The former (and late lamented) Chief Justice of South Africa, Justice IsmailMohammed, once observed that:

“The constitution of a nation is not simply a statute which mechanically definesthe structures of government and the relations between the government and thegoverned, it is a ‘mirror of the national soul’, the identification of the ideals andaspirations of a nation, the articulation of the values binding its people anddisciplining its government.”

Further, as van der Vyer has warned, “. . . a superimposed constitutionalformulae or constitutional arrangements that . . . do not address the real causesof discontent, are sure to generate their own legitimacy crisis.” It follows thatthe development of an appropriate procedure for constitution-making is of thegreatest practical importance. This short comment seeks to examine criticallythe much-publicized efforts in Zimbabwe to develop a new autochthonousconstitution and to draw some lessons therefrom.