Hon Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has been elected the new Chairperson of the Southern Caucus of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). In a keenly contested election held today, Hon Zuma-Sambudla, polled 17 votes, while her contender, Hon Mdumiseni Ntuli, polled 12 votes. Out of the 45-membership of the Southern Caucus, only 29 were present at the meeting during the elections.
The election of the new Caucus Chairperson became necessary when the former Chairperson, Hon Pemmy Castelina Pamela Majodina, was appointed Minister of Water and Sanitation by the South African government and therefore had to vacate her membership of the Pan-African Parliament and consequently the position of the Chairperson of the Southern Caucus.
Hon Zuma-Sambudla is a member of the Umkhonto WeSizwe Party (MKP) and was formally sworn-in as a member of the Pan-African Parliament during the September Meeting of the PAP. Her contender, Hon Mdumiseni Ntuli, is the National Assembly Chief Whip of the Majority Party.
Hon Zuma- Sambudla in her acceptance speech thanked all members for choosing her to lead them and called upon their cooperation and unity to make the Southern Caucus a formidable force to reckon with within the Pan-African Parliament.
The Southern Caucus consists of Members of Parliament (MPs) from Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe
The PAP Rules of Procedure provide for each of the five geographical regions to form a regional caucus composed of its members. The regional caucuses are established by Rule 83 of the Rules of Procedure. They consist of all the Members from that region. Their main function is to select names from among their members for: nomination for the election of the PAP President or Vice-Presidents; membership to Permanent Committees; participation in other parliamentary bodies or proceedings; perform any other function as assigned to it by the Bureau or the Permanent Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline or by resolution of Parliament.
Furthermore, the Chairperson of a regional Caucus provides the Bureau or other appropriate authority with the lists of names and other information as decided by the Caucus.
