Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983/1984-07-06

as amended by

Constitution Amendment Act, No. 105 of 1984

7. (1) (a) The State President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college present at a meeting called in accordance with the provisions of this section and presided over by the Chief Justice or a judge of appeal designated by him.

(b) An electoral college referred to in paragraph (a) shall be constituted whenever necessary in terms of this Act, and shall consist of―

50 members of the House of Assembly designated by it by resolution; 25 members of the House of Representatives designated by it by resolution; 13 members of the House of Delegates designated by it by resolution,

or, in the case of a particular House, such smaller number of members thereof, if any, as may be so designated by it.

(c) A member of a House referred to in section 41 (1) (b) or (c), 42 (1) (b) or (c) or 43 (1) (b) or (c) may not be designated as a member of an electoral college or participate in the voting or other proceedings of the House in question in connection with a resolution contemplated in paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(d) If there is no person who is competent to preside at a meeting of a House for the purposes of paragraph (b), the Secretary to Parliament or any other officer of Parliament designated by him shall preside thereat and may exercise thereat the powers of the Chairman of the House.

(e) An electoral college shall dissolve after disposing of the matters for which it is constituted in terms of this Act.

(2) The election of a State President shall be held, subject to the provisions of subsection (4), at a time and place fixed by the Chief Justice and made known by notice in the Gazette not less than 14 days before the election.

(3) The date so fixed shall―

in the case of the first such election, be a date not more than seven days after the commencement of the first session of Parliament after the commencement of this Act; whenever a general election of members of the Houses has been held after a dissolution of Parliament, be a date not more than seven days after the commencement of the first session of Parliament after the general election; if the State President dies or for any other reason vacates his office before the expiration of his period of office and his successor in office has then not yet been elected, be a date not more than one month after the office became vacant: Provided that if the State President resigns and intimates in his resignation lodged with the Chief Justice in terms of section 9 (4) that he will vacate his office on a day not less than one month after the date of the lodging of his resignation, a date earlier than the day on which the office becomes vacant, shall be so fixed.

(4) If any electoral college removes the State President from office in terms of section 9, it shall forthwith proceed to elect a State President.

(5) No person may be elected or serve as State President unless he is qualified to be nominated or elected and take his seat as a member of a House.

(6) Any person who holds a public office in respect of which he receives any remuneration or allowance out of public funds, and who is elected as State President, shall vacate such office with effect from the date on which he is elected.

24. (1) The State President may appoint as many persons as he may from time to time deem necessary to administer such departments of State of the Republic as the State President may establish, or to perform such other functions as the State President may determine, and he may himself administer such a department of State for general affairs if at any time no person has been appointed under this subsection or section 25 to administer it.

(2) Persons appointed under subsection (1) shall hold office during the State President’s pleasure and shall be the Ministers of the Republic.

(3) (a) No Minister shall hold office for a longer period than 12 months unless he is or becomes a member of a House.

(b) A Minister of any department of State for own affairs of a population group shall―

be a member of the population group in question; and at the time of his appointment as such Minister, in the opinion of the State President have the support of the majority in the House consisting of members of that population group.

(4) A Minister shall before assuming his duties make and subscribe an oath before the Chief Justice or any other judge of the Supreme Court in the following form: I, A.B., do hereby swear to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa and undertake before God to honour this oath; to hold my office as Minister with honour and dignity; to respect and uphold the Constitution and all other Law of the Republic; to be a true and faithful counsellor; not to divulge directly or indirectly any matters which are entrusted to me under secrecy; and to perform the duties of my office conscientiously and to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

26. (1) The State President may assign the administration of any provision in any law which entrusts to a Minister any power, duty or function, to any other Minister―

either specifically or by way of a general assignment of the administration of any law or of all laws entrusting powers, duties or functions to such first-mentioned Minister; and either generally or in so far as such provision, law or laws relate to any population group or matter mentioned in such assignment.

(2) A power, duty or function entrusted or assigned by or under this Act or any other law to a Minister of a department of State for general affairs which is administered by the State President, may be exercised or performed by the State President as if he were the Minister of the department in question, and may be exercised or performed on behalf of the State President by a Minister referred to in section 20 (b) or (c) who has been authorized thereto by the State President.

32. (1) If during the same session of Parliament―

one or two Houses pass a bill and the other Houses or House rejects it or is deemed in terms of subsection (2) to have rejected it; or two Houses pass different versions of a bill and the other House rejects it or is so deemed to have rejected it; or two Houses pass a bill and the other House passes a different version of it; or each of the Houses passes a different version of a bill,

the State President may during that session refer the bill or the different versions thereof which have been passed, as the case may be, to the President’s Council for its decision: Provided that the State President may withdraw the reference at any time before the President’s Council gives its decision.

(2) (a) If―

the State President, by message to a House, has requested that a bill passed by another House and introduced in the House in question or in respect of which notice of a motion for its introduction or consideration has been given in that House, be disposed of by that House before a date mentioned in the message, which may not be a date earlier than 14 days after the date of the message; and that House has not disposed of such bill before the date mentioned in the message,

that House shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (1) to have rejected the bill, unless the State President by like message determines otherwise within seven days after the date so mentioned.

(b) A House which has rejected a motion for the introduction or the consideration of a bill shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (1) to have rejected the bill.

(3) When a recommendation of the President’s Council has been laid upon the Table of a House as provided in section 78 (8), the House may deal with the recommendation.

(4) A bill which was referred to the President’s Council under subsection (1) and which, in terms of a decision of that Council given during the session of Parliament in which the bill was so referred, is to be presented to the State President for his assent, shall be deemed to have been passed by Parliament.

(5) A bill which is deemed in terms of subsection (4) to have been passed by Parliament shall, when it is presented to the State President for his assent, be endorsed with the certificate of the Speaker of Parliament that the bill is by virtue of a decision of the President’s Council so deemed to have been passed by Parliament.

46. (1) The State President may make regulations in regard to the election of indirectly elected members of a House, including regulations prescribing the manner of voting and of the transfer and counting of votes and the duties of returning officers in connection with such election.

(2) (a) A casual vacancy in the seat of a nominated or an indirectly elected member of a House shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), be filled by the nomination or election of a member for the unexpired portion of the term of office of the member in whose stead he is nominated or elected, and in the same manner in which the last-mentioned member was nominated or elected.

(b) If a casual vacancy in the seat of an indirectly elected member of a House exists while there is one or more directly elected members of the House who belong to or are supporters of the same political party as that to which the member whose seat is vacant belonged or of which he was a supporter at the time when the seat became vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by the nomination of a member by the said directly elected member or members (hereinafter referred to as competent members) for the unexpired portion of the term of office of the member whose seat is vacant: Provided that in the case of a casual vacancy in the seat of an indirectly elected member who, when the vacancy occurred, no longer belonged to or was a supporter of the said political party, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner prescribed in paragraph (a).

(c) A nomination in terms of paragraph (b) shall―

be made on a form prescribed by the Speaker of Parliament; contain the nominee’s consent to his nomination and his confirmation that he is competent to become a member of the House in question, signed by him; if there are not more than five competent members, be signed by every competent member; if there are more than five competent members, be signed on behalf of the competent members by the leader of the political party in question in the House and at least four other competent members; be lodged with the Secretary to Parliament, who shall record on it, under his signature, the date on which he receives it,

and shall take effect on the date so recorded on it and not earlier.

(d) A member of a House nominated in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection shall for the purposes of this Act and any other law be deemed to have been elected in accordance with the provisions of section 41 (1) (c), 42 (1) (c) or 43 (1) (c), as the case may be, and any reference in this Act (except subsection (1) of this section) or any other law to an indirectly elected member or a member elected or to be elected as provided in the said provisions, or to the election of such a member, shall be construed as including a reference to a member nominated or to be nominated as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection or to the nomination of a member in accordance with the last-mentioned paragraphs, as the case may be.

(3) A nominated or indirectly elected member of a House who―

remains a member of the House in terms of section 40 up to and including the day immediately preceding the polling day for the relevant election referred to in that section; and is not elected as a member of the House in question at that election,

shall, during the period which in terms of subsection (4) of this section is applicable in his case, be deemed to have been nominated or elected on that polling day as a nominated member or, as the case may be, as an indirectly elected member of that House, and, in the case of a nominated member of the House of Assembly, from the province from which he was in fact nominated.

(4) Any person who is a member of a House in terms of the provisions of subsection (3) shall cease to be a member of such House in terms of those provisions―

in the case of a person deemed in terms of those provisions to have been nominated from a particular province as a member of the House of Assembly, on the day on which a nominated member of that House is nominated from that province in pursuance of the relevant dissolution of that House referred to in section 40, or, if such a member is not so nominated within the period of 45 days after the polling day of the general election held in pursuance of that dissolution, at the expiration of that period; and in the case of a person deemed in terms of those provisions to be an indirectly elected member of a House or a nominated member of a House other than the House of Assembly, on the first day on which indirectly elected or, as the case may be, nominated members of the House in question are elected or nominated in pursuance of the relevant dissolution referred to in section 40, or, if no such members are elected or nominated within the period of 45 days after the polling day of the general election held in pursuance of that dissolution, at the expiration of that period: Provided that such person, if he is elected or nominated as such a member but not on such first day, shall be deemed to have remained a member of the House in question up to and including the day immediately preceding the day on which he is so elected or nominated.

60. (1) Every House shall at its first meeting not convened for the purposes of section 7 (1) (b), before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, elect a member to be the Chairman of the House, and, as often as the office becomes vacant, the House shall again elect a member to be the Chairman.

(2) The Chairman of a House shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a member of the House in question and may be removed from office by resolution of that House, and may resign his office or his seat by lodging his resignation in writing with the Speaker of Parliament.

(3) Before or during the absence of its Chairman, a House may elect a member to perform his functions during his absence.

64. (1) In this section―

“joint committee” means a committee consisting of members of each of the Houses; “joint rules and orders” means rules and orders approved by each of the Houses as joint rules and orders in connection with the order and conduct of―

the business and proceedings of each in connection with general matters and bills thereon or joint committees or a particular joint committee or other matters affecting all three Houses; or the business and proceedings of joint committees or a particular joint committee;

“standing committee” means a joint committee which, in terms of joint rules and orders applicable to it, is established for the duration of the Parliament concerned and is competent to exercise or perform some or all of its powers, duties and functions also while Parliament is prorogued.

(2) Joint rules and orders may provide for any or all of the following matters, namely―

the establishment of standing committees on general affairs; the constitution of any such committee, including its chairmanship and the representation of political parties, including opposition parties, in such committee; the manner in which and the circumstances under which any matter may be referred to any such committee; the powers, duties or functions of any such committee in connection with a matter referred to it; the manner in which any such committee may make any decision; the submission of any proposal to any such committee by a member of a House who is not a member of the committee; the operation of a decision of any such committee on a matter referred to it, in relation to any further business and proceedings of a House in connection with that matter; the order and conduct generally of the business and proceedings of any such committee,

but the preceding provisions of this subsection shall not be construed as defining or limiting in any manner the matters or any matter that may be dealt with or provided for in joint rules and orders or as requiring any matter to be dealt with or provided for in such rules and orders.

(3) Joint rules and orders shall provide for at least one standing committee on bills dealing with general affairs.

65. (1) The State President, a Minister who is a member of the Cabinet and any deputy to such a Minister has the right to sit and to speak in any House, but may not vote except, in the case of such a Minister or deputy who is a member of a House, in the House of which he is a member.

(2) A member of a Ministers’ Council who is not a member of any House or of the Cabinet has the right to sit and to speak in the House of which the members are of the same population group as the members of the Ministers’ Council in question, but may not vote therein.

67. (1) A joint sitting of the Houses shall be called by the State President by message to the Houses or, in terms and for the purposes of the joint rules and orders contemplated in section 64, by the Speaker of Parliament.

(2) The State President may call such a joint sitting whenever he deems it desirable, and shall call such a joint sitting if requested to do so by all three Houses.

(3) The Speaker of Parliament shall preside at such a joint sitting.

(4) The Speaker shall determine the rules and orders for the order and conduct of the proceedings of such a joint sitting.

(5) No resolution shall be adopted at any such joint sitting.

102. (1) If section 19 (1) (b) comes into operation before the first State President has been elected in terms of this Act and has assumed office, a person designated by the Ministers referred to in subsection (2) of this section from among their number, shall serve as Acting State President, and such or any other Acting State President or the State President may exercise any power conferred upon the State President by this section or section 103 but not yet exercised by the State President referred to in section 103 (1) at the commencement of section 19 (1) (b).

(2) (a) The persons who immediately before the commencement of this Act are Ministers of the Republic or Deputy Ministers in terms of section 20 or 21 of the previous Constitution, shall be deemed to have been appointed as such Ministers or Deputy Ministers under section 24 or 27 of this Act, as the case may be, and the departments of State then administered by such Ministers shall be deemed to have been established under section 24 of this Act as departments referred to in section 20 and to be administered by them under the relevant provisions of this Act.

(b) A reference in any law to the Prime Minister which at the commencement of this Act is not in consequence of an assignment under section 20A of the previous Constitution to be construed as a reference to some other Minister, shall be deemed to be a reference to the State President acting under subsection (2) of section 26 of this Act, except in so far as the State President assigns the administration of such law to a Minister under subsection (1) of the last-mentioned section.

(3) Where any matter which, during the session of Parliament (as constituted under the previous Constitution) immediately preceding the commencement of this Act, was submitted to the said Parliament or the House of Assembly (as so constituted), has not been disposed of before such commencement, Parliament or the House of Assembly, as the case may be, constituted under this Act may continue with the disposal or consideration of that matter, and steps taken by the first-mentioned House of Assembly in connection with that matter, shall be deemed to have been taken by the House of Assembly constituted under this Act.

(4) The House of Assembly as constituted for the purposes of the previous Constitution and in existence immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been duly constituted for the purposes of this Act, and any person elected or nominated as a member of that House of Assembly and holding office immediately before such commencement, shall be deemed to have been duly elected or nominated to the House of Assembly established by this Act.

(5) The regulations made under section 40 (1A) of the previous Constitution shall continue to be of force and to apply to the election of members of the House of Assembly in terms of section 41 (1) (c) of this Act, and shall apply mutatis mutandis to elections of members of the House of Representatives and members of the House of Delegates in terms of sections 42 (1) (c) and 43 (1) (c) of this Act, until they are replaced by regulations under section 46 (1) of this Act.

(6) (a) The rules and orders of the House of Assembly as they exist at the commencement of this Act, shall apply mutatis mutandis in connection with the functions and proceedings of the House of Representatives and the House of Delegates, unless and until the House in question provides otherwise.

(b) Rules and orders approved by the House of Assembly before the commencement of this Act as joint rules and orders of the Houses, shall after such commencement be deemed to be joint rules and orders approved by each of the Houses as contemplated in section 64, until, and except in so far as, they are replaced by rules and orders which have in fact been so approved: Provided that any rules and orders so approved by the House of Assembly shall lapse on the expiry of a period of two years after the commencement of the first session of the first Parliament constituted under this Act.

(7) The first session of the first Parliament constituted in terms of this Act shall commence within 21 days after the polling day or the last polling day of the first general election of members of the House of Representatives and the House of Delegates, according to whether the poll in respect of those Houses is held on the same day or on different days, and for the purposes of that session and until those Houses have been duly constituted (but not for a period longer than 14 days after the commencement of that session), each shall be deemed to consist of the members thereof elected at such general election.

(8) For the purposes of the application of section 39 (1) in relation to the first Parliament constituted in terms of this Act, its first session shall be deemed to have commenced on a date determined by the State President referred to in section 103 (1) by proclamation in the Gazette, which may not be a date earlier than the date of the first meeting of the House of Assembly which existed immediately before the commencement of this Act, or later than the day on which that first session actually commences.

(9) For the purposes of the first delimitation of electoral divisions of the House of Representatives and of the House of Delegates the words “voters of the House in the province in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date” in section 49 (1) shall be deemed to be replaced by the words “persons who, according to the population register kept in terms of the Population Registration Act, 1950, and on a date not more than 30 days before the delimitation commission begins to perform its functions, would be entitled to be included in any lists of the voters contemplated in section 52 of the House in electoral divisions thereof in the province had the province been divided into electoral divisions of the House on the date in question”, and the references to voters in section 49 (2) and (3) shall be construed accordingly.

(10) (a) A person holding office as State President or Vice State President immediately before the commencement of this Act shall vacate his office at such commencement.

(b) The salary and allowances payable to the State President immediately before such commencement shall be deemed to have been determined in terms of section 12 as the salary and allowances payable to the State President, until they are altered under that section.

(11) At the commencement of this Act the President’s Council established in terms of the previous Constitution shall cease to exist and every person who immediately before such commencement is a member of that Council shall cease to be such a member.

(12) The first meeting of the first President’s Council established under this Act shall be convened by the State President in such manner and at such time and place as he thinks fit.