JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - By a vote of 421 to 2, South Africa's Constitutional Assembly adopted the country's new constitution May 8.

"The Republic of South Africa is one sovereign democratic state founded on the following values: human dignity, the achievement of equality and advancement of human rights and freedoms; non-racialism and non-sexism; supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law," and universal adult suffrage, states the first article of the document.

Sharp disputes over the sections on education, the rights of labor, and land reform were resolved decisively in favor of the oppressed majority in the 11th hour of negotiations between the majority African National Congress and the National Party, the former ruling party under apartheid.

One day after the adoption of the constitution, the National Party (NP) announced it would leave South Africa's Government of National Unity on June 30, effectively ending the current coalition government arrangement. While the party's representatives will retain their seats in Parliament, they are forfeiting their seats in the cabinet and the deputy presidency currently held by F.W. de Klerk.

Announcing his party's decision, de Klerk singled out the fact that the ANC had refused to extend the coalition government arrangement beyond 1999, at which time a simple majority vote system will come into effect.

De Klerk said the National Party would constitute itself in the role of a "strong and confident opposition" to the ANC majority. He complained that, while broad consensus was reached on the new constitution, the NP failed to bridge the gap with the ANC on "the role of the trade unions, abortion and the death penalty, and the unqualified protection of private property."

The Inkatha Freedom Party said it will retain its three cabinet positions for now.

The constitutional vote was taken as thousands of people massed outside Parliament in Cape Town to celebrate the victory. Deputies of the ANC, NP, Democratic Party, and Pan Africanist Congress voted in favor. Only the African Christian Democratic Party, led by former apartheid-era Bantustan officials, voted against. The Inkatha Freedom Party boycotted the constitutional process and was absent at the vote.

Stating that the document had been drafted "by the majority for the majority," rightist Freedom Front leader Constand Viljoen said his party could not in conscience vote against it. But the ANC's refusal to sanction the maintenance of white Afrikaner-only schools led Viljoen's 10 deputies to abstain from the vote.

There is, in addition, no provision for a volkstaat - a white Afrikaner apartheid ministate - as had been demanded by the Freedom Front and other rightist organizations.

`Redress past discrimination'
The education clause finally adopted states that "everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice." Eleven official languages have been adopted. The constitution also says, "The state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives... taking into account... the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory law and practice."

Sharp battles have broken out around the transformation of education in recent months. Some 6,000 people marched earlier this year in the Northern Province town of Potgietersrus and succeeded in forcing the previously all-white school to admit Black children. Almost every week there are reports of new marches, demonstrations, and other protests by teachers, students, and community residents demanding full equality in education.

While the constitution enshrines workers' right to form unions, engage in union activity, and strike, no right is granted for bosses to lock workers out of factories, mines, and mills. The NP, Democratic Party, and all of big business had demanded such a clause. One week prior to the vote, millions of South African workers struck for one day to oppose such a provision.

Business South Africa, the country's largest employers' federation, announced May 9 it would challenge the exclusion of a "lockout clause" in the Constitutional Court, which will review the document and decide if it adheres to principles agreed on in multiparty talks held before the 1994 nonracial elections. The constitution could be law by September.

Business and the capitalist parties also demanded wording that would put the brakes on the opening of agricultural land to millions of Blacks whose land was stolen from 1913 on. This fight centered on the "property clause" in the document. The text adopted states that "no one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application...." It adds that "property may be expropriated only... for public purposes or in the public interest," and states that "the public interest includes the nation's commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring about equitable access to all South Africa's natural resources."

The section concludes by stating that "no provision of this section may impede the state from taking legislative and other measures to achieve land, water and related reform, in order to redress the results of past racial discrimination."

A demand by the National Party that the constitution include a clause barring abortion was rejected. While the document does not specifically address the issue, an amended abortion act is expected be introduced in Parliament later this year. The procedure was illegal under apartheid law.

The NP withdrawal
The week's events yielded turbulence in the Johannesburg stock and bond markets, and the rand seesawed against the dollar prior to stabilizing May 10. The South African currency has lost about 20 percent of its value against the dollar in recent months.

Appraising developments in the government, the ANC's National Executive Committee met May 11-12. It released a statement greeting "one of the most progressive constitutions in the world," and said the body "agreed that the departure of the NP from the cabinet marked a further step in normalizing our democratic dispensation.... Nation building, reconciliation, reconstruction and development are realities which are broader than a constitutionally entrenched coalition and indeed the latter have often hampered further realization of these goals."

The NP's departure from cabinet was met generally with an air of resigned inevitability from the big-business press. "The need now is for the NP to toughen up its act," said the editors of the Johannesburg Citizen May 13.

The adoption of the constitution, and the subsequent departure of the party that led the apartheid regime for 48 years, was greeted with satisfaction by millions of working people. "I am very glad the Nats are leaving government, because they are our enemy," said Lizzie Nyongwane, a resident of Sebokeng who works in Johannesburg.

South African president Nelson Mandela moved swiftly in reaction to de Klerk's announcement, appointing five new ministers, all drawn from the ANC. They are Penuell Maduna, Mineral and Energy Affairs; Valli Moosa, Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development; Derek Hanekom, Land Affairs and Agriculture; Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Welfare and Population Development; and Pallo Jordan, Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Jordan had previously been in charge of Posts and Telecommunications, until being dropped from the cabinet during a reorganization two months ago.

Mandela shrank the cabinet by two members by combining some ministries. In doing so, Inkatha was denied an additional post. The agriculture ministry was merged with land affairs. This move brought protest from the South African Agricultural Union, which speaks for capitalist farmers. The group said that while Hanekom was in charge of land redistribution and restitution, he had not shown a commitment to "agriculturally productive" land.

In other news, the ANC National Executive Committee meeting announced it had decided to release Cyril Ramaphosa from his position as ANC secretary-general once the constitution is ratified by the Constitutional Court. Ramaphosa announced two weeks earlier that he was leaving Parliament to join an investment company owned by Black businessman Nthato Motlana. Cheryl Carolus will continue as acting secretary-general until the next ANC national conference in 1997.  
 
 
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