Zondo gazettes rules: Here’s how first National Assembly sitting will choose SA’s president

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has gazetted the rules for the first parliamentary sitting that will elect the president of the country.

Thousands of South African citizens made their way to voting stations to cast their ballot in the 2024 national and provincial elections on Wednesday.

While all attention is now focused on the vote-counting process, the initial step in organising the first sittings of the National Assembly, National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and the legislatures in all nine provinces has been initiated.

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On Thursday, a notice signed off by Zondo was published in the government gazette.

The notice contains the rules that will govern the sitting and pave the way for the swearing-in of MPs, as well as the election of the president, speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

The rules will also govern the election of NCOP chairpersons, premiers and speakers in the provincial legislatures.

Read the gazette below:

Chief Justice Gazettes National Assembly Rules by Molefe Seeletsa on Scribd

National Assembly first sitting

In terms of the law, the National Assembly, which may be constituted of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 members, must be established within 14 days of the IEC declaring the election results.

The final results are expected to be officially announced on Sunday, 2 June.

The Constitution allows the Chief Justice to determine the time and date of the National Assembly sitting.

During the first sitting, the Chief Justice will call for nominations for the election of the speaker after all MPs have been sworn in.

A secret ballot vote will take place if more than one person is nominated for the position.

The same process applies to the election of the deputy speaker and president.

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The Chief Justice will also preside over the president’s election in the same sitting and will step down once the results are announced following the voting process.

The newly-elected speaker will then take over and preside over speeches until proceedings are adjourned.

According to Section 87 of the Constitution, the president will cease to be an MP once elected and must take up office within five days of being elected.

After the first sitting, the National Assembly will adjourn for several days to enable the newly-elected president to be sworn in and appoint their Cabinet.

This is followed by the official opening of the new Parliament at which the president must deliver an opening address at a date and time to be announced by the new speaker.

NCOP sitting

Meanwhile, for the first sitting of the NCOP to take place, each of the provincial legislatures must have held their first sittings and swearing-in of members of the provincial legislatures.

Elections need to be conducted within 90 days of Parliament being dissolved.

The sixth Parliament’s term came to an end a few days before voting on 21 May.

The expiration of the term was determined based on the first National Assembly sitting following the 2019 general election, which was held on 22 May.

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