Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996/2009-04-17/Chapter 4

Composition and election

The National Assembly consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 women and men elected as members in terms of an electoral system that —

is prescribed by national legislation; is based on the national common voters roll; provides for a minimum voting age of 18 years; and results, in general, in proportional representation.

An Act of Parliament must provide a formula for determining the number of members of the National Assembly.

Membership

Every citizen who is qualified to vote for the National Assembly is eligible to be a member of the Assembly, except —

anyone who is appointed by, or is in the service of, the state and receives remuneration for that appointment or service, other than —

the President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers; and other office-bearers whose functions are compatible with the functions of a member of the Assembly, and have been declared compatible with those functions by national legislation;

permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces or members of a provincial legislature or a Municipal Council; unrehabilitated insolvents; anyone declared to be of unsound mind by a court of the Republic; or anyone who, after this section took effect, is convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine, either in the Republic, or outside the Republic if the conduct constituting the offence would have been an offence in the Republic, but no one may be regarded as having been sentenced until an appeal against the conviction or sentence has been determined, or until the time for an appeal has expired. A disqualification under this paragraph ends five years after the sentence has been completed.

A person who is not eligible to be a member of the National Assembly in terms of subsection (1)(a) or (b) may be a candidate for the Assembly, subject to any limits or conditions established by national legislation.

A person loses membership of the National Assembly if that person —

ceases to be eligible; is absent from the Assembly without permission in circumstances for which the rules and orders of the Assembly prescribe loss of membership; or ceases to be a member of the party that nominated that person as a member of the Assembly.

Vacancies in the National Assembly must be filled in terms of national legislation.

Allocation of delegates

Parties represented in a provincial legislature are entitled to delegates in the province’s delegation in accordance with the formula set out in Part B of Schedule 3.

A provincial legislature must, within 30 days after the result of an election of that provincial legislature is declared —

determine, in accordance with national legislation, how many of each party’s delegates are to be permanent delegates and how many are to be special delegates; and appoint the permanent delegates in accordance with the nominations of the parties.

The national legislation envisaged in subsection (2)(a) must ensure the participation of minority parties in both the permanent and special delegates’ components of the delegation in a manner consistent with democracy.

The legislature, with the concurrence of the Premier and the leaders of the parties entitled to special delegates in the province’s delegation, must designate special delegates, as required from time to time, from among the members of the legislature.

Permanent delegates

A person nominated as a permanent delegate must be eligible to be a member of the provincial legislature.

If a person who is a member of a provincial legislature is appointed as a permanent delegate, that person ceases to be a member of the legislature.

Permanent delegates are appointed for a term that expires —

immediately before the first sitting of a provincial legislature after its next election.

A person ceases to be a permanent delegate if that person —

ceases to be eligible to be a member of the provincial legislature for any reason other than being appointed as a permanent delegate; becomes a member of the Cabinet; has lost the confidence of the provincial legislature and is recalled by the party that nominated that person; ceases to be a member of the party that nominated that person and is recalled by that party; or is absent from the National Council of Provinces without permission in circumstances for which the rules and orders of the Council prescribe loss of office as a permanent delegate.

Vacancies among the permanent delegates must be filled in terms of national legislation.

Before permanent delegates begin to perform their functions in the National Council of Provinces, they must swear or affirm faithfulness to the Republic and obedience to the Constitution, in accordance with Schedule 2.