Looking beyond the 2024 election

THE FOCUS ON LOGISTICS SHOULD RESOLVE THE BOTTLENECKS BETWEEN GAUTENG AND OUR PORTS

- Theo Venter

During the months leading up to the election we were inundated with rhetoric, promises, mudslinging, fake news and all kinds of policies. It does not matter whether we have a continuation of the current government, a coalition of parties or a government of national unity, the issues discussed here will determine the success of the new administration.

The IEC has several days after the election to finalise results, but 90% of the results will be known by the end of May. By the second week of June we will know how the government of the seventh administration will be constituted and who will be nominated as the next president. The president is indirectly elected in terms of the Constitution by a majority vote at the first or inaugural sitting of Parliament following the national election outcome. Once the speaker and president are elected, government’s legislative and executive functions start to take form.

Very soon after the inauguration of the seventh Parliament, the president will be invited back to deliver his State of the Nation address, which will be the second such address in 2024. The president is invited to Parliament because although he is elected by members of this institution, his membership of Parliament ends as soon as he is sworn in as president by the chief justice.