Managing Diversity in Deeply Divided Societies: The Quest for Self-

The provincial Constitution of the Western Cape contains the following provisions that reflect the authority of the government of the province to accommodate and promote the multicultural nature of the provincial population: the Constitution recognises the three official languages for the province (s5); the Constitution empowers the government to develop and 56 JEMIE Vol 17, No 2, 2018 promote sym. [...] The two constitutional advisory bodies, the Pan South African Language Board and the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Language Communities which were conceived in the midst of the transition to democracy, have been underperforming in light of the promising constitutional mandate. [...] Examples of references to the notion of a form of community autonomy for the Afrikaans community (and other communities) are found in the Constitutional Principles that were contained in the 1993 Interim Constitution; (De Villiers, 1994) the current 1996 Constitution; (aa185 and 235 Constitution) the Constitution of the Province of the Western Cape; (a40 Constitution of Western Cape) and the objec. [...] In one of the earliest judgments, the court explained in the matter of Gauteng Education Bill that the Constitution contains two fundamental relevant principles, namely the recognition of diversity and the recognition of equality.29 Sachs J emphasised that the ‘dominant’ theme in the Constitution, particularly in light of South Africa’s background, is that of equality, albeit that ‘considerable im. [...] There are in particular three areas where the promise of the Constitution in regard to acknowleging of diversity is not coming to fruition, namely: (a) the lack of action by the national government; the government of the Western Cape province; and the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Language Communities to encourage and pursue the establishment.