Printed South African Constitution booklet

This is one of the first booklets printed on the Constitution.

Agreement on many issues were reached through the Multi-Party Negotiation Process (MPNP), and on 18 November 1993, the interim Constitution was initiated with a Transitional Executive Council (TEC) to run the country until democratic elections could be held.

Twenty-six political groups gathered at Kempton Park near Johannesburg approved the Interim Constitution restricted largely to civil and political rights as it contained the Bill of Rights which guarantees the rights protected by international human rights conventions. Other rights that were included were labour rights and property rights. Important constitutional institutions such as Constitutional Court, the Human Rights Commission, and the Commission on Gender Equality were established. It was endorsed by the last apartheid Parliament and became the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 200 of 1993. The Interim Constitution came into effect on 27 April 1994 to administer South Africa’s first democratic elections until it was superseded by the final Constitution on 4 February 1997.