Page:Republic of South Africa Constitution Act 1983 from Government Gazette.djvu/20

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Act No. 110, 1983

Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983

the Administrator of a province, or a member of a Select Committee of a House or of a provincial council or a member of a committee of Parliament.

Vacating of seats in Houses.

55. (1) A member of a House shall vacate his seat if he―

(a)

becomes subject to any disability mentioned in section 54; or

(b)

ceases to be qualified as required by law; or

(c)

fails for a whole ordinary session of Parliament or of the House of which he is a member to attend without the special leave of that House, unless his absence is due to his serving, while the Republic is at war, with the South African Defence Force or any other force or service established by or under the Defence Act, 1957.

(2) A member of a House who―

(a)

is designated or appointed as a member of the President’s Council, shall vacate his seat as a member of such House with effect from the date on which he becomes a member of the President’s Council;

(b)

is elected as a member of a provincial council, shall vacate his seat as a member of such House with effect from the date on which he becomes a member of the provincial council.

Penalty for sitting or voting when disqualified.

56. Any person who is by law incapable of sitting as a member of a House and who, while so incapable and knowing or having reasonable grounds for knowing that he is so incapable, sits or votes as a member of the House in question, shall be liable to a penalty of R200 for each day on which he so sits or votes, which may be recovered on behalf of the Treasury of the Republic by action in any division of the Supreme Court of South Africa.

Oath.

57. Every member of a House shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Chief Justice, any other judge of the Supreme Court, the Speaker of Parliament or the Chairman of the House in question an oath in the following form:

I, A.B., do swear to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa and solemnly promise to perform my duties as a member of the House of Assembly/House of Representatives/House of Delegates to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

Speaker of Parliament.

58. (1) An electoral college referred to in subsection (1) of section 7 shall, after having elected a State President at a meeting called in accordance with the provisions of subsection (3) (a) or (b) of that section or those provisions as applied by subsection (7) of section 8, proceed to elect a Speaker of Parliament, who shall be a member of a House.

(2) The provisions of sections 7 and 8 shall apply mutatis mutandis and subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section in respect of the election of a Speaker.

(3) (a) The Speaker shall hold office until his successor is elected in terms of subsection (1), but shall be eligible for re-election.

(b) The Speaker shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a member of the House of which he was a member at the time of his election as Speaker, and may resign his office or his seat by lodging his resignation in writing with the Chief Justice.

(c) The provisions of subsection (3) of section 9 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the Speaker, but for the purpose of such application the words “every Chairman of a House” shall be deemed to have been substituted for the words “the Speaker of Parliament” in paragraph (d) of that subsection.

(4) (a) When the Speaker is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, he shall designate a member of a House to perform those functions as Acting Speaker during his absence or inability.