Ready, set, govern: Chief Justice Zondo gears up for parliamentary transition

While political parties were scrambling to find one another in coalition talks, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said the judiciary is ready to swear in the new members of parliament.

On Thursday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) handed over a list of political party representatives to Zondo at an event held in Cape Town. The list consists of potential members of parliament (MPs) and members of provincial legislatures (MPLs).

He said the judiciary was well prepared to ensure the smooth installation of the seventh administration.

As prescribed by law, political parties have less than two weeks to find each other and develop a governance model.

“In terms of the constitution, the Chief Justice must put rules in place which will apply when the first parliament sitting takes place. The speaker, deputy speaker and president will be ellected at this occasion. Those rules will also apply to provincial legislatures,” he said.

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List handover ‘an important event’

Zondo said list handover to the judiciary and to parliament was an important event. It showed the rule of law was fully functional in South Africa and that the Constitution was upheld.

“Thank you to the IEC for being able to prepare this list so soon after the announcement of the results. It’s very important. Now this is completed, the announcement of the first sitting of parliament will be the next step,” he said.

Secretary to Parliament Xolile George received the list from Zondo and said parliament would start making necessary arrangements to receive the new cohort of parliamentarians.

George said processes would kick in to prepare for the voting in of the speaker and president. There would also be inductions for new MPs.

“Once the Chief Justice has determined the date of the fist sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), we will activate the necessary arrangements. This entails ensuring the elected members are received from various parts of the country. They also have to be onboarded efficiently, their details must be captured adequately, and they must be prepared for the sitting,” he said.

According to George, the upcoming sitting of parliament will be at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Zondo said he would announce the date for the first sitting of parliament soon.

Meanwhile, IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the list is made up of 43% female candidates. This is a decline from the last administration. The youngest MP on the list is 20 years old.  

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