Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961/1973-06-22

as amended by

Provincial Executive Committees Act, No. 28 of 1962

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 65 of 1962

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 9 of 1963

Provincial Councils and Executive Committees Act, No. 22 of 1963

Coloured Persons Education Act, No. 47 of 1963

Provincial Executive Committees Act, No. 64 of 1963

Indians Education Act, No. 61 of 1965

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 83 of 1965

Pension Laws Amendment Act, No. 102 of 1965

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 37 of 1966

Second Finance Act, No. 58 of 1966

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 9 of 1967

Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act, No. 50 of 1968

Pension Laws Amendment Act, No. 79 of 1968

Powers and Privileges of Provincial Councils Amendment Act, No. 37 of 1969

General Law Amendment Act, No. 101 of 1969

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 1 of 1971

Pension Laws Amendment Act, No. 93 of 1971

Provincial Finance and Audit Act, No. 18 of 1972

Provincial Affairs Act, No. 61 of 1972

General Law Amendment Act, No. 102 of 1972

Constitution and Elections Amendment Act, No. 79 of 1973

40. (1) The House of Assembly shall be composed of―

one hundred and sixty-five members, each of whom shall be directly elected by the persons entitled to vote at an election of such a member in an electoral division delimited as provided in section 43; and six members elected in accordance with the provisions of the South-West Africa Affairs Amendment Act, 1949 (Act No. 23 of 1949).

(2) The number of members of the House of Assembly to be elected in each province, shall be as follows:―

(3) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in this Act, the number of members of the House of Assembly to be elected in each province as provided in subsection (2), shall not be altered until a period of ten years has elapsed from the date of commencement of section 81 of the Constitution and Elections Amendment Act, 1973.

42. (1) At intervals of not less than five years and not more than ten years commencing from the last delimitation of electoral divisions under the South Africa Act, 1909, the State President shall appoint a delimitation commission consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa, which shall, subject to the provisions of section 40 (2), divide the Republic into one hundred and sixty-five electoral divisions in such a manner that no electoral division is situated partly in one province and partly in another province.

(2) No judge shall be appointed under sub-section (1) as a member of a delimitation commission unless he has served as a judge either in a permanent or temporary capacity, for a total period of not less than five years.

(3) In dividing the Republic into electoral divisions in terms of sub-section (1) the said commission shall act in accordance with the provisions of section forty-three.

43. (1) For the purposes of any division of the Republic into electoral divisions, the quota of the Republic shall be obtained by dividing the number of white voters in the Republic, in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date, by one hundred and sixty-five.

(2) The Republic shall be divided into electoral divisions in such a manner that each such division shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), contain a number of voters as nearly as may be equal to the quota of the Republic.

(3) The delimitation commission shall give due consideration to―

community or diversity of interests; means of communication; physical features; boundaries of existing electoral divisions; sparsity or density of population; probability of increase or decrease of population; local authority and magisterial district boundaries,

in such manner that, while taking the quota of voters as the basis of division, the commission may depart therefrom whenever it is deemed necessary, but in no case to any greater extent than fifteen per cent more or fifteen per cent less than the quota: Provided that in the case of an electoral division with an area of twenty-five thousand square kilometres or more, the commission may reduce the number of voters to a number equal to seventy per cent of the quota.

68. (1) There shall be a provincial council in each province consisting of the same number of members as are elected in the province for the House of Assembly under this Act: Provided that, in any province whose representatives in the House of Assembly are fewer than twenty in number, the provincial council shall consist of twice as many members as the number of representatives of that province in the House of Assembly.

(2) Any person qualified to vote for the election of members of a provincial council under this Act shall be qualified to be a member of such council under this Act.

(3) Any provincial council constituted as provided in section seventy of the South Africa Act, 1909, and in existence immediately prior to the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been duly constituted as provided in this Act.

69. (1) The members of a provincial council under this Act shall be elected by the persons qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Assembly in the province voting in the same electoral divisions as are delimited for the election of members of the House of Assembly under this Act: Provided that, in any province in which fewer than twenty members are elected to the House of Assembly, the delimitation of the electoral divisions for the purposes of the election of members of the provincial council shall be effected by the same commission and on the same principles as are prescribed in regard to the electoral divisions of the House of Assembly and in such a manner that each electoral division of the House of Assembly in the said province is divided into two electoral divisions of the provincial council, each containing, subject to the provisions of section 43 (3), a number of voters as nearly as may be equal to one half of the number of voters in that electoral division of the House of Assembly.

(2) Any alteration in the number of members of the provincial council, and any re-division of the province into electoral divisions, shall come into operation at the next general election for such council held after the completion of such re-division or of any allocation consequent upon such alteration, and not earlier.

(3) The election in all the electoral divisions in the provinces shall take place on one and the same day and such day shall be appointed by the State President.

(4) Any person who immediately prior to the commencement of this Act holds office as a member of the provincial council by virtue of an election held as provided in section seventy-one of the South Africa Act, 1909, shall be deemed to have been elected to the corresponding provincial council established by this Act.

71. (1) (a) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) a provincial council shall continue for five years from the date of its first meeting, but the State President may at any time by proclamation in the Gazette dissolve all provincial councils with effect from the same date.

(b) Should a provincial council dissolve by effluxion of time on a date during the existence of the House of Assembly, the State President may by proclamation in the Gazette extend the duration of that provincial council by a period not exceeding eighteen months: Provided that if the House of Assembly is dissolved on a date before the expiration of the said period, that provincial council may be dissolved by the State President by proclamation in the Gazette on the last-mentioned date.

(2) The provisions of section fifty-three relating to the tenure of office of the members and the functioning of the Senate or the House of Assembly upon a dissolution thereof, and to the summoning of Parliament after the Senate or the House of Assembly has been dissolved, shall mutatis mutandis apply with reference to a dissolution and summoning of any provincial council.