Share

Ramaphosa is now acting president

Cape Town – After Jacob Zuma’s resignation as president on Wednesday night, Cyril Ramaphosa automatically became acting president of the republic.

According to Section 90 of the Constitution, when there is a vacancy in the office of president, which there is after Zuma's resignation, the first person in line to act as president is the deputy president.

"An acting president has the responsibilities, powers and functions of the president," reads the Constitution.

"Before assuming the responsibilities, powers and functions of the president, the acting president must swear or affirm faithfulness to the republic and obedience to the Constitution."

This basically means he cannot perform presidential duties, such as signing legislation into law, making appointments or deploying the military (such as when IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi acted as president) before taking the oath, or being sworn in.

When there is an acting president, a new president must be elected by the National Assembly.

The ANC on Wednesday indicated that they would like the State of the Nation Address (SONA) to be delivered by a president and not an acting president, so it is expected that the National Assembly will have an election before Friday evening.

ALSO READ: ANC welcomes Zuma's resignation

For this to happen, the chief justice must determine a date, within 30 days of the vacancy occurring, for the National Assembly to elect a new president from its members. If there is more than one candidate, this will be done by secret ballot.

If the National Assembly fails to elect a new president within 30 days, the Speaker must dissolve Parliament and new national elections must be held.

On Wednesday, Parliament scheduled the election of the president for Friday morning, which would have been after the now irrelevant motion of no confidence in Zuma that had been set down for Thursday had he not resigned.

There is a possibility that the election of the president might happen even sooner, depending on the availability of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and a decision by Parliament’s programming committee, which meets on Thursday morning.

The person elected president, most likely Ramaphosa, will then cease to be a member of Parliament.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 320 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 458 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.96
-0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.95
-0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.47
-0.0%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.3%
Platinum
911.00
+1.6%
Palladium
1,012.02
+1.0%
Gold
2,213.44
+0.9%
Silver
24.79
+0.6%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.9%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.9%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE