THE ANC PLANS TO END SOUTH AFRICA'S HISTORIC CONSTITUTIONAL CONSENSUS
Eighteen years ago we South Africans reached agreement on the kind of country we wanted to become. After three years of difficult negotiations we agreed that we wanted a society in which the Constitution - and not the majority of the day - would be sovereign. We agreed that that Constitution should make full provision for the protection of all our fundamental rights; that we would have free and independent courts; and that we would establish a truly democratic system of government subject to the rule of law.
We all agreed on the need for transformation - on the rapid development of our people toward equality, human dignity and the full enjoyment of rights. We also agreed on the need to protect our languages and cultures and to ensure that no-one could be arbitrarily deprived of their property.
Parties representing some 90% of our people - and substantial majorities of all our communities - endorsed the constitutional accord. We reached agreement despite our deeply divided and traumatic history. We succeeded despite all the crises, the walk-outs, the violence and the reality that we all had to make painful concessions.
Our achievement was rightly regarded by the whole world as one of the crowning glories of the latter part of the 20th century. It was seen everywhere as an example to all divided societies of what could be achieved by rational debate, compromise and goodwill. I believe that whatever party we belonged to, it was our finest hour.
It was on this basis that the National Party under my leadership surrendered sovereign power - not to another political party - but to the constitution.