Western Cape Provincial Parliament

The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town.

Western Cape Provincial Parliament

Wes-Kaapse Provinsiale Parlement (Afrikaans)
iPalamente yePhondo leNtshona Koloni (Xhosa)
7th Parliament
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Speaker
Daylin Mitchell, DA
since 12 December 2022
Deputy Speaker
Reagen Allen, DA
since 13 June 2024 [1]
Premier
Alan Winde, DA
since 22 May 2019[2]
Leader of the Opposition
Muhammad Khalid Sayed, ANC
since 13 June 2024
Structure
Seats42
Political groups
Government (24)
  •   DA (24)

Official Opposition (8)

Other parties (10)

Elections
Party-list proportional representation
Last election
29 May 2024
Meeting place
7 Wale Street, Cape Town 8000
Website
www.wcpp.gov.za

The Provincial Parliament, along with the other provincial legislatures of South Africa, exists by virtue of Chapter 6 of the Constitution of South Africa and Chapter 3 of the Constitution of the Western Cape. It is unicameral, and consists of 42 members elected by a system of party-list proportional representation.

The Western Cape is unique amongst the provinces of South Africa in calling its legislature the "Provincial Parliament" and the members Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). The other provinces use the terms "Provincial Legislature" and "Members of the Provincial Legislature".

The Seventh Provincial Parliament was elected on 29 May 2024 in South Africa's 2024 general elections. A majority of the members belong to the Democratic Alliance.

Powers

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The Provincial Parliament is modelled on the Westminster system. The executive head of the provincial government, the Premier of the Western Cape, is elected by the Members of the Provincial Parliament from amongst themselves; conventionally the Premier will be the leader of the largest party in the parliament. The Premier then chooses the members of the Provincial Cabinet, who must also be MPPs. The Provincial Parliament also has the power to force the Premier and Cabinet to resign, by passing a motion of no confidence.[3]

The legislative power of the Provincial Parliament is restricted to certain fields enumerated in the national Constitution; in some of these fields, the power is shared with the national Parliament. The fields on which the Provincial Parliament may legislate include health care, primary and secondary education, agriculture, transport, and land use planning. It also controls the budget of the provincial government departments.

Legislation may be introduced by any member, except for money bills, which may be introduced only by the Provincial Minister of Finance. Laws passed by the Provincial Parliament must be signed by the Premier before coming into effect. The Premier may refer a bill back to Parliament for reconsideration if she or he believes it is unconstitutional. If the Parliament re-passes it, then the Premier must either sign it or refer it to the Constitutional Court, which can make a final decision on its constitutionality.

Election

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The provincial legislature consists of 42 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 summarizes the results.

Party Votes Vote % Seats
DA 1,088,423 55.30 24
ANC 384,853 19.55 8
PA 153,607 7.80 3
EFF 104,354 5.30 2
NCC 46,770 2.38 1
VF+ 28,471 1.45 1
Al Jama-ah 25,537 1.30 1
ACDP 25,363 1.29 1
Good 22,207 1.13 1
Other parties 78,724 4.50 0
Total 100.0 42

The following table shows the composition of the provincial parliament after past elections and floor-crossing periods.

Event ACDP ALJ ANC DP/DA COPE EFF FF/FF+ GOOD ID NCC NP/NNP NLP UDM UIF
1994 election 1 14 3 1 23
1999 election 1 18 5 0 17 1
2003 floor-crossing 2 22 7 0 10 1 0
2004 election 2 19 12 0 3 5 1
2005 floor-crossing 2 24 13 0 1 0 2
2007 floor-crossing 2 27 11 0 1 0 1
2009 election 1 0 14 22 3 0 2 0
2014 election 1 0 14 26 0 1 0 0
2019 election 1 1 12 24 0 2 1 1 0
2024 election 1 1 8 24 0 2 1 1 1 0

Officers

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The presiding officer of the Provincial Parliament is the Speaker, assisted by a Deputy Speaker. The Speaker position is currently held by Daylin Mitchell of the Democratic Alliance, while the Deputy Speaker is Reagen Allen also of the DA.

Apart from being the executive head of the province, the Premier also leads the governing party or coalition in the Provincial Parliament. The leader of the largest party not in government is recognised as Leader of the Opposition. As of 2019 the Premier is Alan Winde of the Democratic Alliance. Cameron Dugmore of the African National Congress is Leader of the Opposition since 2019, after Khaya Magaxa was elected to the National Assembly of South Africa.[4]

List of speakers

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Name Entered office Left office Party
Willem Doman 1994 2001 NNP
Lynne Brown[5] 2001 2004 ANC
Shaun Byneveldt 2004 2009 ANC
Shahid Esau 2009 2012 DA
Richard Majola 2012 2014 DA
Sharna Fernandez 2014 2019 DA
Masizole Mnqasela 2019 2022 DA
Daylin Mitchell 2022 Present DA

List of opposition leaders

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Name Entered office Left office Party
Theuns Botha 2004 2009 DA
Lynne Brown 2009 2014 ANC
Marius Fransman 2014 2016 ANC
Khaya Magaxa 2016 2019 ANC
Cameron Dugmore 2019 2024 ANC
Muhammad Khalid Sayed 2024 Incumbent ANC

Expansion

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In February 2020, the ruling Democratic Alliance proposed increasing the number of the seats in the Provincial Parliament to between 52 and 60 seats. The proposal is supported by the African National Congress, yet it has also been denounced by Good.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ [1]. Retrieved on 13 June 2024.
  2. ^ Winde elected Western Cape premier. Retrieved on 28 May 2019.
  3. ^ Constitution of the Western Cape, 1997
  4. ^ Meet the ANC’s new team for Parliament. Retrieved on 20 May 2019.
  5. ^ "South Africa Local Leaders". Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  6. ^ Phakathi, Bhekezela (10 February 2020). "DA's proposal to increase number of seats in Western Cape legislature raises eyebrows". BusinessDay. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
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