The North West Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of North West. It is

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the members of the leading party or coalition in the parliament. At the commencement of the 7th provincial legislature on 14 June 2024, the number of seats allocated to the North West Provincial Legislature increased from 33 to 38.

Powers

The North West Provincial Legislature elects the

Premier of North West The premier of North West is the head of government of the North West (South African province), North West province of South Africa. The current premier of the North West is Lazzy Mokgosi, a member of the African National Congress, who was elec ...

, the head of the province's executive. The legislature, by passing a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

, can force the Premier to resign. The legislature may pass a motion of no confidence to compel the Premier to reconfigure the Executive Council, even though the Executive Council members are selected by the Premier. The legislature also appoints North West'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 of South Africa, constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate of South Africa# ...

, 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 multiple fields, matters such as health, education (except universities), agriculture, housing, environmental protection, and development planning, all mentioned 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, while in others it is reserved to the province alone. The legislature oversees the administration of the North West 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 manages the financial affairs of the provincial government by way of the

appropriation bill An appropriation bill, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature ...

s which determine the provincial budget.

Election

The Legislature, like all those in South Africa, is chosen via

party list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered political parties, with each party being allocated a certain number of seats roughly proportional to their share of the vote. I ...

, for terms of five years, though may be dissolved earlier under certain conditions. The most recent election was held on 29 May 2024. The following table summarises the results. The following table shows the composition of the provincial parliament after past elections.

Officers

The Speaker of the Legislature is Desbo Mohono. The Deputy Speaker is Collen Maine. They are both members of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

Members

References

External links

Official website
{{National Key Points navbox Provincial legislatures of South Africa Unicameral legislatures