Government of Gauteng | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Polity type | Province |
Part of | South Africa |
Constitution | Chapter Six of the Constitution of South Africa |
Legislative branch | |
Name | Gauteng Provincial Legislature |
Type | Unicameral |
Meeting place | Johannesburg City Hall |
Presiding officer | Ntombi Lentheng Mekgwe, Speaker |
Executive branch | |
Head of Government | |
Title | Premier |
Currently | Panyaza Lesufi [1] |
Appointer | Gauteng Provincial Legislature |
The government of Gauteng province in South Africa consists of a unicameral legislature elected by proportional representation, and an executive branch headed by a Premier who is elected by the legislature.
This article is part of a series on the |
The provincial legislature is a unicameral body of 73 members elected by a system of party-list proportional representation. The legislature is elected for a term of five years, unless it is dissolved early. By convention elections to the provincial legislature are held at the same time as elections to the National Assembly. The legislature meets in the Johannesburg City Hall.
The most recent elections were held on 8 May 2019, and were won by the African National Congress (ANC) which obtained 37 of the 73 seats on the legislature. The composition of the legislature is as follows:
Party | Seats | |
---|---|---|
ANC | 37 | |
DA | 20 | |
EFF | 11 | |
VF+ | 3 | |
IFP | 1 | |
ACDP | 1 | |
Total | 73 |
The head of the provincial executive is the Premier of Gauteng, who is a member of the provincial legislature elected by the legislature. The Premier appoints an Executive Council who are a cabinet overseeing the executive departments.
As of December 2022 [update] the Premier is Panyaza Lesufi of the ANC, and the ten members of the Executive Council are listed in the following table.
Portfolio | MEC |
---|---|
Premier | Panyaza Lesufi |
Economic Development | Tasneem Motara |
Safety and Security | Faith Mazibuko |
Transport and Logistics | Kedibone Diale |
Education and Youth Development | Matome Chiloane |
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, e-Government, Research and Development | Mzikayifane Khumalo |
Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development | Lebogang Maile |
Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation | Morakane Mosupyoe |
Social Development, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment | Mbali Hlophe |
Health and Wellness | Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko |
Finance | Jacob Mamabolo |
South Africa has a single national court system and the provinces do not have their own courts. The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa, which has seats in Pretoria and Johannesburg, has jurisdiction over all cases arising in the province. However, most cases are first heard in one of the over 25 district magistrates' courts or in the regional magistrate's court for the province. Appeals from the magistrates' courts are to the High Court, and appeals from the High Court are to the Supreme Court of Appeal or the Constitutional Court.
Gauteng is divided into three metropolitan municipalities and two district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into a total of seven local municipalities. These municipalities are:
South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, known as Bantustans, were reintegrated into the country, and the four provinces were increased to nine. The borders of Natal and the Orange Free State were retained, while the Cape Province and Transvaal were divided into three provinces each, plus North West Province which straddles the border of and contains territory from both these two former provinces. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the Constitution of South Africa changed the borders of seven of the provinces.
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet. The President is elected by the Parliament to serve a fixed term.
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa. The municipalities form the local government of South Africa and are subdivisions of the provinces, thus making them responsible for local service delivery, such as electricity, water and fire services.
The Western Cape province of South Africa is governed in a parliamentary system in which the people elect the Provincial Parliament, and the parliament elects the Premier as head of the executive. The Premier leads a cabinet of provincial ministers overseeing various executive departments. The provincial government is subject to the Constitution of the Western Cape and the Constitution of South Africa, which together form the supreme law of the province.
The primary administrative divisions of South Africa are the nine provinces. The provinces are divided into 52 districts, which are either metropolitan or district municipalities, with the district municipalities being further divided into local municipalities. Metropolitan and local municipalities are divided into wards.
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 80 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the seventh, was elected on 29 May 2024 and is a hung parliament with no overall majority for any party, with the African National Congress having lost its previous majority, but remaining the largest party with 28 members. The legislature is housed in Johannesburg City Hall in central Johannesburg.
The nine provinces of South Africa are governed by provincial governments which form the second layer of government, between the national government and the municipalities. The provincial governments are established, and their structure defined, by Chapter Six of the Constitution of South Africa.
The Northern Cape province of South Africa is governed in a parliamentary system in which the people
The Eastern Cape province of South Africa is governed in a parliamentary system in which the people elect the provincial legislature and the legislature, in turn, elects the Premier as head of the executive. The Premier leads an Executive Council consisting of members who oversee various executive departments. The structure of the provincial government is defined by chapter six of the Constitution of South Africa.
Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu is a South African politician who served continuously in the Gauteng Executive Council from 2004 to 2017. She is best known for her tenure as Gauteng's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Health from 2014 to 2017, when she presided over the Life Esidimeni scandal. In February 2017, she resigned from the Executive Council and from the Gauteng Provincial Legislature after the Health Ombud, Malegapuru Makgoba, released a report which implicated her in the scandal.
Ntombi Lentheng Mekgwe is a South African politician who was Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 2014 until 2024. Before that, she was a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) in the Gauteng provincial government from 2010 to 2014 and the third Mayor of Ekurhuleni from 2008 to 2010. She is a member of the African National Congress (ANC).
The 2021 South African municipal elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It is the sixth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, held every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections will be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
Kgosientsho David "Sputla" Ramokgopa is a South African politician who is the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity. He was the Mayor of Tshwane from 2010 to 2016. He was also a Member of the Executive Council in the Gauteng provincial government in 2019 and worked in the Presidency of South Africa as head of infrastructure from 2019 to 2023.
Humphrey Mmemezi is a South African politician and civil servant who has served as a Member of the National Assembly from March 2023. He previously served in the National Assembly between 2014 and 2019 and served as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works from 2017. He was formerly a Member of the Executive Council for Local Government and Housing in the Gauteng provincial government from 2010 to 2012. He resigned from the provincial government in July 2012 when he was found guilty of contravening the legislature's code of conduct and ethics, including in using his government credit card for personal expenses.
Nandi Mayathula-Khoza is a South African politician who was a member of the Gauteng Executive Council from 2009 to 2019, most proximately as Member of the Executive Council for Social Development under Premier David Makhura from 2016 to 2019. She left the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in the 2019 general election and in 2021 was appointed chairperson of the board of South Africa's Central Drug Authority.
Dikgang "Uhuru" Moiloa is a South African politician who was Gauteng's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Local Government and Human Settlements from March 2018 to May 2019. He represented the African National Congress in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 1999 to 2019 and was formerly the Deputy Speaker in the legislature from 2014 to 2018.
Nelisiwe Prudence Mbatha, also known as Nelisiwe Moerane and formerly known as Nelisiwe Mbatha-Mthimkhulu, is a South African politician who was Gauteng's Member of the Executive Council for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation from May 2009 to November 2010. She is a member of the African National Congress (ANC).
Refiloe Johannah Kekana is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2019. A radiographer by training, she was formerly a councilor in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality from 2011 to 2019.
Alphina Anna "Gogo" Ndlovana is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2019. A teacher by training, she was formerly a local councilor in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and, before that, a public servant in the Mpumalanga Department of Education.