South Africa 1983
The white government of South Africa initiated a process of constitutional reform in the late 1970's as an attempt to increase its legitimacy among the Colored and Indian ethnic groups. The Portuguese colonies that buffered the Apartheid state achieved independence under radical governments in the mid 1970's, and the Smith regime in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe was clearly under threat. In 1977, the governing National Party proposed a new constitution that would have created three separate parliaments, one each for white, Coloreds, and Indians, while continuing to exclude Blacks from the political process.
The government submitted a draft bill containing its proposals to a commission chaired by the interior minister and consisting of representatives of all of the (white) parties represented in the parliament. This commission proposed amendments to the 1961 constitution eliminating the Senate, providing for the addition of appointed and indirectly elected representatives to the House, and creating a President's Council to advise the president on matters including constitutional reform. Over the objections of the official opposition, both houses of the legislature adopted these amendments (which served as an interim constitution and changed the amending procedure) in May and June 1980.
Prime Minister Botha appointed 60 white, Colored and Asian individuals to the President's Council, which began to function on January 1, 1981. Members of the white official opposition party and leading Colored and Indian groups refused to participate in the council. The council, working primarily through its constitutional committee, held hearings and produced an initial report in May 1982 and a second report in December 1982. In the interim, the ruling National Party issued a set of policy guidelines for a new constitution, and the second report of the President's Council gave great deference to these guidelines. Little is known about the process by which the council drafted its reports.
The government introduced a constitution bill based on the National Party guidelines and the two President's Council reports on May 5, 1983. The legislature at this time consisted of 177 representatives: 165 elected by SMP, 8 indirectly elected by the directly elected representatives on a proportional basis, and 4 appointed by the president. The bill was debated through normal parliamentary procedures, progressing through first and second readings and on to article-by-article consideration in the committee stage. The government then invoked a guillotine motion, ending the committee stage after 19 days with only 34 of the clauses considered. The legislature approved the new constitution on September 9, 1983 by a vote of 119 to 35.
The new constitution did not require approval in a referendum. The 1961 constitution, however, had been submitted to a referendum and the National Party decided to follow this precedent. The referendum, held on November 2, 1983, was restricted to whites. They approved the new constitution by 65.9% on a turnout of 76%. The new constitution came into force on September 3, 1984. The entire process was conducted without the involvement of mediators. The process excluded representatives of the Black community, which composed a majority of the population. This proved to be a fatal flaw, one rectified by the new constitutional settlement of the early 1990's.