Pemmy Majodina and Thembekile Majola to head up PAP’s southern region caucus

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina and the DA’s Thembekile Majola have been elected to lead the Pan-African Parliament’s (PAP) southern region caucus and rules committee respectively.

The PAP is meeting at its headquarters in Midrand this week for its 4th Ordinary Session to, among other things, elect leaders of its organs.

Majodina, who was initially elected as the southern region caucus’ interim chairperson on Tuesday, was confirmed as chairperson for a three-year term after Thursday’s elections.

After disagreement about the implementation of the “geographical rotation principle”, which resulted in the suspension of the session in June last year, the southern region caucus has, for the first time since the establishment of the PAP in 2004, had a PAP delegate from its ranks elected president of the continental legislature, a position that has been dominated by the eastern, western and central regions of the PAP. Only the northern region will be eligible to put forward the name of the president during the next election.

Majola’s rules committee’s objectives include strengthening the PAP’s parliamentary functions and partnerships, co-ordination, outreach and institutional capacity.

“The rules committee is one of the key committees in the Pan African Parliament. We are sitting with the issue of the rules that need to be changed, so that will be the first thing I have to deal with,” said Majola, adding that he will also “need to make sure there is stability in this institution”. 

“When I am talking about stability I am talking about administration, as (we) were here for three ... five days. You will see meetings have been called for 9 o’clock, but they start at 11 o’clock. It must be a parliament like other parliaments,” he said.

TimesLIVE