The Second Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa

Constitution of South Africa

The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the country of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was...

 extended the terms of municipal councils and made various changes relating to certain independent commissions. It was enacted by the Parliament of South Africa

Parliament of South Africa

The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....

, and signed by President

President of South Africa

The President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President....

 Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

 on 28 September 1998. It came into force on 7 October of the same year.

Provisions

The Act made various changes to the Constitution:

• to extend the term of office
  Term of office
  Term of office or term in office refers to the length of time a person serves in a particular office.-Prime Minister:In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has no term limits...
  
   of municipal council
  Municipal council
  A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...
  
  s from four years to five years, and modify the schedule for the process of transition to the post-apartheid municipal system.
• to allow for the designation of alternates to replace members of the Judicial Service Commission in the event of the members' unavailability.
• to give Parliament the ability to assign additional powers or functions to the Public Service Commission.
• to rename the Human Rights Commission to the South African Human Rights Commission
  South African Human Rights Commission
  The South African Human Rights Commission was inaugurated in October 1995 as an independent national institution. It draws its mandate from the South African Constitution by way of the South African Human Rights Commission Act of 1994....
  
  .

Formal title

The official short title

Short title

The short title is the formal name by which a piece of primary legislation may by law be cited in the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions , as well as the United States. It contrasts with the long title which, while usually being more fully descriptive of the...

 of the amendment is "Constitution Sexond Amendment Act of 1998". It was originally titled "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act, 1998" and numbered as Act No. 65 of 1998, but the Citation of Constitutional Laws Act, 2005

Citation of Constitutional Laws Act, 2005

The Citation of Constitutional Laws Act, 2005 is an act of the Parliament of South Africa which altered the way in which the Constitution and its amendments are numbered and referred to....

renamed it and abolished the practice of giving Act numbers to constitutional amendments.

External links

• Official text (PDF)