Enduring political divides in South Africa

These include the restoration of a political system based on pluralism, democratic institutions and a new constitution that enshrines the importance of human rights and equality; a well organized process of national reconciliation deemed necessary to heal some of the outstanding perpetual scars of Apartheid; self promotion as the leader of the 'African renaissance'; adherence to the foreign policy [...] The above background, focusing on the social and political ills inherited by post- Apartheid South Africa, leads to the discussion which follows; namely what steps the country has taken to address the political grievances and economic hardships of the majority of its citizens. [...] On the other side of the spectrum, the ANC favoured a two-stage process as a means to ensure that the constitutional assembly would be bound by the protracted demands of the non- elected negotiating forum. [...] Both the 1993 interim Constitution and the 1996 Constitution emphasized the importance of equality as the centrepiece of the post- Apartheid democracy. [...] The principles of affirmative action were included in the 1993 interim Constitution to accommodate the call of the non-white political parties to address the ills of Apartheid, and were later entrenched by the 1996 Constitution.