The series Communications Committee contains the minutes, planning for the attendance of media, and draft codes of conduct for media attending meetings of the Multi-Party Negotiating Process (MPNP) and its bodies. Media statements of committees can be found in the units of description named for that committee.

The Communications Committee was formed on 30 March 1993 by the Negotiations Council and was composed of one representative of each party and organisation sending delegations to the Multi-party Negotiation Forum.

In the lead up to and during the Negotiating Forum on 1 and 2 April 1993, the Communication Committee led interactions with the media on behalf of parties and organisations within the Negotiating Forum. After the Forum, the Communication Committee drafted a code of conduct and was advised to meet on an ad hoc basis as required by the Planning Committee to which it reported.

This series contains ephemera produced for public outreach such as posters, and Constitutional Talk Radio. Materials produced by advertising agencies as pitches for selection and their subsequent programming can also be found here.

The series Women Representatives contains material from the Meeting of the Women Representatives of Participating Parties in the Multi-party Negotiation Forum on the 26 and 31 March 1993. These meetings framed the terms on which women were included in the Multi-Party Negotiation Process (MPNP). 

On the 18 March 1993 Constitutional Committee, during discussions on the structure and composition of the negotiation process, determined that all parties and organisations participating in the negotiation process should submit “a female representative” to attend a meeting. There was a noted lack of women participating in the MPNP; the meeting was to establish the views of women on the form of their participation in the negotiating process going forward. 

The resulting meeting of Women Representatives recognised that during the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) the representation of women in the negotiating process had been lacking.

During CODESA, the Gender Advisory Committee (GAC) was established. GAC was to be primarily composed of women and was intended to provide for greater gender equality and representation at CODESA. GAC was able to comment and recommend alterations to text from negotiation processes occurring in CODESA however GAC did not participate directly in the negotiations themselves. GAC’s recommendations and submissions received no feedback from the CODESA 2 Plenary. 

Recommendations made by the Meeting of Women Representatives included that all delegations to the Multi-Party Negotiation Forum and future plenaries should be required to include women rather than continue with an auxiliary structure such as GAC. This recommendation and others were accepted by the Negotiating Council to ensure that women would be active participants in the negotiation process going forward.

Within this series can be found the final versions of bills drafted by all bodies of the Multi-Party Negotiating Process (MPNP) as well as resolutions and adoptions of those bills. 

The Multi-Party Negotiation Process Plenary was a widely representative body of South African leaders and political parties who confirmed and amended agreements reached by all other negotiating bodies of the MPNP. It was the highest body of the MPNP. The Multi-Party Negotiating Process had one Plenary on 17 November 1993.

Steering Committee contains audio recordings of Steering Committee meetings. This committee was created by and reported to the Constitutional Assembly. It was primarily concerned with budgeting, planning and the creation of operational rules between May and August 1994.

This series contains the working documents of the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum. The Forum had two sessions, the first from 1 to 2 April 1993, and the second on 2 July 1993. The series includes the minutes, delegation packs, reports, and resolutions that define the operating procedure and decision making process of the MPNP. 

The result of the Multi-Party Planning Conference in March 1993 was to arrange the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum. Its first meeting was held at the World Trade Centre Johannesburg 1 and 2 April 1993. This meeting was the formal re-entry into the negotiation process to establish a transitional government and constitution to end apartheid after the breakdown of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) in 1992.

The Negotiating Forum became the highest body under the direction of the MPNP Plenary. It instructed and supervised the negotiating process occurring within the Negotiating Council. The resulting drafts for the Interim Constitution were presented to MPNP Plenary as the wider representative body for ratification and amendment. 

The Negotiating Forum functioned to instruct and supervise the negotiating process occurring within the Negotiating Council and its committees. It confirmed reports and proposals (with or without amendments) from the Negotiating Council. 

The Management Committee was responsible for matters of process. It implemented tasks of the Constitutional Committee, oversaw the Administration unit, and monitored the media and public participation. This series contains the Management Committees’ working documents, and audio recordings of their meetings.

Management Committee tasks included:

• preparing agendas for Constitutional Committee meeting
• preparing reports to be considered by the Constitutional Committee
• co-ordinating the activities of the theme committees
• co-ordinating the activities of all structures of Constitutional Assembly
• attending, between meetings of the Constitutional Committee, to the day-to-day management and overseeing of developments in the structures.