A report on Entrenched clause, Suffrage and Constitution

An entrenched clause or entrenchment clause of a basic law or constitution is a provision that makes certain amendments either more difficult or impossible to pass, making such amendments invalid.

For instance, the South Africa Act, the initial constitution of the Union of South Africa, contained entrenchment clauses protecting voting rights in the Cape Province, including those of some Coloureds, that required two-thirds of a joint session of parliament to be repealed.

Constitutions may also provide that their most basic principles can never be abolished, even by amendment.

Right to vote

1910 – The Union of South Africa is established by the South Africa Act 1909. The House of Assembly is elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. The franchise qualifications are the same as those previously existing for elections of the legislatures of the colonies that comprised the Union. In the Transvaal and the Orange Free State the franchise is limited to white men. In Natal the franchise is limited to men meeting property and literacy qualifications; it was theoretically colour-blind but in practise nearly all non-white men were excluded. The traditional "Cape Qualified Franchise" of the Cape Province is limited to men meeting property and literacy qualifications and is colour-blind; nonetheless 85% of voters are white. The rights of non-white voters in the Cape Province are protected by an entrenched clause in the South Africa Act requiring a two-thirds vote in a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

1809 – New constitution adopted and separation of powers outlined in the Instrument of Government.