MADLANGA J the right to stand for public office,112 at the same time it denied them that right.113 The denial of the right consisted in the fact that under the two Schedules114 provision was for the conduct of the first two elections only in terms of a party proportional representation system. I disagree. First, items 6(3)(a) and 11(1)(a) of Schedule 6 to the Constitution make plain that the exclusive party proportional representation system was never meant to last forever. The items are contained in “transitional arrangements” under the Constitution. That immediately tells us that what these items provide for was part of a passing constitutional phase. Second and relatedly, the items say, in so many words, Schedule 2 to the interim Constitution, as amended by Annexure A to Schedule 6 to the Constitution, was to apply to the first elections of the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures under the Constitution. Thus what tension or “contradiction” came about as a result must be understood in the context of that short-lived transitional arrangement. That tension or contradiction lasted only up to the first elections under the Constitution. On the other hand, each right in the Bill of Rights was meant to last for as long as there had not been a constitutional amendment affecting it. Therefore, the Constitution must be read to have chosen to sanction the disharmony, but only for a short while. Post that short while, nothing would stand in the way of the exercise of such rights as may have been affected by the tension. Earlier I alluded to the fact that it is not unheard of that there will at times be disharmony in constitutional provisions. What courts are called upon to do in those circumstances is to interpret the provisions as harmoniously as possible. 115 To me, for 112 That guarantee – according to the applicants – being in the Bill of Rights. 113 The denial being in Schedule 2 to the interim Constitution and Schedule 6 (read with Annexure A to it) to the Constitution. 114 Id. 115 See Doctors for Life above n 24 at para 48 and UDM I above n 21 at para 12. 45

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