Chief Justice Raymond Zondo earlier presided over the swearing in of new members of the National Assembly at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Now, new members of Parliament (MPs) have been tasked with electing a new speaker, deputy speaker and president of South Africa.
National Assembly Speaker, Thoko Didiza, has suspended proceedings to allow the votes for the deputy speaker candidates to be tallied.
Incumbent president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has cast his vote for a deputy speaker of the National Assembly. Because the ANC has coalesced with the Democratic Alliance (DA), it is probable that Ramaphosa voted for Annelie Lotriet.
Former ANC member and new EFF MP, Carl Niehaus, has voted for a deputy speaker candidate. It’s safe to assume he voted for African Transformation Movement’s Vuyo Zungula, who was nominated by EFF’s Floyd Shivambu.
The controversial Niehaus, who joined the EFF in 2023, was once a vociferous support of uMkhonto weSizwe leader, former president Jacob Zuma,
Ballots are ready and MPs have returned to the House to vote for the deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
African Transformation Movement’s Vuyo Zungula has been nominated by EFF’s Floyd Shivambu for the deputy speaker position of the House. The DA’s Annelie Lotriet has also been nominated for the position.
Proceedings have been suspended and MPs have dispersed to allow Parliament officials to put the ballot together.
Thoko Didiza is new speaker of the National Assembly, beating Veronica Mente of the Economic Freedom Fighters by 284 votes to 49 votes during the first sitting of Parliament.
She has now taken over from Zondo as presiding officer.
Parliament’s bells have started ringing, meaning the counting of votes has been completed and MPs need to return to the chamber for the announcement of results of the election of the speaker. Will it be Thoko Didiza or Veronica Mente?
DA leader John Steenhuisen has voted for the speaker. After the announcement of the DA’s coalition with the ANC, it is assumed he has voted for the ANC’s Thoko Didiza.
“The DA has reached agreement on the statement of intent for the formation of a government of national unity,” Steenhuisen said on Friday afternoon.
According to this agreement, the DA’s Annelie Lotriet is certain to be deputy speaker of the House.
Former health minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has voted.
Removed from Cabinet after allegations of corruption linked to the infamous Digital Vibes scandal, Mkhize is now a backbencher for the ANC.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has cast his vote for the speaker of the National Assembly, presumably for Veronica Mente, who is challenging the ANC’s Thoko Didiza for the position.
Mente is the EFF’s national chairperson.
Mdumiseni Ntuli, the ANC head of elections, has replaced Pemmy Majodina as the party’s chief whip in Parliament.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen is making an address at the CTICC. He says Cyril Ramaphosa will be re-elected as president of South Africa.
DA MPs will vote in unison with the ANC’s parliamentarians, solidifying the party’s coalition at national level.
“In terms of the agreement, the DA will assume various leadership roles, in the national Cabinet, the National Assembly, the National Council of Provinces and on parliamentary portfolio committees, broadly in proportion to our share of seats, within the government of national unity,” Steenhuisen said on Friday afternoon.
This collaboration between ANC and DA marks a stark contrast to sentiments Steenhuisen expressed immediately after 29 May elections, where the DA leader said Ramaphosa deserved the electoral trouncing they received, due to the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party emergence, led by former president Jacob Zuma.
“Had Zuma been where he belongs, which is in jail for the 784 charges of fraud, corruption, and racketeering that Ramaphosa and his party have protected and shielded him from for the last 15 years, perhaps he wouldn’t be leading a political party today. He would be incarcerated in a correctional services facility,” Steenhuisen said in May.
The ANC’s Thoko Didiza has been nominated as speaker of the National Assembly. She was nominated by Pemmy Majodina, the ANC’s former chief whip in Parliament. African Transformation Movement’s Vuyo Zungula has nominated the EFF’s Veronica Mente to challenge Didiza for the position. Voting for the two will be done via secret ballot.
Between 2014 and 2019, Didiza was house chairperson of the National Assembly.
MPs have now been sworn in. EFF deputy president, Floyd Shivambu, has requested a 30-minute break to caucus with his party members, before the election of the speaker and deputy speaker.
“We want to consolidate our position,” Shivambu tells Zondo. The chief justice has paused proceedings for 15 minutes.
Rise Mzansi, a new party in the National Assembly, has two seats. They are occupied by Makashule Gana, formerly of the DA, and newspaper editor-turned-politician Songezo Zibi.
Mmusi Maimane, previously an MP with the DA, is now back in the National Assembly, but this time with his Build One South Africa (BOSA) party. BOSA has two seats in the House.
MK Party members’ names, including Des van Rooyen and Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, were called to take their oaths. However, no one stepped up, after they declared that they were boycotting the first sitting of Parliament, over unproven allegations of electoral fraud. Parliament even cancelled their travel and accommodation arrangements.
However, they are being sworn in at legislatures in the different provinces.
Members of the EFF, led by Julius Malema, have taken their oaths of office. The Red Berets have entered the seventh Parliament with a decreased number of seats (39), after a below-par performance during the 29 May elections. They are now the fourth-biggest party in the National Assembly, after being supplanted by the MK Party.
Leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Gayton McKenzie, has been sworn in. McKenzie and his party are newbies to the House. Once an “evil” bank robber, McKenzie is one of four PA MPs in the National Assemby.
Incumbent president and deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa and Paul Mashatile, have been sworn in as members of the new National Assembly.
Once the president is elected, he or she ceases to be a member of the Parliament and must be sworn into office within five days. Thereafter, he or she names a Cabinet to help him or her run the executive government in Pretoria.
Read here for the list of candidates taking their oaths in Parliament.
See below some of The South African’s coverage in the lead-up to today’s proceedings:
