South African Constitution of 1961
| Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961 | |
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| Act to constitute the Republic of South Africa and to provide for matters incidental thereto. | |
| Citation | Act No. 32 of 1961 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of South Africa |
| Date of Royal Assent | 24 April 1961 |
| Date commenced | 31 May 1961 |
| Date repealed | 3 September 1984 1 July 1986 |
| Repealing legislation | |
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Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983 Provincial Government Act, 1986 |
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| Status: Repealed | |
The Constitution of 1961 (formally the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961) was the fundamental law of South Africa for two decades. Under the terms of the constitution South Africa left the Commonwealth and became a republic. Legally, the Union of South Africa, which had existed since 1910, came to an end and was re-established as the "Republic of South Africa".
Republicanism was always a major tenet of Afrikaner nationalism. Even when nationalists controlled the government, however, political realities prevented this goal from being attained prior to the 1960s.
On 3 August 1960, the National Party government announced a referendum would be held in October of that year so that voters might weigh in on the question of whether the Union of South Africa should become a republic. The vote was restricted to white South Africans. More than 90% of eligible voters participated in the referendum, and 52.3% of those who did voted in favour of "a Republic for the Union."
The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill was introduced in January 1961. It came into force on 31 May 1961; 31 May was a significant day in South African history, being both the day in 1902 on which the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed, ending the Second Anglo-Boer War, and the day in 1910 on which the Union of South Africa came into being.
The structure of the government of the Republic under the 1961 constitution was a Westminster system very similar to that of the Union under the South Africa Act 1909, except that the Queen and the appointed Governor-General were replaced by a State President elected by Parliament.
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