One Law for One Nation: The Making of the South African Constitution

The birth of South Africa's democratic constitution was an extraordinary feat, shaping the country's future with inclusivity and participation at its core. Following the 1994 elections, the newly elected democratic parliament had two crucial tasks: governing a democratic South Africa and drafting a new Constitution. For the Constitution to carry legitimacy, it required the support of both political representatives within the Constitutional Assembly and South African citizens across the nation.

The Constitutional Assembly team worked with the South African Communication Service to create The One Law for One Nation multi-media campaign to ensure that the South African public not only took part in the writing process of the new Constitution, but knew what a constitution is all about and were able to use it in their daily lives. The Constitutional Assembly media strategy's objectives were to inform, educate, stimulate public interest, and create a forum for public participation.

The seven-week multi-media campaign began with general advertisements on the constitution-making process in every official language, mounted throughout the length and breadth of South Africa. Posters proclaimed the birth of the new constitution: “One law for one nation,” which also ran in national, regional and local newspapers including outdoor billboards. The Constitutional Assembly launched an official newsletter, Constitutional Talk, to provide information to members of the public in a detailed and educative manner. The eight-page publication was produced fortnightly and distributed to 160 000 people. Ten thousand copies were distributed nationally through taxi ranks and another sixty thousand were sent to subscribers. Comic strips were produced for Constitutional Talk on a fortnightly basis, explaining various complex issues in an accessible and user-friendly manner.

Additionally, the Assembly launched “Constitutional Talk,” a weekly television talk show featuring debates on key topics such as human rights, provincial governance, and the separation of powers; an innovative Constitutional Talk-Line that allowed citizens to engage directly with the Assembly. This service received over 10,000 calls, available in five languages: English, Afrikaans, IsiXhosa, SeTswana and Sesotho, with people seeking information or leaving their thoughts. The Assembly also took steps to create digital access through a website, a groundbreaking initiative at the time, which allowed users to access minutes from committee meetings and browse through a searchable database of submissions.

Year of the Constitution

By the end of 1994, the Constitutional Assembly launched its Public Participation Programme (PPP), marking 1995 as “The Year of the Constitution.” The Assembly held face-to-face constitutional public meetings across the country, dubbed the “constitutional roadshow.” Starting in Paarl in early 1995, the meetings travelled to rural and disadvantaged communities, often marginalised from mainstream political processes. These meetings provided an opportunity for oral submissions, allowing South Africans to directly contribute to the shaping of the Constitution. In the first three months alone, an astonishing 1.75 million submissions were received.

This large-scale public engagement turned the constitution-writing process into a national dialogue. Politicians and legal experts no longer shaped South Africa's future, but its diverse citizens did. Newspapers dedicated significant space to discussions on key issues like the death penalty, land reform, and the right to strike.

This inclusive process set a global precedent, showing how a nation could unite to draft a constitution that reflected its people's diverse needs and aspirations. As a result, the South African Constitution emerged as a powerful symbol of the country's commitment to human rights, equality and democracy.

This historic journey reminds us that our Constitution is not merely a legal document but a living testament to the nation's collective effort in building a fair and just society for all.