KwaZulu-Natal Legislature

The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members in the parliament.

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature

IsiShayamthetho saKwaZulu-Natali (Zulu)
6th Legislature
Type
Type
Leadership
Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Premier
Leader of the Opposition
Blessed Gwala[3], Inkatha Freedom Party
since 19 October 2023
Structure
Seats80
Political groups
Government
  •   ANC (44)

Official Opposition

Other parties

Elections
Party-list proportional representation
Last election
8 May 2019
Meeting place
239 Langalibalele Street, Pietermaritzburg
Website
kznlegislature.gov.za

Powers

The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature chooses the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the head of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive. The legislature can impel the Premier to resign by passing a motion of no confidence. Although the Premier appoints the members of the Executive Council (cabinet), the legislature may pass a motion of no confidence to force the Premier to reshuffle the Council. The legislature also designates the KwaZulu-Natal'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 numerous fields set out in the national constitution; in some fields, the legislative power is shared with the national parliament, while in others it is reserved to the province alone. The fields include matters as health, education (except universities), agriculture, housing, environmental protection, and development planning.

The legislature oversees the administration of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, and the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and the Executive Council members are required to report to the legislature on the performance of their responsibilities. The legislature also manages the financial affairs of the provincial government by way of the appropriation bills which determine the provincial budget.

Election

The provincial legislature consists of 80 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.

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
African National Congress1,951,02754.22–10.3044–8
Inkatha Freedom Party588,04616.34 +5.4713+4
Democratic Alliance500,05113.90 +1.1411+1
Economic Freedom Fighters349,3619.71 +7.868+6
National Freedom Party56,5871.57–5.741–5
Minority Front18,8640.52–0.510
African Transformation Movement17,7290.49New1New
African Christian Democratic Party17,2140.48 +0.041+1
Democratic Liberal Congress13,6980.38New0New
Freedom Front Plus11,2690.31 +0.1100
Al Jama-ah9,8990.28New0New
African Independent Congress9,2910.26New0New
Justice and Employment Party8,1560.23New0New
Black First Land First5,7900.16New0New
Congress of the People4,9570.14–0.0200
Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party4,2220.12New0New
Good4,0160.11New0New
African People's Convention3,6500.10–0.0800
United Democratic Movement3,5580.10–0.0700
Alliance for Transformation for All2,6240.07New0New
Azanian People's Organisation2,5120.07–0.0800
Pan Africanist Congress2,5100.07–0.0100
National People’s Front2,4370.07New0New
People's Revolutionary Movement2,4020.07New0New
African Mantungwa Community1,5940.04New0New
African Renaissance Unity Party1,3760.04New0New
African Content Movement1,3690.04New0New
National People's Ambassadors1,2940.04New0New
Women Forward9440.03New0New
African Covenant9380.03New0New
National Religious Freedom Party8960.02New0New
Total3,598,281100.00800
Valid votes3,598,28198.46
Invalid/blank votes56,4201.54
Total votes3,654,701100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,524,66666.15
Source: Election Resources

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

Event ACDP ANC ATM DP/DA EFF IFP MF NFP NP/NNP PAC UDM Others
1994 election 1262411910
1999 election 13273423010
2003 floor-crossing 13563222011
2004 election 23873020010
2005 floor-crossing 1405272014
2007 floor-crossing 1415272013
2009 election 1517182001
2014 election 052102916000
2019 election 14411181311000

Officers

The Speaker of the Legislature is Ntobeko Boyce, while the Deputy Speaker is Themba Mthembu.[4] The following people have served as Speaker:

Name Entered Office Left Office Party
Bonga Mdletshe[5][6] 1998 2004 IFP
Willies Mchunu 2004 2009 ANC
Peggy Nkonyeni[7] 2009 2013 ANC
Lydia Johnson[8][9] 2013 2019 ANC
Ntobeko Boyce 2019 Incumbent ANC

Membership

References

  1. Mtshali, Samkelo (27 November 2020). "Mthembu elected deputy speaker of KZN legislature". The Mercury. Retrieved 11 December 2020 via Pressreader.
  2. "Nomusa Dube-Ncube is 'queen of the KZN throne' as IFP, EFF abstain from voting". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  3. "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  4. Mtshali, Samkelo (27 November 2020). "Mthembu elected deputy speaker of KZN legislature". The Mercury. Retrieved 11 December 2020 via Pressreader.
  5. "Speaker: Bonga Nkanyiso Mdletshe". KwaZulu-Natal Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 January 2004. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  6. Speaker Mdletshe was re-elected on June 18, 1999
  7. Peggy Nkonyeni appointed KZN education MEC. News24. 7 October 2013. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
  8. Election of the new Speaker of the KZN Legislature. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
  9. Lydia Johnson new speaker of KZN legislature - ANC KZN. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
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