National Council of Provinces

National Council of Provinces List 10 other official names: Nasionale Raad van Provinsies (Afrikaans) umKhandlu weNarha oNgamele iimFunda (Southern Ndebele) Bhunga leSizwe lamaPhondo (Xhosa) uMkhandlu kaZwelonke weziFundazwe (Zulu) uMkhandlu waVelonkhe wetiFundza (Swati) Lekgotla la Bosetšhaba la Diprofense (Northern Sotho) Lekgotla la Naha la Diprofense (Sotho) Lekgotla la Bosetšhaba la Diporofense (Tswana) Huvo ya Rixaka ya Swifundzhankulu (Tsonga) Khoro ya Lushaka ya Mavunḓu (Venda)
26th South African Parliament
Type
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of South Africa
Leadership
Chairperson	Thandi Modise, ANC Since 22 May 2014
Deputy Chairperson	Raseriti Tau, ANC Since 22 May 2014
Leader of the Opposition	Elza van Lingen, DA
Structure
Seats	90 (54 permanent, 36 special)

Political groups	ANC (33 + 27) DA (13 + 7) EFF (6 + 1) Others (2 + 1)
Elections
Voting system	Indirect proportional representation from provincial legislatures
Last election	21 May 2014
Meeting place
NCOP Chamber, Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Website
National Council of Provinces

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to many other upper houses of legislatures throughout the world, in that its purpose is to represent the governments of the provinces, rather than directly representing the people.^[1]

Composition

South Africa

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of South Africa
Constitution Bill of Rights
Executive President Jacob Zuma Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa Cabinet Shadow Cabinet
Legislative National Council of Provinces Chairperson Thandi Modise National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete Leader of the Opposition Mmusi Maimane
Judiciary Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke Courts Constitutional Court Supreme Court of Appeal President: Lex Mpati High Court Magistrate's courts Electoral Court
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 2014 Municipal 2000 2006 2011 2016 Referendums 1960 1983 1992 Political parties
Administrative divisions Provinces Districts Metropolitan municipality District municipality Municipalities (list)
Foreign relations
Related topics Human rights Taxation Protests Repression Political Assassinations
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

Election to the NCOP is indirect: citizens vote for provincial legislatures, and each legislature then nominates a delegation of ten members to the NCOP. This means that each of South Africa's nine provinces has equal representation in the Council regardless of population. Each provincial delegation consists of six permanent delegates, who are nominated for a term that lasts until a new provincial legislature is elected, and four special delegates.^[2] One of the special delegates is the province's Premier, or another member of the provincial legislature designated by the Premier, while the other three special delegates are designated ad hoc by the provincial legislature. The party representation in the delegation must proportionally reflect the party representation in the provincial legislature, according to a formula included in the Constitution.^[2] A delegation from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), which represents the municipalities, may also attend sittings of the NCOP, but may not vote.

After the elections of 7 May 2014, the new provincial legislatures met on 21 May to elect NCOP delegations. The delegations elected are described in the following table.


Party		Delegate type	Province									Total
Party		Delegate type	EC	FS	G	KZN	L	M	NW	NC	WC	Total
	African National Congress	Permanent	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	2	33	60
	African National Congress	Special	3	3	2	3	4	4	3	3	2	27	60
	Democratic Alliance	Permanent	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	4	13	20
	Democratic Alliance	Special	1	1	2					1	2	7	20
	Economic Freedom Fighters	Permanent		1	1		1	1	1	1		6	7
	Economic Freedom Fighters	Special							1			1	7
	Inkatha Freedom Party	Permanent				1						1
	National Freedom Party	Special				1						1
	United Democratic Movement	Permanent	1									1
Total			10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	90

Decisions

The NCOP may consider, amend, propose amendments to, or reject legislation. It must consider all national bills, and also has the power to initiate legislation in the functional areas where Parliament and the provincial legislatures have concurrent legislative power ("Schedule 4 areas").^[1]

The NCOP has three decision-making mechanisms depending on the type of bill:^[3]

"Section 74 bills" amend the Constitution; they may not deal with any matters other than constitutional amendments and matters related to the amendments. A bill that amends section 1 of the constitution (which defines South Africa as a constitutional democratic republic), or amends the Bill of Rights, or amends any constitutional provision affecting the NCOP itself, provincial boundaries or powers, or other specifically provincial matters, must be passed by the NCOP. Each delegation has one vote, and six of the nine delegations must approve the bill for it to pass. Other constitutional amendments do not have to be passed by the NCOP, but they must be debated publicly in the NCOP.
"Section 76 bills" fall into any of the Schedule 4 areas, as well as various other laws specifically envisaged in the Constitution. In handling Section 76 bills, each delegation has one vote, and five of the nine delegations must approve the bill for it to pass.
All other bills, specifically including money bills, are "Section 75 bills". In handling Section 75 bills, each delegate in the NCOP has a vote, and the bill must be approved by a majority of members present for it to pass.

In considering Section 74 and 76 bills, each delegation must vote in accordance with a mandate approved by the provincial legislature that it represents.^[4]

Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces

 | 10 other official names:
 | Voorsitter van die Nasionale Raad van Provinsies  (Afrikaans)
 | Usihlalo womKhandlu weNarha oNgamele iimFunda  (Southern Ndebele)
 | uSihlalo weBhunga leSizwe lamaPhondo  (Xhosa)
 | uSihlalo womMkhandlu kaZwelonke weziFundazwe  (Zulu)
 | Sihlalo weMkhandlu waVelonkhe wetiFundza  (Swati)
 | Modulasetulo wa Lekgotla la Bosetšhaba la Diprofense  (Northern Sotho)
 | Modulasetulo wa Lekgotla la Naha la Diprofense  (Sotho)
 | Monnasetulo wa Lekgotla la Bosetšhaba la Diporofense  (Tswana)
 | Mutshamaxitulu wa Huvo ya Rixaka ya Swifundzhankulu  (Tsonga)
 | Mudzulatshidulo wa Khoro ya Lushaka ya Mavunḓu  (Venda)

Further information: President of the Senate of South Africa § Chairpersons of the National Council of Provinces (1997–Present)

The following people have served as Chairperson of the NCOP:^[5]

Name	Term	Party
Patrick Lekota	6 February 1997 – 21 June 1999	ANC
Naledi Pandor	21 June 1999 – 4 May 2004	ANC
Joyce Kgoali	4 May 2004 – 21 November 2004	ANC
M. J. Mahlangu	21 November 2004 – 22 May 2014 (acting to 17 January 2005)	ANC
Thandi Modise	22 May 2014 – Present	ANC

References

1 2 "National Council of Provinces". Parliament of South Africa. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
1 2 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, ss. 60–62.
↑ Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, ss. 73–77.
↑ Mandating Procedures of Provinces Act, 2008, No. 52 of 2008
↑ "South African ministries, etc.". Rulers.org. Retrieved 3 December 2010.

External links

Parliament of South Africa: National Council of Provinces

Legislatures in South Africa

Parliament	National Assembly National Council of Provinces

Provincial legislatures	Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu–Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga Northern Cape North West Western Cape

Upper houses of national legislatures

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Dependent and other territories	American Samoa Bermuda Isle of Man Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico

Non-UN states	Somaliland

Related	Bicameralism Unicameralism List of abolished upper houses List of legislatures by country

National lower houses National bicameral legislatures National unicameral legislatures

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