South African Constitution of 1961

Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961
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 assented to	24 April 1961
Date commenced	31 May 1961
Repeals
Mostly repealed by the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983; remainder repealed by the Provincial Government Act, 1986 and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993

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".

Background

Republicanism was always 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 August 3, 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. More than 90% of eligible voters participated in the referendum, and 52.3% of those who did voted in favor of "a Union for the Republic."

The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill was introduced in January 1961.

See also

• South African republic referendum, 1960