Editorial note

• Author: Margaret Beukes
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC-c6be198de
• Published date: 01 January 2016
• Date: 01 January 2016
• Record Number: sapr1_v31_n1_a1
• Pages: 1-2

1

EDITORIAL NOTE1

Margaret Beukes

On 10 December 1996 South Africa’s rst democratically elected President, Nelson

Mandela, signed the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 into law. In

recognition of past oppression and inequities the ceremony took place at Sharpeville,

the site of the infamous 1960 massacre of sixty-nine South Africans. In looking back

at one of South Africa’s darkest days, the momentous occasion of the adoption of this

Constitution (also referred to as the Final Constitution) offered great hope to all South

Africans in both thinking and moving forward towards a truly democratic state. Indeed,

in the eyes of many, South Africa’s future as a democratic, free, fair, and open society

was cemented by this Constitution. The Constitution was duly promulgated and came

into force on 4 February 1997.

As we stand on the brink of celebrating t w en t y years of the 1996 Constitution

in South Africa, it beh ove s us to

look

back and to take stock of the challenges

that have threatened our efforts to become a genuinely democratic, free, fair and open

society. It is also an appropriate point at which to ‘think forward’ – to contemplate

and address new ways of addressing our current situation and examine the real and

anticipated challenges that persist.

The Centre for Public Law Studies, in collaboration with the Centre for Indigenous

Law, both housed within the Department of Public, Constitutional and International

Law in the College of Law at the University of South Africa, therefore embarked on

planning and hosting this conference entitled ‘Twenty Years of the Constitution of the

Republic of South Africa, 1996: Looking back, thinking forward’.

At the Conference held from 14 to 16 March 2016 in the Kgorong Hall at Unisa,

papers were delivered under a number of sub-themes dealing with issues of contemporary

relevance to South African society,

but all engaged, in one way or another, with the

theme of ‘

looking back, and thinking forward’. In total seven sub-themes were

identied:

• Constitutional l itigation and the Bill of

Rights;

1 ‘Twenty Years of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996: Looking back, thinking

forward’ (Conference at the Centre for Public Law Studies, Department of Public, Constitutional and

International Law, Unisa, Pretoria, 14–16 March 2016).

https://doi.org/10.25159/2219-6412/2927

ISSN 2219-6412 (Print)

© Unisa Press 2017

Southern African Public Law

https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/SAPL/index

Volume 31 | Number 1 | 2016 | pp. 1–2