Free State Provincial Legislature

Free State Provincial Legislature
5th legislature
Type
Type
Leadership
Speaker
Motlagomang Qabathe, African National Congress
Since 13 March 2015
Deputy Speaker
Sizwe Mbalo, African National Congress
Since 21 May 2014
Structure
Seats 30
Political groups
  African National Congress (22)
  Democratic Alliance (5)
  Economic Freedom Fighters (2)
  Freedom Front Plus (1)
Elections
Party-list proportional representation
Last election
 7 May 2014
Meeting place
Fourth Raadsaal, Bloemfontein
Website
http://www.fsl.gov.za/

The Free State Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Free State. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the executive council from among the members of the leading party or coalition in the parliament.

Powers

The Free State Provincial Legislature chooses the Premier of Free State, the head of the Free State's provincial executive. The legislature can force the Premier to resign by passing a motion of no confidence. Although the Executive Council is chosen by the Premier, the legislature may pass a motion of no confidence to force the Premier to change the composition of the Council. The legislature also appoints Free State'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 specified in the national constitution; in some fields the legislative power is shared with the national parliament, while in other fields it is solely reserved to the Free State alone. The fields include health, education (except universities), agriculture, housing, environmental protection, and development planning.

The legislature oversees the administration of the Free State provincial government, and the Premier and the members of the Executive Council are required to report to the legislature on the performance of their responsibilities. The legislature also manages the finances of the provincial government by way of the appropriation bills which determine the Free State's provincial budget.

Election

The provincial legislature consists of 30 members, who are elected through a system of party list proportional representation with closed lists. The most recent election was held on 7 May 2014. The following table summarises the results.

PartyVotesVote %Seats
African National Congress708,72069.8522
Democratic Alliance164,67216.235
Economic Freedom Fighters82,6748.152
Freedom Front Plus21,3392.101
Other parties37,2583.670
Total1,014,663 100.0 30

Officers

The following people have served as Speaker of the Free State Provincial Legislature:

Name Entered Office Left Office Party
Motlalepule Chambaku[1] 1994 1998 ANC
Joel Mafereka[2] 1998 2001 ANC
Jani Mohapi 2001 2002 ANC
Mxolisi Dukwana[3] 2002 2008 ANC
Sisi Mabe 2014 2014 ANC
Motlagomang Qabathe 2015 Present ANC

References

  1. ↑ Executive Summary: Provincial 10 Year Review Implementation Report
  2. ↑ News - South Africa: ANC Renegades To be Disciplined After Poll
  3. ↑ Who's Who of South Africa
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