The Limpopo Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

. It is

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet, the Limpopo Executive Council, from among the members of the leading party or coalition in the parliament. The first legislature was inaugurated in May 1994 as the Northern Transvaal Provincial Legislature. It was renamed in 1995 to the Northern Province Provincial Legislature, and again in 2003 to the Limpopo Provincial Legislature. The Sixth Legislature was elected on 8 May 2019 in South Africa's 2019 general election. A majority of the members belong to the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

Powers

The Limpopo Legislature appoints the Premier of Limpopo, the head of Limpopo's provincial executive. The legislature can force the Premier to resign by passing a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

. Although the Executive Council is selected by the Premier, the legislature may pass a motion of no confidence to force the Premier to restructure the Council. The legislature also appoints Limpopo's delegates to the

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 ...

, allocating delegates to parties in proportion to the number of seats each party holds in the legislature. The legislature has the power to pass legislation in various fields stipulated in the national constitution; in some fields the legislative power is shared with the

national parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, while in others it is solely reserved to the province alone. The fields include health, education (except universities), agriculture, housing, environmental protection, and development planning. The legislature oversees the administration of the Limpopo provincial government, and the Premier and the members of the Executive Council are required to report to the legislature on the performance of their responsibilities. The legislature also regulates the finances of the provincial government by way of the appropriation bills which determine the provincial budget.

Election

The Provincial Legislature consists of 49 members, who are elected through a system of

party list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be use ...

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 In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

are elected on the same day. The most recent election was held on 8 May 2019. The following table summarises the results. The following table shows the composition of the provincial parliament after past elections.

Officers

The current speaker of the legislature is Rosemary Molapo, while the deputy speaker is Jeremy Ndou.

Members

References

External links

Official website
{{National Key Points navbox

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

Provincial legislatures of South Africa Unicameral legislatures