South Africa's highest court OKs new constitution that guarantees equal rights
Jet, Dec 23, 1996
South Africa recently gave final approval to a new constitution that guarantees equal rights and outlaws capital punishment.
The 150-page document was certified by the Constitutional Court, South Africa's highest court. The new constitution ends any legal legacy of apartheid.
Considered one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, the document outlaws capital punishment, protects gay and lesbian rights and includes a Bill of Rights that guarantees equal rights for all, regardless of race, age, sex, sexual orientation and marital status.
It took two years to negotiate. The new document will gradually replace an interim constitution and will take full effect in 1999.
President Nelson Mandela was expected to sign the new constitution at JET press time during a ceremony in the Black township of Sharpeville, the site of a 1960 police massacre.
Sharpeville was chosen for the signing because the 1960 massacre "marked a new era in the struggle for liberation," said Mohammed Valli Moosa, the Minister of Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development.
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