National Assembly’s five-year term expires today

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The National Assembly’s five-year term will expire at midnight today.

However, the House will continue to operate until May 28, on the eve of the elections.

In 2019, the Assembly had to pass a motion that the late former African National Congress (ANC) Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu had brought to dissolve the House.

This came after the previous elections were proclaimed to take place on May 8, before the Assembly’s five-year term expired on the 20th of the same month.

The National Assembly’s five-year term in the 6th Parliament started on 22 May 2019, with the first sitting and the swearing-in of MPs that was presided over, by the then Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

In terms of Section 49(4) of the Constitution, the National Assembly remains competent from the time it is dissolved or its term expires, until the day before the first polling.

This means the Assembly’s functioning could include, holding another special sitting to conclude any outstanding business, although it had its last sitting on Thursday.

Last week, the National Assembly passed several pieces of legislation on the last day of the sixth Parliament.

The video below is reporting more on the story: