A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.
The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seventh Parliament was first convened on 22 May 2019.
The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation system where half of the members are elected proportionally from nine provincial lists and the remaining half from national lists so as to restore proportionality.
Baleka Mbete is a South African politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2014 to May 2019. She was previously Speaker of the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008, and Deputy President of South Africa from 2008 to 2009 under Kgalema Motlanthe. She was elected National Chairperson of the African National Congress in 2007 and re-elected in 2012 and served until 18 December 2017. On the 18th of December 2017, during the ANC's 54th conference, Gwede Mantashe was elected Mbete's successor as National Chairperson of the ANC.
John Henry Steenhuisen is a South African politician who has served as the leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the interim leader for one year from November 2019. He was chief whip of the official opposition from May 2014 until October 2019. Ideologically, Steenhuisen has been described as a liberal, a supporter of non-racialism and a firm believer in racial equality.
Cedric Thomas Frolick, is the current House Chairperson: Committees, Oversight and ICT in the National Assembly of Parliament for the Republic of South Africa. A teacher, politician, anti-apartheid activist. He retired from teaching in 1999 and subsequently became a politician in the National Assembly. On 18 November 2010, the ANC appointed him as the House Chairperson responsible for Committees, ICT and Oversight.
The 27th South African Parliament is the sixth Parliament of South Africa to convene since the introduction of non-racial government in South Africa in 1994. It was elected in the general election of 8 May 2019 and consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly contains 400 members, while the National Council of Provinces contains 90 members. It was formally opened by President Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address in a joint sitting on 20 June 2019.
Mervyn Alexander Dirks is a South African politician serving as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa. A member of the African National Congress, he became an MP in 2014 and was the ANC's chief whip in the Standing Committee of Public Accounts until his suspension in January 2022. Dirks was a municipal councillor of the Msunduzi Local Municipality where he served as the deputy mayor.
Pemmy Castelina Pamela Majodina is a South African politician serving as a Member of the National Assembly since 2019. A member of the African National Congress, she is the party's chief whip in the assembly. She was formerly a Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature between 2004 and 2019 and a Member of the provincial Executive Council for five different portfolios from 2008 to 2019, respectively. Majodina was a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from 1994 to 2004.
Nhlanhlakayise Moses Khubisa is a South African politician who served as a Member of the National Assembly between May 2014 and May 2019. He was a member of the National Freedom Party and served as the party's secretary-general. Khubisa joined the African National Congress right before the 2019 elections.
Annah Gela is a South African politician of the African National Congress (ANC) who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since May 2019.
Xiaomei Havard is a Chinese-born South African businesswoman and politician from Gauteng who currently serves as a Member of Parliament for the African National Congress.
Mathedi Asnath Molekwa is a South African politician who is a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from the North West, serving since 2019. Molekwa is the former speaker of the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in the North West Province. She is a member of the African National Congress.
Tandi Mahambehlala is a South African politician who has served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism since 2021. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation from 2019 to 2021. Mahambehlala was Deputy Minister of Communications between 2017 and 2018. She has been a Member of Parliament since 2014.
Nolitha Ntobongwana is a South African educator and politician. She currently serves as the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure in the National Assembly. A member of the African National Congress, she has been a Member of Parliament since 2019. Ntobongwana had previously served in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Mfana Robert Mashego is a South African politician who has been the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation in the National Assembly since 2021. A member of the African National Congress, he has been a Member of Parliament since 2019. Mashego is also a member of the South African Communist Party.
Cristopher Nakampe Malematja is a South African politician who has been an African National Congress Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since February 2022. He is the current chairperson of the South African National Civic Organization (SANCO) in Gauteng.
Madipoane Refiloe Moremadi Mothapo is a South African politician who has served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the African National Congress since 2021. She had previously served as an African National Congress MP from 2014 to 2019.
Machwene Rosina Semenya is a South African politician who has been the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements since 2021. A member of the African National Congress, she had previously served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2014 to 2019 and as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation from 2019 to 2021. Semenya has been a Member of Parliament since 2014.
Fikile Devilliers Xasa is a South African politician currently serving as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs since 2021. He has been a Member of the National Assembly for the African National Congress since 2019.
