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The Speaker of the National Assembly presides over the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa. The speaker is chosen from among the Members of the Assembly at its first sitting following a general election and whenever the office is vacant . The Speaker acts as a "referee", taking charge of debates to make sure that the MPs can participate freely while keeping to the rules. The Speaker also has managerial duties to ensure that Parliament runs smoothly. Each political party in the Assembly elects a chief whip to run its affairs. The presiding officers, the chief whips, and the Leader of Government Business (the person appointed by the Cabinet to liaise with Parliament) together decide on the programme of work.
The office of Speaker of the National Assembly was preceded by the offices of Speaker of the House of Assembly (1910–1984) under the 1909 and 1961 constitutions and Speaker of Parliament under the Tricameral Parliament (1984–1994)
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List of Speakers (1854-Present)
Speakers of the Cape House of Assembly (1854-1910)
- Sir Christoffel Brand (1854–1873)
- Sir David Tennant (1874–1895)
- Sir Henry Juta (1896–1898)
- Sir Bisset Berry (1899–1907)
- James Molteno (1908–1910)
Speakers of the House of Assembly (1910-1994)
# | Name | Took office | Left office | Political Party |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | James Tennant Molteno (from 1911, Sir James Tennant Molteno) |
1910 | 1915 | South African Party |
2 | Joel Krige | 1915 | 1924 | South African Party |
3 | Ernest George Jansen (1st time) | 1924 | 1929 | National Party |
4 | Jan Hendrick Hofmeyr de Waal | 1929 | 1933 | National Party |
Ernest George Jansen (2nd time) | 1933 | 1944 | National Party/United Party | |
5 | C.M. van Coller | 1944 | 1948 | United Party |
6 | Jozua François Naudé | 1948 | 1950 | National Party |
7 | J.H. Conradie | 1951 | 1960 | National Party |
8 | Henning J. Klopper | 1961 | 1974 | National Party |
9 | Alwyn Schlebusch | 1974 | 1976 | National Party |
10 | Jannie Loots | 1976 | 1981 | National Party |
11 | J.P. du Toit | 1981 | 1983 | National Party |
12 | Johan Greeff | 1983 | 1986 | National Party |
13 | Louis le Grange | 1987 | 1991 | National Party |
14 | Gene Louw | 1991 | 1994 | National Party |
Speakers of the National Assembly (1994-Present)
# | Name | Took office | Left office | Political Party |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Frene Ginwala (f) | 1994 | 2004 | African National Congress |
2 | Baleka Mbete (f) | 2004 | 2008 | African National Congress |
3 | Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde (f) | 2008 | 2009 | African National Congress |
4 | Max Sisulu (m) | 2009 | Present | African National Congress |
See also
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