Fast facts - 1st sitting of National Assembly of 4th Parliament: 6 May 2009

4 May 2009

General

• Chief Justice Pius Langa calls the first sitting of the National Assembly and presides over proceedings.
• Chief Justice Pius Langa presides over the election of the Speaker of the National Assembly and the election of the President of the Republic of South Africa.
• The first sitting of the National Assembly is a formal meeting of Parliament’s National Assembly, at which this House of Parliament formally constitutes itself.
• The 400 National Assembly members are drawn from the candidate lists of political parties that received enough votes in the April 2009 general election to secure seats in Parliament’s National Assembly.
• Also attending the first sitting of the fourth Parliament’s National Assembly will be diplomats and guests of the Presidency, guests of leaders of political parties represented in Parliament (numbers are allocated proportionally) and guests of candidates to be sworn in as MPs (one guest per MP).
• The 13 political parties in the National Assembly of the 4th Parliament are:
  1. ANC - 264 seats
  2. DA - 67 seats
  3. COPE - 30 seats
  4. IFP - 18 seats
  5. ID - four seats
  6. FF+ - four seats
  7. UDM - four seats
  8. ACDP - three seats
  9. UCDP - two seats
  10. APC - one seat
  11. AZAPO - one seat
  12. MF - one seat
  13. PAC - one seat

Order of proceedings on 6 May

• Guests and candidates to be sworn in as MPs arrive start to arrive at around 7.30.
• Those allocated to the National Assembly Chamber must be seated by 10.00. This includes the press who have been accredited to be present in the National Assembly Chamber.
• At 10.30, Chief Justice Pius Langa opens proceedings of the House.
• The 400 National Assembly members are sworn in by Chief Justice Pius Langa, in groups of about 10.
• Chief Justice Pius Langa then calls for the nomination of candidates for the position of Speaker of the National Assembly. If more than one nomination is received for the position of Speaker of the National Assembly, an election by secret ballot is held.
• Once the Speaker is duly elected, nominations are invited for the position of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. The newly-elected Speaker officiates over this election. If more than one nomination is received for the position of Deputy Speaker, an election by secret ballot is held.
• Once the Speaker and Deputy Speaker have been duly elected, the Chief Justice calls for the nomination of candidates for the position of President of the Republic of South Africa. If more than one nomination is made, an election by secret ballot is held.
• The President, once elected, stops being a Member of Parliament.
• After the election of the President, political parties are given an opportunity to say a few words.
• The President is then given an opportunity to speak.

Issued by: Parliamentary Communication Services and Government Communications (GCIS)