Page:Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1993 from Government Gazette.djvu/13

24   No. 15466

call an election of the National Assembly, which election shall take place within 90 days after the dissolution of Parliament on a date or dates specified in the proclamation; and request parties represented in the provincial legislatures to nominate persons as senators for the respective provinces in accordance with section 48  (1)(b).

(2) An election referred to in subsection (1)(a) shall be held in accordance with the Electoral Act, 1993.

Composition of National Assembly

40. (1) The National Assembly shall consist of 400 members elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation of voters as provided for in Schedule 2  and the Electoral Act, 1993.

(2) A person nominated as a candidate for election to the National Assembly on a regional list contemplated in Schedule 2, shall, subject to subsection (3), at the time of the nomination be ordinarily resident in the province in respect of which that regional list applies.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a regional list may contain the names of candidates who are not ordinarily resident in the province in respect of which that list applies, provided that no such list shall contain the names of more than one such candidate or more than 10 per cent of the total number of candidates the party concerned is entitled to nominate on that list, whichever is the greater number.

(4) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at the place where he or she normally lives and to which he or she returns regularly after any period of temporary absence, including the place where he or she was previously so ordinarily resident and to which he or she returns regularly after any period of absence.

(5) If a regional list contemplated in subsection (2) contains more names of candidates not ordinarily resident in the province in respect of which that list applies than are permissible under that subsection, the surplus of such names so contained shall be deleted mutatis mutandis in accordance with section 22(8) of the Electoral Act, 1993.

Speaker and Deputy Speaker of National Assembly

41. (1) At its first sitting after it has been convened under section 46  (2), and after the election of the President, the National Assembly, with the Chief Justice or a judge of the Supreme Court designated by him or her acting as the chairperson, shall elect one of its members to be the Speaker, and shall thereafter elect another of its members to be the Deputy Speaker.

(2) The provisions of Schedule 5  shall apply mutatis mutandis to the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

(3) The Speaker shall be vested with all powers and functions assigned to him or her by this Constitution, an Act of Parliament and the rules and orders.

(4) If the Speaker is absent or for any reason unable to exercise or perform the powers or functions vested in the office of Speaker, or when the office of Speaker is vacant, the Deputy Speaker shall act as Speaker during the Speaker’s absence or inability or until a Speaker is elected.

(5) If any of the circumstances described in subsection (4) applies with reference to both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, a member of the National Assembly designated in terms of the rules and orders shall act as Speaker while the said circumstances prevail.

(6) The Deputy Speaker or the member designated under subsection (5), while acting as Speaker, may exercise the powers and shall perform the functions vested in the office of Speaker.

(7) The Speaker, the Deputy Speaker or any other member of the National Assembly designated for that purpose in terms of the rules and orders, shall preside over sittings of the National Assembly.