The South African table of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the Republic of South Africa. It has no legal standing but is used to dictate ceremonial protocol at events of a national nature.
No date of issuance was known to the public, but the present table was amended on 1 January 1996.
Table of precedence
South African Official Table of Precedence is as follows:
Rubric | Description |
---|---|
1 | President of the Republic (Cyril Ramaphosa) |
2 |
|
3 | Chief Justice (Raymond Zondo) |
President of the Constitutional Court | |
4 | Former presidents of the Republic:
|
Former deputy presidents of the Republic (note that Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, who would otherwise appear on the list, already appear above as former presidents):
| |
5 | By seniority:
|
6 | Ambassadors (by seniority) |
Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary (by seniority) | |
Chargé d'affaires en titre (by seniority) | |
Heads of other Permanent Diplomatic Missions (by seniority) | |
7 | By seniority:
|
By seniority:
| |
By seniority:
| |
8 |
|
9 | Charges d'affaires ad interim of Embassies (by seniority) |
Charges d'affaires ad interim of Legations (by seniority) | |
Charges d'affaires ad interim of other Permanent Diplomatic Missions (by seniority) | |
10 | Leaders of other political parties in NA and NCOP (by seniority) |
11 | Deputy President of the Constitutional Court |
Judges of Appeal (by seniority) | |
Judges of the Constitutional Court (by seniority) | |
Judges President (by seniority) | |
Deputy Judges President (by seniority) | |
Judges of the Supreme Court (by seniority) | |
12 | Former Chief Justices:
|
13 | Chairpersons of Commissions established under the Constitution (by seniority) |
14 | Members of NA and NCOP (by seniority) |
Members of Provincial Legislatures (by seniority) | |
Local royalties (by seniority) | |
Chairman of the Council for Traditional Leaders | |
Chairpersons of the Provincial Houses of Traditional Leaders (by seniority) | |
15 | By seniority:
|
Members of the Public Service Commission (by seniority) | |
Directors-General and their equivalents of Government Departments, including Secretary to NA, Secretary to NCOP, Secretary for Safety and Security, Defence Secretary and Directors-General of Provinces (by seniority) | |
Attorneys-General (by seniority) | |
Chairpersons of State Corporations (by seniority) | |
16 | Mayor of the capital of the Province (in which the function is held) |
Chairpersons of the Metropolitan Councils of the region (in which the function is held) | |
17 | Mayor of other Provincial Capitals |
18 | The spouses of the foregoing persons enjoy the precedence of their spouses |
19 | Courtesy precedence at the discretion of the President. |
References
- "Official order of precedence in South Africa" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2017.