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29 April 2009

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (IEC), Dr Brigalia Bam, presented on behalf of the Electoral Commission the list of designated Members of Parliament for the National Assembly to the Chief Justice, Justice Pius Langa at Constitution Hill today.

Following the declaration of the results of the 2009 national and provincial elections on Saturday, 25 April 2009, the next step was the designation of Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Provincial Legislatures (MPLs).

Out of the 26 parties who contested the elections for the National Assembly, 13 parties will be represented in Parliament. The breakdown of representatives (MPs) per party is as follows:

African Christian Democratic Party – three, African National Congress – 264, African People's Convention – one; Azanian People's Organisation – one; Congress of the People – 30, Democratic Alliance – 67, Independent Democrats – 4; Inkatha Freedom Party – 18, Minority Front – one; Pan Africanist Congress of Azania – one, United Christian Democratic Party – two; United Democratic Movement – four; Vryheidsfront Plus – four.

Parties who had candidates who were eligible for more than one list, had until 17h00 on 27 April 2009 (i.e. two days after the declaration of the results) to inform to Chief Electoral Officer in which legislature the candidate will serve.

This typically happens if a candidate is on a party's national and provincial list, and given the seats the party is allocated, has a choice to take up a seat in either legislature. The same situation occurs where the candidate is on a regional list and a provincial list. Where a party informs the IEC of the choice, that candidate's name is removed from the other list and the next person on that list will be designated. No re-ordering of lists is allowed.

If a party fails to inform the IEC of the choice, the candidate is removed from all lists on which he/she appears, and the next candidates in line are designated. The parties that had such situations were notified and have indicated the choice of where these "duplicates" must be designated to.

The IEC designates Members of Parliament as per the final list of candidates. No changes, other than referred to above, are made to final lists. Thus, if a candidate has been expelled by the party, resigned, does not want to take up his/her seat or has passed away, the IEC still has to designate such candidate. Once a candidate has been designated, it is then for the relevant party to inform the Secretary of that Legislature of the vacancy.

Unlike the municipal councils, the IEC does not manage vacancies and maintenance of candidate lists in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The determination of the number of delegates per party to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is not managed by the IEC. This is done by the provincial legislatures. There is a formula in the Constitution and relevant legislation applicable to the NCOP, which is used to determine the number of delegates per party.

The list of designated Members of Parliament and of the nine Provincial Legislatures was published in the Government Gazette on 28 April 2009.

The published lists are available on the IEC website at http://www.elections.org.za

For media queries please contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386

Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
29 April 2009