Each Cabinet member is the head of an executive department of the government. Usually, they meet together once a week or every other week. This room faces the Rose Garden and is a beautiful room furnished with draperies, chandeliers, and leather chairs. President George Washington developed the Cabinet system by asking the heads of the existing three executive departments and the Attorney General to meet with him on a regular basis to discuss issues of importance and to report on their department's work.
The formation of departments is mentioned in Article 2 Section 2 of our Constitution "he may require the opinion in writing of the principal officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices At this time, we now have 15 executive departments. Breadcrumb Harry S. He or she must: oversee dealing with foreign countries and the defense of our land.
The list could go on and on. If you could be chosen for a Cabinet secretary post, which department would you like to supervise? Give 4 reasons for your choice. If this was successful, the President, Deputy President and the entire Cabinet, as well as the Deputy Ministers, would have to resign.
Once a President has been removed from office, the National Assembly must elect a new President within thirty days of the vacancy occurring. If this does not happen, the Acting President must dissolve the National Assembly and elections must take place. The President assigns particular powers and functions to the Deputy President who must assist the President in the running of government section 91 of the Constitution.
Two Ministers may be appointed from outside the National Assembly. The President allocates specific responsibilities known as a "portfolios" to each Minister to supervise. Currently there are 26 portfolios. These are:. Each Minister has a Ministry which consists of a small team of advisors. The Ministry and a Department, headed by a Director-General, assist the Minister in developing and implementing policy and laws.
Ministers are accountable to the National Assembly for their actions and for those of their departments and they must act according to government policy. They must also provide Parliament with regular and full reports about matters for which they are responsible.
Members of the Cabinet must act according to a code of ethics, created by the president pursuant to the principles and framework established by the Executive Members' Ethics Act of This Act says that they may not do any other paid work, have conflicts of interests between their official and private capacities, must not act in any way that is inconsistent with their offices, or use their position or any information entrusted to them for the improper enrichment of anybody.
After the dissolution of Parliament, the Cabinet continues to function until the next National Assembly elects a new President and a new Cabinet is appointed. If the majority of Members of the National Assembly passes a motion of no confidence in the Cabinet then the President must establish a new one.
If the majority of the National Assembly Members passes a motion of no confidence in the President, not only the President but his Cabinet and the Deputy Ministers must also resign. While Deputy Ministers are not Members of the Cabinet, they are required to assist the relevant Ministers in the execution of their duties.
The President, in consultation with the Deputy President, is responsible for the appointment of Deputy Ministers from amongst the Members of the National Assembly.
Despite not being Members of the Cabinet, Deputy Ministers would have to resign along with the entire Cabinet if a motion of no confidence in the President was successful.
The Executive in each province is called the Executive Council and is headed by the Premier. The Premier is elected by the Members of that Provincial Legislature MPLs from amongst themselves at the first sitting of that legislature after the election.
There may be up to ten MECs in each province. The exception is the Western Cape whose provincial Constitution allows for the additional appointment of up to two non-voting MECs from outside the Legislature. MECs are accountable to their Premiers.
Like Ministers, MECs are responsible for departments. These provincial departments deal only with those matters that provinces are allowed to control or those over which they share control with national government.
There is still no formal structure to facilitate intergovernmental relations between the national and provincial executive. This is a meeting between the Minister and the nine provincial MECs who deal with the same portfolio. It is the responsibility of national government to build the administrative capacity of the provinces. If a province is not performing properly, national government can take over a province's responsibilities to maintain established service standards, economic unity or national security or to prevent a province from acting in ways which harm the interests of another province or the country as a whole.
There are a number of provisions outlined in section of the Constitution that ensure that national supervision of a provincial administration is strictly monitored by the NCOP. In the same way, provincial governments are allowed to administer the affairs of local governments that are not performing properly. Here, too, the NCOP is responsible for monitoring such an intervention. See section of the Constitution.
Judicial authority is vested in the courts, which are independent and subject to the laws of the Constitution. The courts are:. The Constitutional Court is the highest court for constitutional matters.
It is located in Johannesburg and presided over by a maximum of eleven judges. The Court guarantees the basic rights and freedoms of all persons. Its judgements are binding on all organs of government, including Parliament, the Presidency, the police force, the army, the public service and all other courts. It is also the only court that may decide upon disputes between organs of state in the national and provincial spheres.
The disputes may concern. The Supreme Court of Appeal is the highest court of appeal except in constitutional matters, and may hear only. When people are not satisfied with the decision of a High Court, they may take the matter further to the Supreme Court of Appeal. High Courts used to be called Supreme Courts and are primarily intended for more serious criminal and civil cases.
They may hear some constitutional matters - with the exception of those matters that only the Constitutional Court may decide. There are at the moment fourteen provincial divisions of the High Court. The present fourteen provincial divisions of the High Court are situated in:. There are two kinds of magistrate courts: regional courts and district courts. Regional courts are higher in rank which means that they hear more serious cases than the District Magistrate Courts and may impose heavier sentences.
The term "legislature" means a body of elected representatives that makes laws. The prime function of legislatures, therefore, is to formulate, debate and pass legislation which is needed for the government and the country to function. The legislature also provides a forum in which the public can participate in issues and watch over the executive arm of government. In South Africa the national legislature is Parliament and each of the nine provinces also has a legislature. These ten legislatures function autonomously and co-operatively within the framework provided by the Constitution, particularly Section 3 which outlines the obligations of co-operative governance.
The National Assembly is elected to represent the people and to ensure government by the people under the Constitution. It does this by:. Members are elected to the National Assembly through an electoral system based on proportional representation. The Constitution makes it clear that the current electoral system can be changed by a new law, provided that the new electoral system results, in general, in proportional representation. This means that candidates are appointed from party lists in proportion to the number of votes the party wins in the elections.
So if a party wins half the votes it will hold half the seats in the National Assembly. The National Council of Provinces represents the provinces to ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government. It does this mainly by:. The NCOP also has an important role to play in promoting national unity and good working relations between national, provincial and local government. While the delegates in the NCOP represent their political parties, they also have the important duty of representing their provinces as a whole.
Each province has ten delegates, no matter how big or small the province, thus guaranteeing a balance of interests among the provinces. There are six permanent and four "special" non-permanent delegates in each delegation. The delegation must reflect the proportional strength of the various parties in the province. In addition to the nine provincial delegations, the NCOP includes a delegation of the South African Local Government Association SALGA whose ten non-voting representatives are chosen from a group of representatives from the nine Provincial local government associations.
Each province has a legislature, the size of which varies depending on the population levels in the province. According to the Constitution the minimum size of a Legislature is 30 members and the maximum size is 80 members. Members are elected from provincial lists on the basis of the number of votes received by a political party. A provincial legislature is responsible for passing the laws for its province as defined in the Constitution.
These laws are only effective for that particular province. Parliament may intervene and change these laws if they undermine national security, economic unity, national standards or the interests of another province. Like Parliament, provincial legislatures have the responsibility of calling their Members of their Executive to account for their actions.
In addition, a second rotating Deputy Chairperson is elected for a year, enabling each province to have one of its Members elected as the second Deputy Chairperson. The Speaker in the National Assembly and in the provincial legislatures is the person who presides over the proceedings of the House and is responsible for running the legislature subject to the policy laid down by the Joint Rules Committee of Parliament.
In the NCOP there are two deputies, one permanent and one rotating. The position of the second chairperson rotates amongst the provinces on an annual basis.
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