Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town

Parliament in Cape Town, plays a vital role in the Legislative policies of Government and plays a direct and active role in National affairs. The Government has transformed over the Years, shaken by the scale of protest and opposition, the Government embarked on a series of limited reforms in the early 1980's. In 1983, the Constitution was reformed to allow the Coloured and Indian minorities limited participation in separate and subordinate Houses of Parliament. In 1986, the Pass Laws were scrapped. The international community strengthened its support for the anti-apartheid cause. Mass resistance increasingly challenged the Apartheid State, which resorted to intensified repression accompanied by eventual recognition that Apartheid could not be sustained. Petty Apartheid laws and symbols were openly challenged and eventually removed. South Africa held its first democratic election in April 1994 under an interim Constitution. Parliament is the Legislative authority of South Africa and has the power to make laws for the Country, in accordance with the Constitution. The role of Parliament, as the representative of the people, is to promote and oversee adherence to the values of human dignity, equality, non-racialism, non-sexism, and all other rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights, and to oversee the implementation of constitutional imperatives. Through legislative and other measures, Parliament also ensures that the independence, impartiality, accessibility and effectiveness of the judiciary and other state institutions is upheld.