8 May 1996
The adoption of the South African Constitution on 8 May 1996 was one of the turning points in the history of the struggle for democracy in South Africa. The Constitution is considered by many as one of the most advanced in the world, with a Bill of Rights second to none. South Africa's Constitution was drafted by an all-inclusive constitutive assembly, which had representatives from all the major political parties and liberation organisations. The constitutional assembly sat between May 1994 and October 1996 drafting and completing the new constitution. The new Constitution was the embodiment of the vision of generations of anti-apartheid freedom fighters and democrats who had fought for the principle that South African belonged to all, for non racialism and for human rights.
References
Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.