Page:Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1993 from Government Gazette.djvu/44

86   No. 15466

in the case of the area referred to in the said paragraph (n), the continued inclusion of such area in the provincial territory of the North·West, or its inclusion in the provincial territory of Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging.

(7) (a) The Independent Electoral Commission shall be competent to make regulations or give directions concerning the implementation of this section, including—

the formulation of the question to be put before the electorate in any particular referendum; the determination of the sequence of referendums with reference to a province in respect of which more than one petition contemplated in subsection (3)(e) or (10) is received; the drawing up and registering of party lists for an affected area; the identification of persons entitled to vote in a referendum or election held in terms of this section; procedures relating to the drawing up of petitions for the purposes of this section; and any other matters which it considers necessary for such implementation.

(b) This subsection shall come into operation on the date of promulgation of this Constitution.

(8) A party or parties representing a majority of voters in an affected area may within a period of one month of the date of the first election under this Constitution of members of the provincial legislature of the province within which such area falls in terms of Part 1 of Schedule 1, petition the Independent Electoral Commission to publish a notice in terms of subsection (9).

(9) If a petition is lodged with the Independent Electoral Commission in terms of subsection (8), requesting that an affected area be altered as contemplated in subsection (5) or (6), and the Independent Electoral Commission is satisfied that the petition has the support of a party or parties representing a majority of voters in that affected area, it shall forthwith cause to be published in the Gazette, notice of the fact that it has received such a petition.

(10) Within five months of the date of publication of a notice referred to in subsection (9) a petition may be lodged with the Secretary to Parliament, calling for a referendum contemplated in subsection (3) to be held in the area in respect of which such notice was published.

(11) If a petition for a referendum as provided for in subsection (10) is lodged with the Secretary to Parliament, the petition lodged with the Independent Electoral Commission under subsection (8) will lapse, and the result of the referendum in respect of such area will be decisive.

(12) If a petition for a referendum as provided for in subsection (10) is not lodged with the Secretary to Parliament within the period referred to in that subsection, the Independent Electoral Commission shall, upon the expiry of that prescribed period, forthwith cause to be published in the Gazette, notice of that fact, and the alteration contemplated in the notice published in terms of subsection (9) shall thereupon be implemented in accordance with subsection (13).

(13) (a) For the purpose of implementing an alteration in terms of subsection (12), or an alteration pursuant to a referendum held in terms of subsection (3), the Independent Electoral Commission shall, if it considers it necessary to do so as a result of an alteration to be made, give directions concerning—

the establishment of a new provincial legislature or the reconstitution of an existing provincial legislature; the holding of an election of a new or reconstituted provincial legislature; the allocation of seats within such new or reconstituted provincial legislature; and the names of the persons who will become or remain members of such provincial legislature.