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Who gathered our forebears together from many lands and gave them this their own;

Who has guided them from generation to generation;

Who has wondrously delivered them from the dangers that beset them;

, who are here in Parliament assembled, that whereas we

of our responsibility towards God and man;

To safeguard the integrity and freedom of our country;

To secure the maintenance of law and order;

To further the contentment and spiritual and material welfare of all in our midst;

our duty to seek world peace in association with all peace-loving nations; and

of founding the Republic of South Africa and giving it a constitution best suited to the traditions and history of our land:

E IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, as follows:―

THE REPUBLIC.

1. The Union of South Africa consisting of the provinces of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State as they existed immediately prior to the commencement of this Act, shall as from the thirty-first day of May, 1961, be a republic under the name of the Republic of South Africa.

2. The people of the Republic of South Africa acknowledge the sovereignty and guidance of Almighty God.

3. As from the date mentioned in section one, any reference in any law in force immediately prior to the commencement of this Act, in the Union of South Africa or in any other territory in respect of which Parliament is competent to legislate―

to the Union of South Africa or the State, shall be construed as a reference to the Republic; to the Crown or the King or the Queen or the Governor-General shall be construed as a reference to the Republic or the State President as the circumstances may require; to the King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council or the Governor-General-in-Council, shall be construed as a reference to the State President.