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. Thami Ntuli of the Inkatha Freedom Party was elected Premier of KwaZulu-Natal at the first sitting of the provincial legislature on 14 June 2024.[2]
KwaZulu-Natal Legislature IsiShayamthetho saKwaZulu-Natali (Zulu) | |
|---|---|
| 7th Legislature | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Speaker | |
Deputy Speaker | |
Premier | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 80 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (41)
Official Opposition (37)
Other parties (2)
|
| Elections | |
| Party-list proportional representation | |
Last election | 29 May 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| 239 Langalibalele Street, Pietermaritzburg | |
| Website | |
| kznlegislature | |
Powers
editThe 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, 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.
Election
editThe 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 29 May 2024. The following table summarises the results.
| | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
| uMkhonto we Sizwe | 1,590,813 | 45.35 | New | 37 | New | |
| Inkatha Freedom Party | 633,771 | 18.07 |  2.73 | 15 | 2 | |
| African National Congress | 595,958 | 16.99 |  27.23 | 14 | 30 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 468,515 | 13.36 | 0.54 | 11 |  0 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 79,211 | 2.26 | 7.65 | 2 | 6 | |
| National Freedom Party | 19,548 | 0.56 | 1.01 | 1 | 0 | |
| Moodley Thanasagren Rubbanathan | 12,323 | 0.35 | New | 0 | New | |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 11,366 | 0.32 | 0.16 | 0 | 1 | |
| ActionSA | 9,569 | 0.27 | New | 0 | New | |
| Allied Movement for Change | 8,007 | 0.23 | New | 0 | New | |
| Patriotic Alliance | 7,843 | 0.22 | New | 0 | New | |
| African Transformation Movement | 6,477 | 0.18 | 0.31 | 0 | 1 | |
| Democratic Liberal Congress | 6,126 | 0.17 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | |
| Al Jama-ah | 6,012 | 0.17 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 5,638 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Build One South Africa | 4,648 | 0.13 | New | 0 | New | |
| African People's Movement | 4,117 | 0.12 | New | 0 | New | |
| Rise Mzansi | 3,898 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New | |
| Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 3,817 | 0.11 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
| Justice and Employment Party | 3,626 | 0.10 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | |
| Congress of the People | 3,615 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
| Abantu Batho Congress | 3,214 | 0.09 | New | 0 | New | |
| People's Freedom Party | 3,162 | 0.09 | New | 0 | New | |
| Sizwe Ummah Nation | 2,731 | 0.08 | New | 0 | New | |
| United Democratic Movement | 2,565 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |
| African Independent Congress | 2,527 | 0.07 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | |
| African Movement Congress | 2,049 | 0.06 | New | 0 | New | |
| Good | 2,005 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | |
| Arise SA | 1,958 | 0.06 | New | 0 | New | |
| African People First | 1,007 | 0.03 | New | 0 | New | |
| Economic Liberators Forum South Africa | 679 | 0.02 | New | 0 | New | |
| All Citizens Party | 631 | 0.02 | New | 0 | New | |
| Africa Restoration Alliance | 629 | 0.02 | New | 0 | New | |
| Total | 3,508,055 | 100.00 | – | 80 | – | |
| Valid votes | 3,508,055 | 98.88 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 39,761 | 1.12 | ||||
| Total votes | 3,547,816 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 5,738,249 | 61.83 | ||||
| Source: Electoral Commission of South Africa | ||||||
The following table shows the composition of the legislature after past elections and floor-crossing periods.
| Event | ACDP | ANC | DP/DA | EFF | IFP | MF | MK | 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 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 election | 0 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 15 | — | 37 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Officers
editThe Speaker of the Legislature is Ntobeko Boyce, while the Deputy Speaker is Mmabatho Tembe.[3] The following people have served as Speaker:
| Name | Entered Office | Left Office | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonga Mdletshe[4][5] | 1998 | 2004 | IFP |
| Willies Mchunu | 2004 | 2009 | ANC |
| Peggy Nkonyeni[6] | 2009 | 2013 | ANC |
| Lydia Johnson[7][8] | 2013 | 2019 | ANC |
| Ntobeko Boyce | 2019 | Incumbent | ANC |
Membership
editReferences
edit- ^ Arde, Greg (14 June 2024). "Inkatha Freedom Party's Thami Ntuli is voted in as KwaZulu-Natal's new premier". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ Motha, Sandile (2024-06-14). "IFP chair Thami Ntuli elected KZN premier as GNU flexes muscle". Sunday World. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
- ^ "DA's Tembe elected KZN Legislature Deputy Speaker". The Witness. 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "Speaker: Bonga Nkanyiso Mdletshe". KwaZulu-Natal Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 January 2004. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
- ^ Speaker Mdletshe was re-elected on June 18, 1999
- ^ Peggy Nkonyeni appointed KZN education MEC. News24. 7 October 2013. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
- ^ Election of the new Speaker of the KZN Legislature. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.
- ^ Lydia Johnson new speaker of KZN legislature - ANC KZN. Retrieved on 8 January 2019.