Northern Cape Provincial Legislature

The Northern Cape Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is a unicameral body of 30 members elected every five years. The current legislature was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African National Congress majority of 18 members. It is situated in Kimberley, in a newly built complex to the west of the city centre on the edge of Galeshewe.[5]

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature

Noord-Kaapse Provinsiale Wetgewer  (Afrikaans)
Indlu yoWiso-mthetho yePhondo laseMntla-Kapa  (Xhosa)
6th Legislature
Type
Type
History
Founded27 April 1994
Leadership
Speaker
Newrene Klaaste, ANC
since 22 May 2019[1]
Deputy Speaker
Mangaliso Matika, ANC
since 22 May 2019[2]
Premier
Zamani Saul, ANC
since 22 May 2019[3]
Leader of the Opposition
Andrew Louw, DA
since 21 May 2014[4]
Structure
Seats30
Political groups
Government
  •      ANC (18)

Official Opposition

  •      DA (8)

Other parties

  •      EFF (3)
  •      FF+ (1)
Elections
Party-list proportional representation
Last election
8 May 2019
Meeting place
New Provincial Legislature Building, Galeshewe, Kimberley
Website
www.ncpleg.gov.za

The Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, like the eight other provincial legislatures in South Africa, was created on 27 April 1994 by the Interim Constitution of South Africa, which dissolved the four original provinces (and their provincial councils) and created the nine current provinces. It is currently constituted in terms of Chapter Six of the Constitution of South Africa, which defines the structure of the provincial governments.[6]

Powers

The Northern Cape Provincial Legislature chooses the Premier of the Northern Cape, the head of the Northern Cape's provincial executive. The legislature can force the Premier to resign by passing a motion of no confidence. Although the Executive Council is appointed by the Premier, the legislature may pass a motion of no confidence to force the Premier to restructure the Council. The legislature also appoints the Northern Cape's delegates to the National Council of Provinces, allocating delegates to parties in proportion to the number of seats each party holds in the legislature.

The legislature has the power to pass legislation in various fields specified in the national constitution; in some fields, the legislative power is shared with the national parliament, while in others it is solely reserved to the Northern Cape alone. The fields include health, education (except universities), agriculture, housing, environmental protection, and development planning.

The legislature oversees the administration of the Northern Cape provincial government, and the Premier and the members of the Executive Council are obliged to report to the legislature on the performance of their responsibilities. The legislature also administers the finances of the provincial government by way of the appropriation bills which determine the province's annual budget.

Election

The provincial legislature consists of 30 members, who are elected through a system of party list proportional representation with closed lists. In other words, each voter casts a vote for one political party, and seats in the legislature are allocated to the parties in proportion to the number of votes received. The seats are then filled by members in accordance with lists submitted by the parties before the election.

The legislature is elected for a term of five years unless it is dissolved early. This may occur if the legislature votes to dissolve and it is at least three years since the last election, or if the Premiership falls vacant and the legislature fails to elect a new Premier within ninety days. By convention, all nine provincial legislatures and the National Assembly are elected on the same day.

The most recent election was held on 8 May 2019. The following table summarises the results.

PartyVotesVote %Seats
African National Congress228,26557.5418
Democratic Alliance101,19825.518
Economic Freedom Fighters38,5279.713
Freedom Front Plus10,6412.681
Other parties18,0484.560
Total396,67910030

The following table shows the composition of the provincial parliament after past elections and floor-crossing periods.

Event ACDP ANC COPE DP/DA EFF FF/FF+ ID NP/NNP
1994 election 015—1—2—12
1999 election 020—1—1—8
2004 election 121—3—122
2005 floor-crossing 124—3—11—
2007 floor-crossing 125—2—11—
2009 election 01954—02—
2014 election 0201720——
2019 election 0180831——

Officers

The Speaker is the political head of the legislature. The following people have served as Speaker:

Name Entered Office Left Office Party
Ethne Papenfus[7] 1994 2004 DP
Connie Seoposengwe 2004 2009 ANC
Jacobus van Wyk 2009 2013 ANC
Kenny Mmoiemang 2013 2019 ANC
Newrene Klaaste 2019 Incumbent ANC

Members
See also: List of members of the 6th Northern Cape Provincial Legislature and Member of the Provincial Legislature
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References
  1. Swearing-in ceremony of new MPLs. Retrieved on 3 May 2019.
  2. Saul honoured to lead Province. Retrieved on 3 June 2019.
  3. Meet SA's newly elected premiers. Retrieved on 3 June 2019.
  4. Thousands attend first sitting. Retrieved on 24 May 2019.
  5. Chapter 6: Provinces, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
  6. Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. Retrieved on 3 January 2019.
  7. Speaker Papenfus was re-elected in June 1999

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