Chapter 4: Parliament
the national Assembly
Composition and election
46.
(1)
(2)
The National Assembly consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 women
and men elected as members in terms of an electoral system that—
(a) is prescribed by national legislation;
(b) is based on the national common voters roll;
(c) provides for a minimum voting age of 18 years; and
(d) results, in general, in proportional representation.
An Act of Parliament must provide a formula for determining the number of
members of the National Assembly.
[Sub-s. (1) amended by s. 1 of the Constitution Tenth Amendment Act of 2003 and by s. 1 of the
Constitution Fifteenth Amendment Act of 2008.]
Membership
47.
(1)
Every citizen who is qualified to vote for the National Assembly is eligible to be a
member of the Assembly, except—
(a) anyone who is appointed by, or is in the service of, the state and receives
remuneration for that appointment or service, other than—
(i) the President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers; and
(ii) other office-bearers whose functions are compatible with the functions
of a member of the Assembly, and have been declared compatible with
those functions by national legislation;
(b) permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces or members of a
provincial legislature or a Municipal Council;
(c) unrehabilitated insolvents;
(d) anyone declared to be of unsound mind by a court of the Republic; or
(e) anyone who, after this section took effect, is convicted of an offence and
sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a
fine, either in the Republic, or outside the Republic if the conduct constituting
the offence would have been an offence in the Republic, but no one may be
regarded as having been sentenced until an appeal against the conviction or
sentence has been determined, or until the time for an appeal has expired. A
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