21 DAYS AWAY
On 17 April, Ramaphosa accepted a petition from the thousands of chemical workers who had marched to the Constitutional Assembly to present their rejection of the lock-out clause. A similar march was held the next day by members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU).
The Memorandum comes at a time when we are about to reach the final stages of completing the Constitution. As I stand before you now, the Constitutional Committee is meeting, discussing some of the very issues that you are setting out in your memorandum. It is meeting, discussing the Bill of Rights, and it is meeting, debating the very issue of this right to strike and the right to lock-out.
cyril RAMAPHOSA, then Chair of the Constitutional Assembly
After receiving the memorandum from the workers
Cyril Ramaphosa addressing strikers. Subash Jeram / Constitutional Assembly
The NP and other opposition parties believed that the ANC was bowing to COSATU’s pressure and that this interfered with negotiations.
The tremendous pressure from labour and particularly from COSATU, who lived around these precincts for the last three weeks, was a factor which played heavily on the ANC and they were in a dilemma. I think they realised that big business was entitled, to an extent, to be protected and, at the same time, COSATU was adamant that the lock-out would not be included in the Constitution.
Ray Radue
then NP member of the Constitutional Assembly
Both Roelf and Cyril kept smiling and telling journalists that consensus would be reached. But in retrospect Ramaphosa described the final phase of negotiations as being marked by anxiety and great fatigue. For the first time, he admitted that the process resembled the tension-filled days before the 1994 elections. Violence was less the issue this time. It was more a fear that a final Constitution would not be achieved that would once and for all reverse the injustices and inequalities of apartheid.
As the days grew fewer – first ten days, then seven, then four, then two – the negotiations moved from one structure to another in the hope that somewhere else a breakthrough would be achieved … In this manner, edging forward in painstakingly, barely discernible steps, the negotiations continued through the days and the nights.
Cyril Ramaphosa
then Chair of the Constitutional Assembly
As the hours ticked by, Parliament was turned into a makeshift home for the negotiators. Couches were used for beds. A small team of dedicated parliamentary staff led by the head waitress, Mrs. R Smit, provided tea, coffee and sandwiches every two hours. Fast food outlets brought in meals around the clock. Party caucuses were convened regularly to obtain fresh mandates. Bilateral, multilateral and sub-committee meetings took place throughout the day and night. Indeed, in these sessions, the atmosphere was electric. Journalists and observers kept watch alongside politicians, advisers and administrative staff of the Constitutional Assembly until the very end. South Africa held its breath.
COSATU march against the lock-out clause. William Matlala / Africa Media Online
