| Act No. 200, 1993
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Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993
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Continuation of international agreements and status of international law
231. (1) All rights and obligations under international agreements which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution were vested in or binding on the Republic within the meaning of the previous Constitution, shall be vested in or binding on the Republic under this Constitution, unless provided otherwise by an Act of Parliament.
(2) Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, be competent to agree to the ratification of or accession to an international agreement negotiated and signed in terms of section 82(1)(i).
(3) Where Parliament agrees to the ratification of or accession to an international agreement under subsection (2), such international agreement shall be binding on the Republic and shall form part of the law of the Republic, provided Parliament expressly so provides and such agreement is not inconsistent with this Constitution.
(4) The rules of customary international law binding on the Republic, shall, unless inconsistent with this Constitution or an Act of Parliament, form part of the law of the Republic.
Interpretation
232. (1) Unless it is inconsistent with the context or clearly inappropriate, a reference in a law referred to in section 229—
(a)
to the Republic or to any territory which after the commencement of this Constitution forms part of the national territory—
(i)
as a constitutional institution, shall be construed as a reference to the Republic referred to in section 1; or
(ii)
as a territorial area, shall be construed as a reference to that part of the national territory in which the law in question was in force immediately before such commencement, unless such law is applied by a law of a competent authority to the whole or any part of the national territory;
(b)
to a Parliament, House of a Parliament or legislative assembly or body of any territory which after the commencement of this Constitution forms part of the national territory, shall—
(i)
if the administration of such a law is allocated in terms of this Constitution to the national government, be construed as a reference to Parliament referred to in section 36; or
(ii)
if the administration of such law is allocated or assigned in terms of this Constitution to a government of a province, be construed as a reference to the provincial legislature of that province;
(c)
to a State President, Chief Minister, Administrator or other chief executive, Cabinet, Ministers’ Council or executive council of any territory which after the commencement of this Constitution forms part of the national territory, shall—
(i)
if the administration of such law is allocated in terms of this Constitution to the national government, be construed as a reference to the President acting in accordance with this Constitution; or
(ii)
if the administration of such law is allocated or assigned in terms of this Constitution to a government of a province, be construed as a reference to the Premier of such province acting in terms of this Constitution;
(d)
to an official language or to both official languages, shall be construed, with due regard to section 3, as a reference to any of the official South African languages under this Constitution.
(2) (a) Any reference in this Constitution to any particular law shall be construed as a reference to that law as it exists from time to time after any amendment or replacement thereof by a competent authority.
(b) An amendment, replacement or repeal of a law referred to in paragraph (a), shall for the purposes of section 62 not be considered to be an amendment of this Constitution, and any such amendment, replacement or repeal of a law shall for its validity be dependent on its consistency with this Constitution in terms of section 4(1).
