATU staged its general strike. At lunchtime unionists rallied outside Parliament and a hapless Tony Leon was manhandled and slapped in the face when he tried to address the gathering. Throughout the day, the …
9 DAYS AWAY A crisis loomed as COSATU refused to abandon its plan for a national strike, scheduled to take place the following day. Further to-ing and fro-ing on the education and property clauses continued. The possibility that the Constitution might not be finished was becoming very real. The issues remained the same. The ANC would not agree to …
President Mandela gives his State of the Nation address in Parliament. Mandela ends his address with the words, “Let us all get down to work”.
President Nelson Mandela announces his cabinet. It includes members of the African National Congress, National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party.
