LIVE BLOG : National Council of Provinces’ first sitting, here’s what to expect

LIVE BLOG : National Council of Provinces’ first sitting, here’s what to expect

The first sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will take place on Saturday following Friday's first sitting of the National Assembly, hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

On Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected to serve a second term as President, while Thoko Didiza was named Speaker and Dr Annelie Lotriet named Deputy Speaker.

On Friday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) also confirmed that his party agreed to be part of a Government of National Unity (GNU). Steenhuisen called the formation of a GNU a landmark decision, pointing out that the DA joins the national government alongside the ANC in the three largest provinces: Western Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal.

How the NCOP proceedings will unfold

The NCOP consists of 90 provincial delegates; each province is equally represented by 10 delegates in the NCOP, collectively referred to as provincial delegations.

Parties represented in the provincial legislature are entitled to delegates in the province’s delegation in proportion to their representation in the provincial legislature.

A provincial delegation consists of six permanent delegates and four special delegates. The four special delegates consist of the Premier of the province and three other special delegates assigned from members of the provincial legislature.

For the election of the Chairperson, Deputy and Chairperson the following takes place:

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo calls for the nomination of candidates for election to the post of Chairperson.

If only one valid nomination is received, Chief Justice Zondo declares the nominated candidate duly elected.

• If more than one valid nomination is received, a vote is taken by secret ballot. Heads of delegations will cast the vote on behalf of each province, so there will be nine votes.

• Proceedings are suspended until the results of the voting can be announced to the House.

• After the announcement of the elected candidate, the Chairperson takes the chair, expresses his or her sense of the honour conferred upon him or her and presides over the election of the Deputy Chairperson.

The same process is followed for the election of the Deputy Chairperson, and then the Chief Whip.

• The Chairperson adjourns the House.

IOL Politics