National Assembly
25th Parliament / 4th Democratic Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house of Parliament of South Africa
Leadership
Speaker	Max Sisulu, ANC since 6 May 2009
Deputy Speaker	Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, ANC since 25 September 2008
Leader of Government Business	Kgalema Motlanthe, ANC since 10 May 2009
Leader of the Opposition	Athol Trollip, DA since 6 May 2009
Structure
Members	400
Political groups	13 African National Congress (264) Democratic Alliance (67) Congress of the People (30) Inkatha Freedom Party (18) Freedom Front Plus (4) Independent Democrats (4) United Democratic Movement (4) African Christian Democratic Party (3) United Christian Democratic Party (2) African Peoples' Convention (1) Azanian People's Organisation (1) Minority Front (1) Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (1)
Election
Voting system	Party-list proportional representation
Last election	22 April 2009
Meeting place
National Assembly Chamber, Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Website
National Assembly

South Africa

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Africa

Constitution Bill of Rights Government Executive President Jacob Zuma Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe Cabinet Shadow Cabinet Legislative Parliament National Council of Provinces Chairperson M. J. Mahlangu National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu Leader of the Opposition Helen Zille (national) Athol Trollip (parliament) Judiciary Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo Pres. of Supreme Court of Appeal Lex Mpati Courts Constitutional Court Supreme Court of Appeal High Court Magistrates' Courts Elections General: 1910 1915 1920 1921 1924 1929 1933 1938 1943 1948 1953 1958 1961 1966 1970 1974 1977 1981 1984 1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 Municipal: 2000 2006 2011 Referendums: 1960 1983 1992 Administrative divisions Provinces Districts (MMs, DMs) Municipalities (list) Other Political parties Foreign relations

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The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape Province. It consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 members. It is a mixed member proportional system where half of the members are elected proportionally from 9 provincial lists and the remaining half from national lists so as to restore proportionality. Members serve 5 year terms.

The National Assembly is presided over by a Speaker, assisted by a Deputy Speaker. The current Speaker is Max Sisulu and the Deputy Speaker is Nomaindia Mfeketo; they were elected on 6 May 2009.^[1]

[edit] Allocation

The National Assembly seats are allocated using a proportional representation system with closed lists. Seats are first allocated according to the (integer part of the) Droop quota. Thereafter at most five seats are allocated using the largest remainder method (using the Droop quota). Any additional seats are allocated amongst the parties who then already have seats using the highest averages method.

Voters have one vote at elections to the National Assembly. Seats are allocated in ten multi-member constituencies via party lists. One constituency is a national or 'at large' constituency and nine others represent each of the nine provinces. The lists were called the national lists and regional lists in the 2009 election. 'Regional' was used to avoid confusion with the provincial legislature elections held at the same time. Previously they were called 'National to National' and 'Provincial to National'. Parties decide whether they want to set up both national and provincial lists or only provincial lists. If all parties choose national lists then half of the members will come from the national 'at large' constituency and half from the nine provincial constituencies. If no party chooses a national list then all members will come from the nine provincial constituencies. In the 2009 election one party chose not to use a national list resulting in 168 members being elected from the national constituency and 232 from the nine provincial constituencies.

[edit] History

In South Africa’s second democratic election in 1999, the African National Congress (ANC) won 266 seats. They were followed by the Democratic Party (DP) with 38 seats, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 34, the New National Party (NNP) with 28, and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) with 14. Other smaller parties are also represented.

After the third democratic election in 2004 the NNP was severely weakened, obtaining only 7 seats, and formally disbanded in 2005, with the majority of the party joining the ANC. The ANC obtained 279 seats, gaining a two-thirds majority and the ability to change the constitution. The DP became the Democratic Alliance (DA), and remained as the official opposition with 50 seats.

In the fourth democratic election in 2009 the ANC lost its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, but remained the majority party with 264 seats. The DA increased its support to 67 seats, and the new Congress of the People (COPE) party, a breakaway from the ANC, obtained 30 seats. The IFP was reduced to 18 seats.

[edit] Election results

The last election was on 22 April 2009.

Notes:

* The 2009 Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA) was an alliance of the 2004 Christian Democratic Party (CDP), the 2004 New Labour Party (NLP) and other parties that weren't on the 2004 national ballot.

[edit] Current composition

[edit] References

1. ^ "Sisulu elected National Assembly speaker". Mail & Guardian Online. 6 May 2009. http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-05-06-sisulu-elected-national-assembly-speaker. Retrieved 6 May 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "State of parties after floor-crossing as at 17 September 2007". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. http://www.pmg.org.za/parlinfo/seats. Retrieved 2009-04-26. 
3. ^ "Official national election results". Independent Online. Reuters. 2009-04-25. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3086&art_id=nw20090425180808812C584100. Retrieved 2009-04-26. 
4. ^ "South Africa: 2009 National Assembly election results". Electoral Institute of Southern Africa. April 2009. http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/sou2009results1.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
5. ^ "South Africa: National results 2004". EISA. May 2007. http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/souresults2004.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 

[edit] External links

• Parliament of South Africa
  • National Assembly