Parliamentary process to deal with the resignation of the President of the Republic of South Africa and related matters

1.) Processing of resignation by Parliament

(a) The resignation of the President will take effect upon Parliament finalizing the matter.
(b) The Speaker has announced the resignation of the President in the National Assembly. The announcement entailed the Speaker reading the letter of the President to the meeting of the Assembly.
(c) The Chief Whip of the Majority Party thereupon moved a motion without notice to the effect that the President's resignation will take effect on Thursday, 25 September 2008.
(d) As there was an objection to the motion being moved without notice, the Chief Whip has given notice with a view to moving the motion tomorrow.

2.) Election of new President - sec 86 of the Constitution

(a) In terms of section 86 of the Constitution, 1996, at its first sitting after its election, and whenever necessary to fill a vacancy, the National Assembly must elect a woman or a man from among its members to be the President.
(b) The Chief Justice must preside over the election of the President, or designate another judge to do so. The date and time of the election of the President is determined by the Chief Justice.
(c) The National Assembly is in liaison with the office of the Chief Justice regarding the election of the President.
(d) Thursday, 25 September, is being proposed as the date for the election of the President. In that manner there will be no need to have a person acting as President pending the election.
(e) The Chief Justice has indicated his availability to conduct the election on 25 September and senior Officials from Parliament will be briefing him in the course of today on the technical details.
(f) It is desirable that the swearing-in of the new President be conducted on the same day as his election. This could be done in Cape Town at Tuynhuys. Parliament is in contact with the Presidency regarding this matter.
(g) It is also desirable that the new President announce the Cabinet as soon as possible, even if this means confirming the existing Cabinet.
(h) In the event that the Deputy President of the Republic is not available to serve in that post any longer, that issue would be addressed by the new President.

3.) Implications of resignation of Ministers

a) The resignation of the President does not require the resignation of other Cabinet members.
(b) In the event that some Ministers decide to resign both from Cabinet and the National Assembly, the African National Congress would need to fill the vacancies.

Statement issued by Parliament September 22 2008