Constitution of the Western Cape
Constitution of the Western Cape, 1997 | |
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Western Cape Provincial Legislature | |
Assented to | 15 January 1998 |
Commenced | 16 January 1998 |
Status: In force |
The Constitution of the Western Cape is, subject to the
History
This article is part of a series on the |
The current nine
The process of drawing up a provincial constitution for the Western Cape was initiated in July 1996 by Premier Hernus Kriel, and the final national constitution was still under negotiation. The bill to enact the new constitution was passed by the Provincial Legislature on 21 February 1997 and referred to the Constitutional Court, which determined whether it was consistent with the national constitution, which had come into effect on 4 February.[1]
The Constitutional Court rejected a number of clauses, but the main objection was a provision that provided for members of the provincial parliament to be elected from multiple-member geographical
The constitution was referred to the provincial legislature to correct the impermissible sections. An amended bill was passed on 11 September 1997, certified by the Constitutional Court on 18 November 1997, signed by the premier on 15 January 1998 and came into effect on the following day.
Contents
The Constitution of the Western Cape consists of a preamble, 11 chapters containing a total of 84 sections, and three schedules. Many of the provisions of the Western Cape constitution restate the corresponding provisions of the national constitution (in particular
The provincial constitution declares
The Western Cape constitution names the legislature the "
The provincial constitution provides for the creation of "cultural councils" to represent cultural and linguistic communities within the province. It also requires the appointment of a Commissioner for the Environment to oversee environmental conservation, and a Commissioner for Children to guard the interests of children. It lists a number of "directive principles" which are intended to guide the policy of the provincial government, but are not legally enforceable.
References
- ^ a b c Brand, Dirk (2000). "The Western Cape Provincial Constitution". Rutgers Law Journal. 31 (4). Rutgers School of Law: 961–970.
- ^ Certification of the Kwazulu-Natal Constitution [1996] ZACC 17, 1996 (11) BCLR 1419 (CC), 1996 (4) SA 1098 (CC) (6 September 1996), Constitutional Court (South Africa)
- ^ Certification of the Constitution of the Western Cape [1997] ZACC 8, 1997 (12) BCLR 1653 (CC), 1998 (1) SA 655 (CC) (2 September 1997), Constitutional Court (South Africa)