Constitutional Court Mawarire v Mugabe NO & Ors Patel JA under section 63(4) as the President may, by proclamation in the Gazette, fix." The prorogation and dissolution of Parliament are dealt with in s 63 of the Constitution. For present purposes, subss (4) and (7) are the pertinent provisions and they provide as follows: "(4) Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall last for five years, which period shall be deemed to commence on the day the person elected as President enters office in terms of section 28(5) after an election referred to in section 28(3)(a), and shall then stand dissolved: Provided that, where the period referred to in this subsection is extended under subsection (5) or (6), Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall stand dissolved on the expiration of that extended period." "(7) Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), any prorogation or dissolution of Parliament shall be by proclamation in the Gazette and, in the case of a dissolution, shall take effect from the day preceding the day or first day, as the case may be, fixed by proclamation in accordance with section 58(1) for the holding of a general election." The first point to note is that both s 58(1) and subss 63 (4) and (7) have remained unaltered in substance since they were first enacted in 1980. The second more critical point is that they deal with two distinct though related constitutional processes, viz. the fixing of elections on the one hand and the life of Parliament on the other. These two processes and their objectives have been unnecessarily conflated by the applicant in casu The approach adopted by the learned CHIEF JUSTICE in relation to s 58(1) is to read it so that the two separate scenarios for the dissolution of Parliament are taken to follow after the words "shall be held on" rather than the phrase "within a period not exceeding four months after". In my respectful view, dividing s 58(1) in this fashion detracts from its grammatical structure and leads to an inchoate rendition of the provision. In particular, in the situation where Parliament is dissolved by operation of law under s 63(4), the literal result is that elections are to be held "on the dissolution of Parliament". Does this mean that elections are to be held simultaneously with the dissolution of Parliament, or immediately thereafter, or at some later stage? More importantly, this reading has the peculiar effect that no actual "election day or days" are fixed, contrary to the very purpose of s 58(1). Such a construction surely cannot reflect what the Legislature would have intended. A plain reading of s 58(1) makes it clear that elections must be held after the dissolution of Parliament on such day or days as the President may fix by proclamation. This applies to both scenarios for the dissolution of Parliament. Where it is dissolved by the President under s 63(7), elections must take place within four months after the issue of a proclamation dissolving Parliament. Where Parliament stands dissolved by operation of law in terms of s 63(4), elections must be held within four months after the dissolution of Parliament. In my considered view, the wording used is unambiguous and does not admit of any other interpretation, nor does it entail any absurdity. Consequently, there is no need to invoke any teleological or purposive approach in the construction of 58(1). The apparent ambiguity that might emerge arises from the wording of s 63(7) and its juxtaposition of the dissolution of Parliament with the first election day fixed under s 58(1). Read in their context, however, there is no real ambiguity as between ss 58(1) and 63(7). What the latter provision means is this. Any prorogation or dissolution of Parliament by the President must be effected by proclamation in the Gazette. In the case of a dissolution, this must take effect from the day preceding the day or days fixed by proclamation under s 58(1) 22