A jurisprudential assessment of the process of constitutional amendment and the basic structure doctrine in South African constitutional law

In legal and constitutional terms, South Africa has a rigid constitution since special procedures, set out in section 74, are required for amendment of the 1996 Constitution. This establishes the supremacy of the Constitution, which is declared in section 2. However, the facility with which a constitution is amended does not depend exclusively on the legal provisions but also on considerations of real politik, that is the political and social situation that prevails in a country. Furthermore, political factors may render a constitution that is legally fairly flexible, rigid and vice versa.