THEPOLITICALTRANSITION
tional period, but their effects would be only temporary. In the long run,
the ANC expected to have unfettered legal power to implement its pro-
gram. Slovo called it "a famous victory," as indeed it was. 52 It was also a
vindication of Mandela's vision and persistence in concentrating on the
negotiation process and ignoring the cries of ANC hotheads for the contin-
uation of an armed struggle that was unlikely to achieve victory in the
foreseeable future.
The Interim Constitution
Under the terms of the interim constitution, the legislature it created
was to enact a final constitution in 1996.53 However, the interim docu-
ment included a set of basic constitutional principles and made them bind-
ing.on the new legislature. It therefore became a precedent that the final
constitution would follow in most respects. The document was long and
detailed, filling .222 printed pages that were complex enough to be unin-
telligible to most South Africans. It was a liberal democratic constitution,
including ideas borrowed from western Europe and the United States,
modified by South African experience. The entire constitution was rigid:
amendments required a two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of both