Constitutionalism provides certain structures for governance and attempts to legitimize the transfer of power from the people, to those elected to represent them through a fair democratic …show more content…
The contrast of parliamentary sovereignty to constitutional sovereignty is vast with the latter aimed towards the protection of the individuals within the country and the former aimed at carrying out the desires of the minority in power. Under parliamentary sovereignty, the executive branch was above the law. In Ndlwana v Hofmeyr , we realise the pointlessness of questioning whether an act by a sovereign parliament is ultra vires or not, as one cannot question a power which has no limit. This portrays a system in which the legislature had little freedom to interpret the law in such a way as to protect the liberty of individuals. With the constitutional sovereignty which exists in South Africa today, not only do judges have the freedom to interpret the law in a positive manner for individuals, but they are bound to do so in the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights