Pretoria - The first sitting of the National Assembly after the May 7 national and provincial elections will take place this Wednesday at 10.30am.
The session will be preceded by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng in terms the Constitution and will see the National Assembly elect the new president of the country and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the legislature.
The Constitution prescribes that the President be sworn in within five days of being elected by the National Assembly.
The first sitting of the National Council of Provinces will take place the following day, Thursday, also at 10:30am, and members will elect a new chair and deputy chair for the chamber.
The first sitting follows the handover of Parliament and the provincial legislatures representatives to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on Friday.
The list containing the 830 representatives was handed over by IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula.
Of the new representatives, approximately 42 percent of them are women. In terms of age, the oldest is 85-years-old and the youngest 22. The average age of the representatives is 50.
According to the list, some of the top 10 names on the ANC’s Parliament list are: Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa, Malusi Gigaba, Naledi Pandor, Jeff Radebe, Fikile Mbalula, Blade Nzimande, Bathabile Dlamini, Lindiwe Sisulu and Collins Chabane.
Several new parties won also parliamentary seats in the 2014 national election, meaning there will be a number of new faces in the legislature.
Government has already announced that the inauguration of the president would take place on 24 May at the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
According to government-thousands of people, including former Heads of State and eminent persons, are expected to witness the inauguration. – SAnews.gov.za
