Amendments
Section 74 of the Constitution provides that a bill to amend the Constitution can only be passed if at least two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly (that is, at least 267 of the 400 members) vote in favour of it. If the amendment affects provincial powers or boundaries, or if it amends the Bill of Rights, at least six of the nine provinces in the National Council of Provinces must also vote for it. To amend section 1 of the Constitution, which establishes the existence of South Africa as a sovereign, democratic state, and lays out the country's founding values, would require the support of three-quarters of the members of the National Assembly. There have been sixteen amendments since 1996.
| Amendment | Date of assent | Date of commencement | Brief description |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 01997-08-2828 August 1997 | 01997-02-044 February 1997 | Provided that an Acting President need not swear the oath of office again if they had previously served as Acting President. Allowed the President of the Constitutional Court to designate another judge to administer the oath of office to the President or Acting President. Extended the cut-off date for deeds which could be considered for amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 6 December 1993 to 11 May 1994. |
| Second | 01998-09-2828 September 1998 | 01998-10-077 October 1998 | Extended the term of office of municipal councils from four to five years, and modified the schedule for the transformation of local government. Allowed the nomination of alternate members of the Judicial Service Commission to replace unavailable members. Allowed Parliament to assign additional powers to the Public Service Commission. Renamed the Human Rights Commission the South African Human Rights Commission. |
| Third | 01998-10-2020 October 1998 | 01998-10-3030 October 1998 | Allowed the demarcation of municipalities partly in one province and partly in another.
Effectively repealed by the 12th Amendment. |
| Fourth | 01999-03-1717 March 1999 | 01999-03-1919 March 1999 | Clarified that elections to the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures may be called either before or after the term of office of the previous Assembly or legislature has expired. Modified the formula for the allocation to parties of seats in the National Council of Provinces. Allowed the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Financial and Fiscal Commission to be part-time members. Passed as two separate acts because of the special procedures for provincial matters which applied to some of the changes. |
| Fifth | |||
| Sixth | 02001-11-2020 November 2001 | 02001-11-2121 November 2001 | Renamed Chief Justice to President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and renamed President of the Constitutional Court to Chief Justice. Allowed an Act of Parliament to extend the term of office of a Constitutional Court judge. Permitted the President to appoint two Deputy Ministers from outside the National Assembly. Extended the powers of municipal councils to raise loans. |
| Seventh | 02001-12-077 December 2001 | 02002-04-2626 April 2002 / 1 December 2003 | Various amendments relating to the passage of financial legislation and the financial relationship between the provincial and national governments. |
| Eighth | 02002-06-1919 June 2002 | 02002-06-2020 June 2002 | Allowed members of municipal councils to cross the floor, that is, to move from one political party to another without losing their seats.
Effectively repealed by the 14th and 15th Amendments. |
| Ninth | 02002-06-1919 June 2002 | 02002-06-2020 June 2002 | Provided for the re-allocation of seats in the National Council of Provinces after floor-crossing in provincial legislatures.
The Loss or Retention of Membership of National and Provincial Legislatures Act, 2002, which would have allowed floor-crossing in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures, was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. Effectively repealed by the 14th and 15th Amendments. |
| Tenth | 02003-03-1919 March 2003 | 02003-03-2020 March 2003 | Allowed floor-crossing in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
Effectively repealed by the 14th and 15th Amendments. |
| Eleventh | 02003-04-099 April 2003 | 02003-07-1111 July 2003 | Renamed the Northern Province to Limpopo Province. Modified the procedure for national government intervention in dysfunctional provincial governments. Expanded the powers of provincial governments to intervene in dysfunctional municipalities. |
| Twelfth | 02005-12-2222 December 2005 | 02006-03-011 March 2006 | Redefined the boundaries of the provinces in terms of the district and metropolitan municipalities, and repealed the provisions inserted by the 3rd amendment which allowed for cross-boundary municipalities.
The community of Matatiele, which had been transferred from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape, challenged the amendment before the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature had not allowed for the necessary public participation before approving the amendment. The court's order was suspended for eighteen months and Parliament re-enacted the changes in the 13th Amendment. |
| Thirteenth | 02007-12-1313 December 2007 | 02007-12-1414 December 2007 | Re-enacted the transfer of Matatiele from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape. |
| Fourteenth | 02009-01-066 January 2009 | 02009-04-1717 April 2009 | Repealed the floor-crossing provisions added by the 8th, 9th and 10th Amendments, making it impossible for a legislator to cross the floor without losing his or her seat. Passed as two separate acts because of the special procedures for provincial matters which applied to some of the changes. |
| Fifteenth | |||
| Sixteenth | 02009-03-2525 March 2009 | 02009-04-033 April 2009 | Transferred the Merafong City Local Municipality from North West province to Gauteng, reversing a change made by the 12th Amendment. |
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Famous quotes containing the word amendments:
“Both of us felt more anxiety about the South—about the colored people especially—than about anything else sinister in the result. My hope of a sound currency will somehow be realized; civil service reform will be delayed; but the great injury is in the South. There the Amendments will be nullified, disorder will continue, prosperity to both whites and colored people will be pushed off for years.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)