Transitional Executive Council

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use South African English|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox government cabinet | cabinet_name = Transitional Executive Council | cabinet_type = Multiparty Body | jurisdiction = the Republic of South Africa | flag = Flag of South Africa (1982–1994).svg | incumbent = 1993–1994 | image = Coat of arms of South Africa (1932–2000).svg | caption = Coat of arms of South Africa | date_formed = {{Start date|df=yes|1993|12|07}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wiredspace-extra.wits.ac.za/handle/20.500.12430/17973?show=full|title = First meeting of the Transitional Executive Council 7 December 1993|year = 1993}}</ref> | date_dissolved = {{End date|df=yes|1994|05|10}}<br>({{Age in years, months and days|1993|12|07|1994|05|10}}) | government_head_title = State President | government_head = Frederik de Klerk | members_number = 19 ministers | political_parties = 19 political groups | incoming_formation = Negotiations to end apartheid | outgoing_formation = 1994 election | previous = De Klerk Cabinet | successor = Mandela Cabinet }}

The '''Transitional Executive Council''' (TEC) was a multiparty body in South Africa that was established by law to facilitate the transition to democracy, in the lead-up to the country's first non-racial election in April 1994.<ref name="saHistoryFirstMeeting">{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/transitional-executive-council-has-its-first-meeting-cape-town-and-adopts-resolution-mul|title=The Transitional Executive Council has its first meeting in Cape Town and adopts a resolution of the Multi-party Negotiating Co|first=|last=|date=5 December 2011|publisher=SA History Online}}</ref><ref name="omalleyTEC">{{cite web|url=https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02424/04lv02730/05lv03162.htm|title=Transitional Executive Council (TEC)|first=Padraig|last=O’Malley|date=|publisher=Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory}}</ref>

As part of the multi-party negotiations that ended apartheid, the African National Congress (ANC) pushed for the creation of a body that would ensure a level playing field, arguing that the governing National Party would not be impartial, as it would also be contesting the election.<ref name="omalleyTEC"/>

The TEC was created by the Transitional Executive Council Act, 1993, and consisted of one member of each of the parties that participated in the negotiations, with the notable exceptions of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and the Freedom Alliance, an alliance of right-wing and black groups such as the Inkatha Freedom Party who had abandoned the negotiation process.<ref name="omalleyTEC"/><ref name="baltimoreSunPillarsCrumbling">{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/12/08/pillars-of-apartheid-crumbling-in-south-africa/|title=Pillars of apartheid crumbling in South Africa|date=8 December 1993 |publisher=Baltimore Sun}}</ref>

The TEC consisted of 19 people, one each from the 19 political groups that participated in the negotiations, and it had a number of subcouncils. These subcouncils were focused on particular areas, such as stability and security, intelligence, and law and order, with members appointed because of specific expertise, and they received instructions from the TEC.<ref name="omalleyTEC"/> TEC subcouncils had the power to curtail government actions, to access information relevant to their purposes, and to review and reject legislation passed by the Tricameral Parliament of South Africa and the Bantustans if it deemed that these laws would hamper the attainment of democratic elections.<ref name="omalleyTEC"/>

Although State President Frederik de Klerk downplayed the TEC's role after its first sitting on 7 December 1993, Cyril Ramaphosa, who represented the ANC on the body, said that it marked the end of minority rule in South Africa.<ref name="baltimoreSunPillarsCrumbling"/> The TEC was the first time that black South Africans played a major role in the governance of the country,<ref name="omalleyTEC"/><ref name="baltimoreSunPillarsCrumbling"/> and one of its actions was the dismissal of the Ciskei government after its collapse in March 1994 and the appointment of two administrators for the territory.<ref name="laTimesCiskei">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-24-mn-37847-story.html|title=S. Africa Takes Reins of Ciskei Homeland|agency=Reuters|date=24 March 1994|publisher=|via=LA Times}}</ref> Together with the South African government, it also took control of Boputhatswana after the government of Lucas Mangope refused to give assurances that it would permit free and fair elections in the territory.<ref name="BrandSouthAfrica72DaysThatShaped">{{cite web|url=https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/history-facts/72days2|title=72 days that shaped South Africa (2)|first=Ndaba|last=Dlamini|date=5 March 2004|publisher=|via=}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.saflii.org/za/legis/num_act/teca1993336/ "Transitional Executive Council Act, 1993"]

Category:Democratization Category:Peace processes Category:1993 establishments in South Africa Category:1994 disestablishments in South Africa Category:Political history of South Africa Category:Government of South Africa Category:Defunct organisations based in South Africa