Page:Republic of South Africa Constitution Act 1983 from Government Gazette.djvu/2



REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA CONSTITUTION ACT, 1983

To introduce a new constitution for the Republic of South Africa and to provide for matters incidental thereto.

(English text signed by the State President.) (Assented to 22 September 1983.)

N HUMBLE SUBMISSION to Almighty God, Who controls the destinies of peoples and nations, 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,

that we

of our responsibility towards God and man;

of the necessity of standing united and of pursuing the following national goals:

To uphold Christian values and civilized norms, with recognition and protection of freedom of faith and worship,

To safeguard the integrity and freedom of our country,

To uphold the independence of the judiciary and the equality of all under the law,

To secure the maintenance of law and order,

To further the contentment and the spiritual and material welfare of all,

To respect and to protect the human dignity, life, liberty and property of all in our midst,

To respect, to further and to protect the self-determination of population groups and peoples,

To further private initiative and effective competition;

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

which provides for elected and responsible forms of government and which is best suited to the traditions, history and circumstances of our land:

E IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the State President and the House of Assembly of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:—

PART I

1. The Republic of South Africa, consisting of the provinces of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, shall continue to exist as a republic under that name.