On Friday, 14 June 2024, Members of the National Assembly will be sworn in. These Members represent 18 political parties. At Cape Town’s International Convention Centre, the Sergeant-at-Arms will lead the Chief Justice, Secretary to Parliament and the Secretary to the NA to the Speaker’s seat at 10h00. The national anthem will then be sung. It is the usual practice that after this, the Chief Justice will allow for prayer or meditation. Interestingly, when presiding over the first sitting in 2019, the former Chief Justice gave new Members a guideline on what to pray or reflect upon for three minutes. He said, “our country has many challenges; meditate about the solutions to corruption, to crime, to anything of concern that you have and for those of us who can pray, pray for solutions, pray for a better vision, for guidance…let us be very deliberate and intentional about this exercise; it’s not a meaningless ritual”. 

The Chief Justice will then announce that Section 51(1) of the Constitution empowers him to call the first sitting of the National Assembly after national elections and that in terms of section 48, Members must swear or affirm their faithfulness to the Republic and obedience to the Constitution before they begin to perform their functions as public representatives.

Once these formalities are dispensed with, the Chief Justice will preside over administering the oath or affirmation of Members. The National Assembly is constituted of 400 Members. The oath or affirmation can be taken in any of the official languages. In groups of ten at a time, the MPs will be called to leave their seats and appear before the Chief Justice to take the oath or affirmation out loud.

Each Member will swear or affirm faithfulness to the Republic and obedience to the Constitution. The oath reads as follows: "I, [Name of MP], swear/solemnly affirm that I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa and will obey, respect and uphold the Constitution and all other law of the Republic; and I solemnly promise to perform my functions as a member of the National Assembly to the best of my ability." In the case of an oath, "So help me God," will be said at the end, while raising their right hand. If it is an affirmation, the Member will also raise their right hand and say, “I do”.

Usually, it is expected that the first sitting of the National Assembly will be attended by diplomats, guests of the Presidency, and guests of leaders and representatives of political parties in Parliament. 

Election of the Speaker of the National Assembly

After MPs are sworn in, Chief Justice Zondo calls for the nomination of a candidate for the position of Speaker of the NA from the newly sworn-in Members. One of the Members will nominate a candidate. The Chief Justice will ask if there is a seconder for the nomination of the candidate. The Chief Justice will enquire if there are any other nominations. Nomination forms will also have to be completed as part of the procedure. If only one candidate is nominated, the Chief Justice declares that candidate duly elected as Speaker of the National Assembly.

If more than one nomination is received for the position of Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), an election by secret ballot is held. Members are called in groups to cast their ballot. The ballots are counted in the presence of the Chief Justice. The results are then announced in the House of the candidate who receives a majority of the votes. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the candidate who receives the lowest number of votes must be eliminated and a further vote taken on the remaining candidates. This procedure must be repeated until a candidate receives a majority of the votes. If two or more candidates each have the lowest number of votes, a separate vote must be taken on those candidates, and repeated as often as may be necessary to determine which candidate is to be eliminated. If only two candidates remain after an elimination procedure has been applied, and those two candidates receive the same number of votes, a further meeting must be held within seven days.

Throughout the process, the mace, which represents the Speaker’s authority, will remain upright in front of the National Assembly podium until the newly elected Speaker is escorted to the presiding officer’s chair by the Sergeant-At-Arms. Then the mace is laid horizontally, signalling the official start of the new Seventh Parliament – a Parliament that looks vastly different from what we’ve experienced before in democratic SA as no single political party has won an outright mandate to govern.

Once the Speaker is duly elected, nominations are invited for the position of Deputy Speaker of the NA. The newly-elected Speaker presides over this election. It follows much the same procedure as the Speaker, described above.

In 2019, once the above processes were complete, an interfaith prayer session was held before the election of the President. 

Election of the President

Once the Members are sworn in and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the NA are elected, the Chief Justice then calls for the nomination of candidates for the position of President of the Republic of South Africa. Like the Speaker and Deputy Speaker process, an election by secret ballot is held if more than one nomination is made. The ballots are counted in the presence of the Chief Justice. The results are then announced in the House.

The President, once elected, ceases to be a Member of the NA. The Constitution states that within five days, the president-elect must assume office by swearing or affirming faithfulness to the Republic and obedience to the Constitution – the date of the inauguration of the President is yet to be announced.

In 2019, once the President was elected, the Chief Justice handed the presiding role back over to the Speaker, who then allowed leaders of the political parties represented to make remarks. The newly-elected President then also gave brief remarks to the House.

Depending on how many nominations there are for the respective positions being elected and if votes must be cast, the first sitting can be lengthy. In 2019, two Members were nominated as Speaker and a voting process ensued. The day started at 10:30am and ended at 17:30pm.

At the inauguration, the President will take the oath or affirmation which reads: "In the presence of everyone assembled here, and in full realisation of the high calling I assume as President of the Republic of South Africa, I, [name of president-elect], swear/solemnly affirm that I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa, and will obey, observe, uphold and maintain the Constitution and all other law of the Republic; and I solemnly and sincerely promise that I will always promote all that will advance the Republic, and oppose all that may harm it; protect and promote the rights of all South Africans; discharge my duties with all my strength and talents to the best of my knowledge and ability and true to the dictates of my conscience; do justice to all; and devote myself to the well-being of the Republic and all of its people." In the case of an oath, it will conclude with: "So help me God."

The inauguration is followed by the opening of the new Parliament, at which the President will address the new Parliament at a date and time that will be announced by the Speaker.

DID YOU KNOW? It is tradition that the right side of the House belongs to the ruling party while the left is held by the opposition. Given that there is no outright majority in the National Assembly following the 2024 elections, it would be interesting to see how parties negotiate on these seating arrangements.

 

 Photo: News24

PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES

The nine provincial legislatures usually have their first sittings on the same date as the National Assembly. However, it appears this year may be different as the Judges-President in the provinces have been designated by the Chief Justice to “determine the first sittings of the Provincial Legislatures in their respective provinces”. In terms of the Constitution such sittings are also required to take place not more than 14 days after the declaration of election results.

The Judge President of each province will preside over the activities which are largely as described above for the National Assembly – after the Members of the Provincial Legislatures are sworn in, the Speakers and Deputy Speakers will be elected. This will be followed by the election of the Premiers. The process will also include appointment of the permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The size (number of MPLs) of the provincial legislatures vary. In February 2024, the IEC published revised seat determinations for the provincial legislatures ahead of the elections. The seats are determined in accordance with Section 105(2) of the Republic of South Africa's Constitution Act 108 of 1996 and item 3(1) of Schedule 3 to the Electoral Act No.73 of 1998.  The provincial legislatures’ seats determination takes into account scientifically based data on the population in each province, as well as representation by interested parties. See the sizes of the provincial legislatures here.

Premiers are expected to announce their executives shortly after they are sworn in.

The Western Cape Provincial Parliament has scheduled its first sitting for Thursday, 13 June. 

The Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State, Gauteng, North West and KZN have scheduled their first sittings for Friday, 14 June. This piece will be updated as further details are received.

NCOP

The swearing-in of delegates of the NCOP will be conducted on Saturday, 15 June 2024, also at the CTICC. The National Council of Provinces is composed of a single delegation of ten delegates from each province. Four of the ten are special delegates and six are permanent delegates. Political parties are entitled to delegates in proportion to their representation. If a person who is a member of the provincial legislature is appointed as a permanent delegate, that person ceases to be a member of the legislature.

The Chief Justice will preside over the swearing-in of delegates of the NCOP and election of its Chairperson. The Chairperson will then preside over the election of the Deputy Chairperson, House Chairpersons and Chief Whip. The processes are largely as described above for the National Assembly. The permanent delegates will be sworn in in groups of six.

On 30 May 2024, the rules for these first sittings were gazetted.

After the first sitting (and after inauguration and determination of government portfolios), the Assembly Rules Committee must establish the structures and make other determinations necessary for the Assembly to function.   This would include determination of committees, the formula for whips, the speaking time for debates etc. Parties will appoint their whips and arrange their caucuses through their own internal processes. The Constitution states that the National Assembly must provide for the "recognition of the leader of the largest opposition party in the Assembly as the Leader of the Opposition".

Representation of political parties in Parliament and the provincial legislatures

 

Sources

https://www.judiciary.org.za/images/news/2024/Media_Statement_-_First_Sitting_of_the_National_Assembly.pdf

https://www.parliament.gov.za/storage/app/media/Publications/National_Assembly_Publications/Fact_Sheets/2023.11.09_Fact_sheet_1_NA_V3_EDITED.pdf

https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/first-sitting-national-assembly-be-held-friday#:~:text=Section%2051(1)%20of%20the,members%20of%20the%20National%20Assembly

https://www.justice.gov.za/constitution/SAConstitution-web-eng-s03.pdf