Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/south-africa

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa

Presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa


Presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa

FieldValue
postSpeaker of the National Assembly of South Africa
imageMinister Thoko Didiza.png
incumbentThoko Didiza
incumbentsince14 June 2024
departmentNational Assembly of South Africa
styleHonorable Speaker
typePresiding officer of one chamber in a bicameral legislature
residenceCape Town
appointerElected by members of the National Assembly
firstChristoffel Brand
formation1854
deputyDeputy Speaker of the National Assembly
Annelie Lotriet
salaryR3,164‚654.00 a year
websitehttps://www.parliament.gov.za/na-presiding-officers

Annelie Lotriet

The speaker of the National Assembly presides over the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa.

The office of speaker of the National Assembly was preceded by the offices of speaker of the House of Assembly (1910–1984) under the 1909 and 1961 constitutions and speaker of Parliament under the Tricameral Parliament (1984–1994).

Background

The speaker is chosen from among the members of the Assembly at its first sitting following a general election and whenever the office is vacant. The speaker acts as a "referee", taking charge of debates to make sure that the MPs can participate freely while keeping to the rules. The speaker also has managerial duties to ensure that Parliament runs smoothly. Each political party in the Assembly elects a chief whip to run its affairs. The presiding officers, the chief whips, and the leader of government business (the person appointed by the Cabinet to liaise with Parliament) together decide on the programme of work.

Selection

The speaker of the National Assembly is elected to and removed from office in terms of S52 of the Constitution. In terms of this section the:

  • House must elect the speaker from its members during the first House sitting
  • The house may remove the speaker by resolution
  • The house must fill the position when it becomes vacant during term
  • Chief Justice must preside over the election of the speaker

Mandate

The speaker's mandate is twofold. It is constitutional and institutional. This mandate is furthermore dual at the National Assembly and Parliamentary level. In both situations, it involves interacting with the following sectors of the global community:

  • International
  • Continental
  • Regional
  • National

List of speakers (1854–present)

Cape House of Assembly (1854–1910)

No.Name
(Birth–Death)PortraitTerm of office12345
Sir Christoffel Brand
(1797–1875)[[File:Sir Christoffel Brand00.jpg80px]]1854–1873
Sir David Tennant
(1829–1905)[[File:David Tennant - Speaker of the Cape Parliament - Cape Colony.jpg80px]]1874–1895
Sir Henry Juta
(1875–1930)[[File:Cape Speaker Henry Juta - P Tennyson-Cole.png80px]]1896–1898
Sir Bisset Berry
(1839–1922)[[File:Wm Bisset Berry - Cape Speaker of Parliament - Photo Duffus CT.jpg80px]]1899–1907
James Tennant Molteno
(1865–1936)[[File:Sir James Molteno - retired Speaker of Parliament RSA.jpg80px]]1907–1910

House of Assembly (1910–1994)

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)Term of officePolitical partyTook officeLeft officeTime in officeSouth African Party}}; color:white;"1South African Party}}; color:white;"2National Party (South Africa)}};"3National Party (South Africa)}};"4National Party (South Africa)}};"(3)United Party (South Africa)}};"United Party (South Africa)}}; color:white;"5National Party (South Africa)}};"6National Party (South Africa)}};"7National Party (South Africa)}};"8National Party (South Africa)}};"9National Party (South Africa)}};"10National Party (South Africa)}};"11National Party (South Africa)}};"12National Party (South Africa)}};"13National Party (South Africa)}};"14
[[File:Sir James Molteno - retired Speaker of Parliament RSA.jpg80px]]Sir James Tennant Molteno
(1865–1936)1 November 191018 November 1915South African Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Joel Krige
(1866–1933)19 November 191524 July 1924South African Party
[[File:EG Jansen 1949.jpg80px]]Ernest George Jansen
(1881–1959)25 July 192419 June 1929National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]
(1871–1937)19 July 192925 May 1933National Party
[[File:EG Jansen 1949.jpg80px]]Ernest George Jansen
(1881–1959)26 May 193321 January 1944National Party
(until 1934)
United Party
(from 1934)
[[File:No image.png80px]]Clifford Meyer van Coller
(1876–1977)22 January 19445 August 1948United Party
[[File:Tom Naudé 1962.jpg80px]]Jozua François Naudé
(1889–1969)6 August 19487 November 1950National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Johannes Conradie
(1897–1966)19 January 195131 December 1960National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Henning Johannes Klopper
(1895–1985)20 January 19611 August 1974National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Alwyn Schlebusch
(1917–2008)2 August 197425 January 1976National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]
(1914–1998)26 January 197630 July 1981National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]J. P. du Toit31 July 198113 February 1983National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Johan Greeff
(1921–2004)14 February 198331 December 1986National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Louis le Grange
(1928–1991)1 January 198725 October 1991
(Died in office)National Party
[[File:No image.png80px]]Gene Louw
(1931–2015)14 November 19919 May 1994National Party

National Assembly (1994–present)

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)Term of officePolitical partyTook officeLeft officeTime in officeAfrican National Congress}}; color:white;"1African National Congress}}; color:white;"2African National Congress}}; color:white;"3African National Congress}}; color:white;"4African National Congress}}; color:white;"(2)African National Congress}}; color:white;"5African National Congress}}; color:white;"6African National Congress}}; color:white;"7
[[File:No image.png80px]]Frene Ginwala
(1932–2023)9 May 199412 July 2004African National Congress
[[File:Baleka Mbete.jpg80px]]Baleka Mbete
(born 1949)12 July 200425 September 2008African National Congress
[[File:No image.png80px]]Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde
(born 1955)25 September 20086 May 2009African National Congress
[[File:Max Sisulu (1985).jpg80px]]Max Sisulu
(born 1945)6 May 200921 May 2014African National Congress
[[File:Baleka Mbete.jpg80px]]Baleka Mbete
(born 1949)21 May 201422 May 2019African National Congress
[[File:Spotkanie premier Beaty Szydło z Thandi Modise (cropped).jpg80px]]Thandi Modise
(born 1959)22 May 20195 August 2021African National Congress
[[File:Panetta and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (cropped).jpg80px]]Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
(born 1956)19 August 20213 April 2024African National Congress
[[File:Minister Thoko Didiza.png80px]]Thoko Didiza
(born 1965)14 June 2024IncumbentAfrican National Congress

Timeline since 1910

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:21 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:150 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today =

Colors = id:sap value:rgb(0.07,0.62,0.82) legend:South_African_Party id:np value:rgb(0.97,0.58,0.11) legend:National_Party id:up value:rgb(0,0.39,1) legend:United_Party id:anc value:rgb(0,0.5,0) legend:African_National_Congress

id:gray1 value:gray(0.85) id:gray2 value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1910 till:31/12/ TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1910 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1910

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData = pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political party:"

BarData = bar:Molteno bar:Krige bar:Jansen bar:Waal bar:Coller bar:Naudé bar:Conradie bar:Klopper bar:Schlebusch bar:Loots bar:Toit bar:Greeff bar:Grange bar:Louw bar:Ginwala bar:Mbete bar:Mahlangu-Nkabinde bar:Sisulu bar:Modise bar:Mapisa-Nqakula bar:Didiza

PlotData = width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Molteno from: 01/11/1910 till: 18/11/1915 color:sap text:"James Tennant Molteno" bar:Krige from: 19/11/1915 till: 24/07/1924 color:sap text:"Joel Krige" bar:Jansen from: 25/07/1924 till: 19/06/1929 color:np from: 26/05/1933 till: 01/01/1934 color:np from: 01/01/1934 till: 21/01/1944 color:up text:"Ernest George Jansen" bar:Waal from: 19/07/1929 till: 25/05/1933 color:np text:"Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr de Waal" bar:Coller from: 22/01/1944 till: 05/08/1948 color:up text:"C. M. van Coller" bar:Naudé from: 06/08/1948 till: 07/11/1950 color:np text:"Tom Naudé" bar:Conradie from: 19/01/1951 till: 31/12/1960 color:np text:"J. H. Conradie" bar:Klopper from: 20/01/1961 till: 01/08/1974 color:np text:"Henning Klopper" bar:Schlebusch from: 02/08/1974 till: 25/01/1976 color:np text:"Alwyn Schlebusch" bar:Loots from: 26/01/1976 till: 30/07/1981 color:np text:"Jannie Loots" bar:Toit from: 31/07/1981 till: 13/02/1983 color:np text:"J. P. du Toit" bar:Greeff from: 14/02/1983 till: 31/12/1986 color:np text:"Johan Greeff" bar:Grange from: 01/01/1987 till: 25/10/1991 color:np text:"Louis le Grange" bar:Louw from: 14/11/1991 till: 09/05/1994 color:np text:"Gene Louw" bar:Ginwala from: 09/05/1994 till: 12/07/2004 color:anc text:"Frene Ginwala" bar:Mbete from: 12/07/2004 till: 25/09/2008 color:anc from: 21/05/2014 till: 22/05/2019 color:anc text:"Baleka Mbete" bar:Mahlangu-Nkabinde from: 25/09/2008 till: 06/05/2009 color:anc text:"Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde" bar:Sisulu from: 06/05/2009 till: 21/05/2014 color:anc text:"Max Sisulu" bar:Modise from: 22/05/2019 till: 05/08/2021 color:anc text:"Thandi Modise" bar:Mapisa-Nqakula from: 19/08/2021 till: 03/04/2024 color:anc text:"Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula" bar:Didiza from: 14/06/2024 till: $today color:anc text:"Thoko Didiza"

References

References

  1. "The Speakers Corner".
  2. From 1911, ''Sir'' James Tennant Molteno
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report