KwaZulu-Natal Legislature | |
---|---|
6th Legislature | |
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Speaker | |
Deputy Speaker | |
Premier | |
Leader of the Opposition | |
Structure | |
Seats | 80 |
Political groups | Government
Official Opposition
Other parties |
Elections | |
Party-list proportional representation | |
Last election | 8 May 2019 |
Meeting place | |
239 Langalibalele Street, Pietermaritzburg | |
Website | |
kznlegislature |
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.
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.
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.
Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
African National Congress | 1,951,027 | 54.22 | –10.30 | 44 | –8 | |
Inkatha Freedom Party | 588,046 | 16.34 | +5.47 | 13 | +4 | |
Democratic Alliance | 500,051 | 13.90 | +1.14 | 11 | +1 | |
Economic Freedom Fighters | 349,361 | 9.71 | +7.86 | 8 | +6 | |
National Freedom Party | 56,587 | 1.57 | –5.74 | 1 | –5 | |
Minority Front | 18,864 | 0.52 | –0.5 | 1 | 0 | |
African Transformation Movement | 17,729 | 0.49 | New | 1 | New | |
African Christian Democratic Party | 17,214 | 0.48 | +0.04 | 1 | +1 | |
Democratic Liberal Congress | 13,698 | 0.38 | New | 0 | New | |
Freedom Front Plus | 11,269 | 0.31 | +0.11 | 0 | 0 | |
Al Jama-ah | 9,899 | 0.28 | New | 0 | New | |
African Independent Congress | 9,291 | 0.26 | New | 0 | New | |
Justice and Employment Party | 8,156 | 0.23 | New | 0 | New | |
Black First Land First | 5,790 | 0.16 | New | 0 | New | |
Congress of the People | 4,957 | 0.14 | –0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party | 4,222 | 0.12 | New | 0 | New | |
Good | 4,016 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New | |
African People's Convention | 3,650 | 0.10 | –0.08 | 0 | 0 | |
United Democratic Movement | 3,558 | 0.10 | –0.07 | 0 | 0 | |
Alliance for Transformation for All | 2,624 | 0.07 | New | 0 | New | |
Azanian People's Organisation | 2,512 | 0.07 | –0.08 | 0 | 0 | |
Pan Africanist Congress | 2,510 | 0.07 | –0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
National People’s Front | 2,437 | 0.07 | New | 0 | New | |
People's Revolutionary Movement | 2,402 | 0.07 | New | 0 | New | |
African Mantungwa Community | 1,594 | 0.04 | New | 0 | New | |
African Renaissance Unity Party | 1,376 | 0.04 | New | 0 | New | |
African Content Movement | 1,369 | 0.04 | New | 0 | New | |
National People's Ambassadors | 1,294 | 0.04 | New | 0 | New | |
Women Forward | 944 | 0.03 | New | 0 | New | |
African Covenant | 938 | 0.03 | New | 0 | New | |
National Religious Freedom Party | 896 | 0.02 | New | 0 | New | |
Total | 3,598,281 | 100.00 | – | 80 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 3,598,281 | 98.46 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 56,420 | 1.54 | ||||
Total votes | 3,654,701 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 5,524,666 | 66.15 | ||||
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 | 1 | 26 | — | 2 | — | 41 | 1 | — | 9 | 1 | — | 0 |
1999 election | 1 | 32 | — | 7 | — | 34 | 2 | — | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2003 floor-crossing | 1 | 35 | — | 6 | — | 32 | 2 | — | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2004 election | 2 | 38 | — | 7 | — | 30 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2005 floor-crossing | 1 | 40 | — | 5 | — | 27 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 1 | 4 |
2007 floor-crossing | 1 | 41 | — | 5 | — | 27 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 1 | 3 |
2009 election | 1 | 51 | — | 7 | — | 18 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2014 election | 0 | 52 | — | 10 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 election | 1 | 44 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
Bongiwe Nomusa Sithole-Moloi (née Sithole) has served as KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs since February 2023. She has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2014.
Edward Senzo Mchunu is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Water and Sanitation since 5 August 2021. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was formerly the Minister of Public Service and Administration from 30 May 2019 to 5 August 2021 and the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 22 August 2013 until 23 May 2016.
Sihle Zikalala is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2023, representing the African National Congress. Before his redeployment to the national government, he had been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal and a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.
The 35th Inkatha Freedom Party National General Conference was held from 23 to 25 August 2019 to elect the new leadership of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The previous elective conference was held in 2012. Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi had announced his intention to retire after serving in the position for more than forty-four years. He was the party's inaugural president. It was understood that the party's IFP Extended National Council favoured the Leader of the Opposition in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Velenkosini Hlabisa, to succeed him as party president. Hlabisa was elected unopposed.
Francoise Adrianus Rodgers, known as Francois Rodgers, is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been the provincial leader of Democratic Alliance (DA) since 2021.
Christopher "Chris" John Pappas is a South African politician who is the mayor of the uMngeni Local Municipality. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he served as party's deputy provincial leader from 2021 until 2023. Pappas served as a member of the eThekwini city council from 2016 until 2019 and as a DA Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2019 to 2021.
Mluleki Ezekiel Ndobe was a South African educator and African National Congress politician who served as the deputy speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2019 until his death in 2020. Before joining the provincial legislature, he was the Executive Mayor of the Harry Gwala District Municipality.
Kwazikwenkosi Innocent Mshengu is a South African lawyer and African National Congress politician who served as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in KwaZulu-Natal until 11 August 2022 when he was replaced with Mbali Frazer by the new KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube. He served as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from May 2019 until February 2023. Mshengu is the provincial chairperson of the African National Congress Youth League.
Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni is a South African politician and educator. A member of the African National Congress, she has been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance in KwaZulu-Natal since 2022.
Vusumuzi Cyril Xaba is a South African politician and a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2019. He is currently serving as Co-Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans. A member of the African National Congress, he previously served in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 1994 to 2009 and from 2014 to 2019. He was the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2014 to 2016.
Richard Themba Mthembu is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2009. He was formerly KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture and Rural Development from June 2016 to May 2019. He has also served as Provincial Secretary of the South African Communist Party in KwaZulu-Natal since 2002.
Michael Mabuyakhulu is a South African politician and former trade unionist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature between 1994 and 2016. He also served for seventeen years in the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council, most prominently as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development and Tourism from 2009 to 2016.
Rejoice Zibuyisile Phumlile Zulu is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since February 2021. She was formerly a local councillor and Speaker in KwaDukuza Local Municipality between 2016 and 2021. She was the ANC's mayoral candidate for KwaDukuza in 2019 and 2020 but was blocked from the mayoral office by members of her own party.
Nhlakanipho Ntombela is a South African politician who has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since before 2014. He is also a longstanding member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC, and in December 2021 he was elected Deputy Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Moses Mabhida branch in Umgungundlovu District.
Mthandeni Eric Dlungwana, also spelled Dlungwane, is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature between 2011 and 2019. He was formerly KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education from 2016 to 2019 under Premier Willies Mchunu.
Lydia Johnson is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature until 2019. She was the legislature's Speaker from 2013 to 2019 and previously served in the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council between 2006 and 2011: she was KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Public Works from 2006 to 2009 and MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development from 2009 to 2011. In June 2022, she was appointed board chairperson at Ezemvelo.
Lindumusa Bekizitha Gabriel Ndabandaba is a retired South African politician and academic who served in the National Assembly and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 1999 to 2014. He represented the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) until 2003, when he crossed the floor to the African National Congress (ANC).