Page:South Africa Act 1909.djvu/6

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A.D. 1909.

(ii)

eight senators for each province shall be elected by the members of the provincial council of such province together with the members of the House of Assembly elected for such province. Such senators shall hold their seats for ten years unless the Senate be sooner dissolved. If the seat of an elected senator shall become vacant, the members of the provincial council of the province, together with the members of the House of Assembly elected for such province, shall choose a person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is elected would have held his seat. The Governor-General-in-Council shall make regulations for the joint election of senators prescribed in this section.

Qualifications of senators.

26. The qualifications of a senator shall be as follows:―

He must:―

(a)

be not less than thirty years of age;

(b)

be qualified to be registered as a voter for the election of members of the House of Assembly in one of the provinces;

(c)

have resided for five years within the limits of the Union as existing at the time when he is elected or nominated, as the case may be;

(d)

be a British subject of European descent;

(e)

in the case of an elected senator, be the registered owner of immovable property within the Union of the value of not less than five hundred pounds over and above any special mortgages thereon.

For the purposes of this section, residence in, and property situated within, a Colony before its incorporation in the Union shall be treated as residence in and property situated within the Union.

Appointment and tenure of office of President.

27. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, choose a senator to be the President of the Senate, and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President. The President shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of the Senate, or he may resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor-General.