The Thirteenth Amendment of the

Constitution of South Africa The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Gover ...

(formally the Constitution Thirteenth Amendment Act of 2007) re-enacted provisions of the Twelfth Amendment which the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

ruled had not been validly enacted. These provisions transferred the Matatiele Local Municipality from KwaZulu-Natal province to the Eastern Cape province. The Twelfth Amendment had redefined all provincial boundaries and consequently transferred many areas from one province to another. The community of

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 households (366.83 per km²) make Matati ...

, who were strongly opposed to their inclusion in the Eastern Cape, challenged the validity of the amendment before the Constitutional Court. Some residents also founded the

African Independent Congress The African Independent Congress (AIC) is a minor political party in South Africa. Founded in Matatiele on December 12, 2005, the AIC was a protest against the location of the area within the boundaries of the Eastern Cape province rather tha ...

as a political party. On 18 August 2006, the court handed down its decision in the case of '' Matatiele Municipality and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others'', ruling that the transfer of Matatiele had not been validly enacted because the

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members i ...

had not allowed for public participation, as required by the constitution, before approving the amendment. The court, recognising that Parliament might well re-enact the transfer with the necessary public participation and wishing to avoid the disruption that would be caused if the municipal elections of 1 March 2006 were invalidated in the affected area, suspended its order for eighteen months. Parliament did indeed re-enact the provisions transferring Matatiele to the Eastern Cape, as the Thirteenth Amendment. In form, the amendment substitutes the sections of Schedule 1A to the Constitution that define the areas of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

passed the bill for the amendment on 20 September 2007 with 269 votes in favour. After the provincial consultation process the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to ...

passed it on 22 November with all nine provinces voting in favour. The act was signed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

on 13 December, and was published and came into force on the following day.

References

External links

Official text
(PDF) {{Constitution of South Africa Amendments of the Constitution of South Africa 2007 in South African law