Elections in South Africa include elections for theNational Assembly (the lower house ofparliament), theprovincial legislatures, andmunicipal councils. Elections are held on a five-year cycle and are conducted by theElectoral Commission (IEC), which is an independent body established by theconstitution. The most recent elections for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures were heldin 2024, while the most recent elections for municipal councils were heldin 2021.

In elections for the National Assembly every South African citizen who is 18 or older is eligible to vote, including (since the 2014 election) those resident outside South Africa. Voters must be registered with the Electoral Commission and have aidentity card or book. In elections for a provincial legislature or municipal council, only those resident within the province or municipality may vote.

The electoral system for the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures is based onparty-list proportional representation, which means that parties are represented in proportion to their electoral support. Since 2024independent candidates have also been able to stand for election. For municipal councils there is amixed-member system in whichwards elect individual councillors alongside those named from party lists. Changes to the electoral system were proposed in 2025 by an advisory body established by Parliament.^[1]

Party		National ballot				Regional ballot				Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	Votes	%	+/–	Seats
	African National Congress	6,459,683	40.18	–17.32	73	6,231,519	39.38	—	86	159	–71
	Democratic Alliance	3,505,735	21.81	+1.04	42	3,439,272	21.74	—	45	87	+3
	uMkhonto weSizwe	2,344,309	14.58	New	31	2,237,877	14.14	—	27	58	New
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,529,961	9.52	–1.28	17	1,556,965	9.84	—	22	39	–5
	Inkatha Freedom Party	618,207	3.85	+0.47	8	688,570	4.35	—	9	17	+3
	Patriotic Alliance	330,425	2.06	+2.02	5	345,880	2.19	—	4	9	+9
	Freedom Front Plus	218,850	1.36	–1.02	4	234,477	1.48	—	2	6	–4
	ActionSA	192,373	1.20	New	4	219,477	1.39	—	2	6	New
	African Christian Democratic Party	96,575	0.60	–0.24	3	93,581	0.59	—	0	3	–1
	United Democratic Movement	78,448	0.49	+0.04	2	85,618	0.54	—	1	3	+1
	Rise Mzansi	67,975	0.42	New	1	70,142	0.44	—	1	2	New
	Build One South Africa	65,912	0.41	New	2	69,020	0.44	—	0	2	New
	African Transformation Movement	63,554	0.40	–0.04	2	66,831	0.42	—	0	2	0
	Al Jama-ah	39,067	0.24	+0.06	2	53,337	0.34	—	0	2	+1
	National Coloured Congress	37,422	0.23	New	1	47,178	0.30	—	1	2	New
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	36,716	0.23	+0.04	1	40,788	0.26	—	0	1	0
	United Africans Transformation	35,679	0.22	New	1	32,185	0.20	—	0	1	New
	Good	29,501	0.18	–0.22	1	36,103	0.23	—	0	1	–1
	#Hope4SA	27,206	0.17	New	0	16,872	0.11	—	0	0	New
	Allied Movement for Change	22,055	0.14	New	0	18,393	0.12	—	0	0	New
	United Independent Movement	20,003	0.12	New	0	18,907	0.12	—	0	0	New
	African Independent Congress	19,900	0.12	–0.16	0	3,833	0.02	—	0	0	–2
	National Freedom Party	19,397	0.12	–0.23	0	22,726	0.14	—	0	0	–2
	Azanian People's Organisation	19,048	0.12	+0.05	0	18,741	0.12	—	0	0	0
	African Congress for Transformation	18,354	0.11	New	0	348	0.00	—	0	0	New
	African Heart Congress	16,306	0.10	New	0	3,579	0.02	—	0	0	New
	Congress of the People	14,177	0.09	–0.18	0	16,768	0.11	—	0	0	–2
	African People's Convention	13,195	0.08	–0.03	0	14,693	0.09	—	0	0	0
	Africa Restoration Alliance	11,108	0.07	New	0	12,651	0.08	—	0	0	New
	Forum for Service Delivery	11,077	0.07	+0.03	0	7,444	0.05	—	0	0	0
	Democratic Liberal Congress	10,904	0.07	+0.01	0	7,022	0.04	—	0	0	0
	Alliance of Citizens for Change	9,336	0.06	New	0	11,217	0.07	—	0	0	New
	Action Alliance Development Party [af]	7,802	0.05	New	0	4,600	0.03	—	0	0	New
	Conservatives in Action [af]	7,424	0.05	New	0	1,115	0.01	—	0	0	New
	South African Royal Kingdoms Organisation [af]	6,685	0.04	New	0	3,195	0.02	—	0	0	New
	Northern Cape Communities Movement [af]	6,629	0.04	New	0	7,016	0.04	—	0	0	New
	People's Movement for Change	5,539	0.03	New	0	7,045	0.04	—	0	0	New
	Abantu Batho Congress	5,531	0.03	New	0	3,552	0.02	—	0	0	New
	Economic Liberators Forum [af]	5,408	0.03	New	0	7,115	0.04	—	0	0	New
	Organic Humanity Movement	5,241	0.03	New	0	6,457	0.04	—	0	0	New
	African Content Movement	5,107	0.03	0.00	0	4,617	0.03	—	0	0	0
	Sizwe Ummah Nation	5,016	0.03	New	0	4,869	0.03	—	0	0	New
	South African Rainbow Alliance	4,796	0.03	New	0	7,645	0.05	—	0	0	New
	African People's Movement	4,601	0.03	New	0	4,200	0.03	—	0	0	New
	Able Leadership [af]	3,867	0.02	New	0	3,161	0.02	—	0	0	New
	Referendum Party	3,834	0.02	New	0	4,206	0.03	—	0	0	New
	All Citizens Party [af]	3,693	0.02	New	0	1,644	0.01	—	0	0	New
	Africa Africans Reclaim [af]	3,371	0.02	New	0	2,565	0.02	—	0	0	New
	Citizans [af]	2,992	0.02	New	0	4,084	0.03	—	0	0	New
	Xiluva	2,592	0.02	New	0	1,167	0.01	—	0	0	New
	African Movement Congress [af]	2,141	0.01	New	0	1,550	0.01	—	0	0	New
	Free Democrats	1,992	0.01	0.00	0	2,276	0.01	—	0	0	0
	Independents					19,304	0.12		0	0	New
Total		16,076,719	100.00	–	200	15,823,397	100.00	–	200	400	0
Valid votes		16,076,719	98.69			15,823,397	99.02
Invalid/blank votes		213,437	1.31			156,834	0.98
Total votes		16,290,156	100.00			15,980,231	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		27,782,081	58.64			27,782,081	57.52
Source:Electoral Commission of South Africa,IOL

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Unionist Party (South Africa)	39,766	37.65	36
	South African Party	30,052	28.45	66
	Labour Party (South Africa)	11,549	10.93	3
	Socialist Party	448	0.42	0
	Other	4,245	4.02	4
	Independents	19,563	18.52	12
Total		105,623	100.00	121

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	South African Party	159,896	46.50	61
	National Party (South Africa)	141,579	41.17	78
	Labour Party (South Africa)	33,919	9.86	8
	Independents	8,503	2.47	1
Total		343,897	100.00	148

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	12,237,655	62.65	252
	National Party (South Africa)	3,983,690	20.39	82
	Inkatha Freedom Party	2,058,294	10.54	43
	Freedom Front Plus	424,555	2.17	9
	Democratic Party (South Africa)	338,426	1.73	7
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	243,478	1.25	5
	African Christian Democratic Party	88,104	0.45	2
	Africa Muslim Party	34,466	0.18	0
	African Moderates Congress Party	27,690	0.14	0
	Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa	19,451	0.10	0
	Federal Party	17,663	0.09	0
	Minority Front	13,433	0.07	0
	Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights	10,575	0.05	0
	African Democratic Movement	9,886	0.05	0
	Women's Rights Peace Party	6,434	0.03	0
	Ximoko Party	6,320	0.03	0
	Keep It Straight and Simple Party	5,916	0.03	0
	Workers Organisation for Socialist Action	4,169	0.02	0
	Luso-South African Party	3,293	0.02	0
Total		19,533,498	100.00	400

When theBritish took over theCape, first in 1795 and then more permanently in 1806, they inherited a large, thinly populated pastoral society that depended on the labour of slaves and a rural workforce of indigenousKhoekhoe whose condition was akin toserfdom. In 1806 the entire population of the colony consisted of fewer than 80,000 people: 26,768 whites, 1,200 free blacks (manumitted slaves), 29,861 slaves and 20,426 Khoikhoi .^[2] In 1807, the British government ended the slave trade and, finally, in 1833 outlawed the practice of slavery throughout the Empire.^{[citation needed]}

Under pressure from the humanitarian lobby in the UK, acting in concert with a local missionary campaign, the government abolished the Khoekhoe's serf-like status by the declaration of Ordinance 50 of 1828.^[3] According to the government's instructions, 'all Hottentots and other free persons of colour, lawfully residing within the said Colony, are and shall be, in the most full and ample manner, entitled to all and every the rights, privileges and benefits of the law, to which any other His Majesty's subjects, lawfully residing within the said Colony, are or can be entitled.'^[4] This became known as the "Hottentots'Magna Carta". The equality of all people appeared to be assured. As a result, municipal boards set up in the colony's towns and villages from 1836 allowed any male resident who lived in a property with a yearly rent £10 or more to vote for his town board. From the very beginning, therefore,persons of color were able to participate in local elections.^[5]

This principle of a non-racial franchise was to be entrenched when the Cape was granted representative government in 1853. Part of the reason may have been give propertied Khoekhoe a greater stake in the political system. In 1850 the Khoekhoe of the Kat River Settlement had risen in rebellion. Although the uprising was defeated, it did influence the minds of colonial officials and politicians who were responsible for drawing up the 1853 constitution. The Cape's Attorney General, William Porter said: 'I would rather meet the Hottentot at the hustings voting for his representative than meet the Hottentot in the wilds with a gun on his shoulder.'^[6] In terms of the constitution of 1853, any man who owned property worth at least £25 was entitled to vote for or stand in the Cape's Parliament. By 1886 Africans made up 43 per cent of the vote in six constituencies of the Eastern Cape, and were a real political force.^[7] It was not long before white politicians began challenging the rights ofColoureds and Africans to vote. The passage of the Franchise and Ballot Act, which raised the property qualification from £25 to £75 in 1892, met with an angry response from African and Coloured voters.^[8]

These developments were not without criticism or opposition. The abolition of slavery, the declaration of Ordinance 50, and the accompanying extension of rights to the black population, were deeply resented by the white Dutch farmers of the Cape as undermining their way of life. Starting in 1834, thousands of theseBoers set out on theGreat Trek in the hope of leaving British control behind them. In the interior of southern Africa they would establish independent states, theSouth African Republic (also called the Transvaal Republic) and theOrange Free State, whose constitutions enshrined the principle of inequality between white and black in church and state.^{[citation needed]}

After theSecond Anglo-Boer War, the white peoples made peace and came together at theNational Convention in October 1909. It brought together politicians from the Cape, Transvaal,Natal and the Orange River Colony, as well asRhodesia. They aimed to draw up a constitution for the Union of South Africa, uniting theBritish possessions. The result was theSouth Africa Act.

Only white men were present at the National Convention; women and all other racial groups were excluded. This was in some ways unusual. Black men had enjoyed the vote in the Cape since the 1850s and – as long as they had sufficient property, income and education – continued to do so. By 1909 there were 14,388 Coloured and 6,633 African voters in the Cape.^[9] Between them they made up 14.8% of the electorate. In Natal African men also had the right to vote, but it was so constrained that it was almost theoretical. They had to prove they had property and that they were 'civilised' and had been so for seven years. The Governor might then grant them the vote. Indians also had to overcome obstacles designed to prevent them from being enfranchised.^[10] In the Transvaal and Orange Free State, only white men could vote.

The Cape argued that their non-racial franchise should be extended across the proposed Union. This was rejected by the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Finally, a compromise was arrived at, maintaining the Cape's existing voting system without extending it to the rest of the country, but insisting that this compromise was entrenched in the constitution.^[11] Africans and Coloured people would retain most of their voting rights in the Cape, but would not receive them in any other part of the Union.

African and Coloured politicians came together to resist these plans, and called on a former Cape Prime Minister,William Philip Schreiner, to lead a delegation to the UK to call for the Cape franchise to be implemented in the whole of South Africa. The delegation was unsuccessful in its appeal, despite receiving considerable support from the infantLabour Party and other liberal British organisations.^[12]

TheUnion of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910 by theSouth Africa Act 1909, an act of theBritish Parliament. TheHouse of Assembly (thelower house of the newly createdParliament of South Africa) and theprovincial councils were elected byfirst-past-the-post voting insingle-member electoral divisions. The franchise in these elections was initially the same as the franchise for the lower houses in the four colonies that had formed the Union, so there were different qualifications in different provinces.

In theTransvaal and theOrange Free State, the vote was limited by law towhite men aged 21 or over. InNatal the vote was limited to men over 21 who met property and literacy qualifications; in theory, this could include non-white men but in practice only very small numbers managed to qualify: in 1910 over 99% of the electorate was white. In theCape Provincethe franchise was also limited to men over 21 who met property and literacy qualifications, and non-white men did qualify in significant numbers, making up approximately 15% of the electorate in 1910. The qualifications in the Cape and Natal also excluded a substantial number of poorer white men. Only white men could stand for election to the House of Assembly, even from the Cape constituencies. The franchise rights of non-white voters in the Cape (but not in Natal) wereentrenched in the South Africa Act by a provision that they could only be reduced by an act of Parliament passed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Parliament sitting in a joint session.

In 1930 theNational Party government ofJ. B. M. Hertzog passed theWomen's Enfranchisement Act, which extended the right to vote and the right to stand for election to all white women over the age of 21. In the following year theFranchise Laws Amendment Act lifted the property and literacy requirements for white male voters in the Cape and Natal, with the result that all white citizens over 21 were enfranchised. As the exclusion of women and the literacy and property qualifications continued to apply to non-white voters, these acts had the effect of diluting their electoral power by more than doubling the size of the white electorate.

At thenext following general election in 1933,Leila Reitz was elected as the first female MP, representingParktown for theSouth African Party.

In 1936 the Hertzog government enacted theRepresentation of Natives Act, which removedblack voters from the common voters' rolls and placed them on separate "native voters' rolls". The act was passed by the required two-thirds majority in a joint session. Black voters could no longer vote in ordinary elections for the House of Assembly or theCape Provincial Council; instead they would separately elect three members of the assembly and two members of the council. Foursenators would also be indirectly elected by chiefs, tribal councils and local councils for "native areas". The Representation of Natives Act was repealed in 1959 and consequently the seats of the "native representative members" were abolished in 1960. From this point, the only political representation of black South Africans was in theBantustan legislatures.

After coming to power in 1948 the National Party engaged in a policy of removingcoloured voters similarly to black voters. In 1951 Parliament passed theSeparate Representation of Voters Act, which removed coloured voters from the common voters roll and instead allowed them to separately elect four MPs. The act was challenged on the basis that it had not been passed with a two-thirds majority in a joint sitting, as required by the South Africa Act, and in 1952 theAppellate Division of theSupreme Court declared it to be invalid.

A subsequent attempt by the government to circumvent the Supreme Court by creating aHigh Court of Parliament failed. In the election of 1953, coloured voters in the Cape cast their ballots in the same constituencies as white voters. In 1955, the government introduced a new act which reconstituted theSenate, providing the two-thirds majority necessary to validate the Separate Representation of Voters Act.

This separate representation of coloured voters in the House of Assembly was ended in 1970. Instead, all coloured adults were given the right to vote for theColoured Persons' Representative Council, which had limited legislative powers and was permanently dissolved in 1980.

In 1960a whites-only referendum was held to decide whether South Africa should become a republic. No changes were made to the franchise with the Republic's emergence in 1961. However, with the policy of establishingBantustans, the remaining black representation in the Senate was completely removed.

In 1983a referendum on constitutional reform was held, as a result of which theTricameral Parliament was formed, consisting of three separate houses to represent white, coloured andIndian South Africans. The existing House of Assembly was retained with its white electorate, while two new houses were created: theHouse of Representatives elected by coloured voters, and theHouse of Delegates elected by Indian voters. Many Indians and Coloureds rejected this powerless government as it was a strategy by the government to divide and rule over the nonwhite vote. Elections to these houses were conducted on the basis offirst-past-the-post voting insingle-member electoral divisions.

During thenegotiations to end apartheid theInterim Constitution was enacted. It introduceduniversal suffrage on a non-racial basis, and replaced first-past-the-post voting withparty-list proportional representation. South Africans of all races took part in the first fully democratic elections in1994. "Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government" are founding principles of the 1996Constitution of South Africa, and the right of all citizens to vote is included in theBill of Rights.

In the post-apartheid era, theConstitutional Court has struck down two attempts by the government to deny the vote to convicted criminals in prison. The court has also ruled that South Africans living outside the country must be allowed to vote. In 2020 in theNew Nation Movement case the court ruled that the pure party-list electoral system is unconstitutional because it prevents individuals from standing as candidates without joining a political party; Parliament was given two years to adopt a new electoral system. As of the 2024 General Elections a third provincial ballot was adopted. This ballot facilitates the election of independent candidates.^[13]

Each voter in South Africa is assigned to a voting district based on the voter's residence at the time that theyregistered to vote.^[14] Each voting district is uniquely associated with a singlevoting station.^[14] Voters who are outside their registered district on election day may vote at another polling station, but additional paperwork is required.^[15] Voting districts have no significance outside of the election process, and district boundaries are drawn for purposes of efficiently planning and administering elections. Urban voting districts are drawn to have a population of around 3,000 within a radius of 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi), and rural voting districts are drawn to have a population of around 1,200 within a radius of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).

As of 2019, there were 22,933 voting districts nationwide.^[16] The district boundaries are set by the Electoral Commission's Delimitation Directorate, and are reviewed and adjusted before each election.^[14]

Since 1910, parliamentary general elections have been held on the following dates:

• 15 September 1910
• 20 October 1915
• 10 March 1920
• 8 February 1921
• 19 June 1924
• 12 June 1929
• 17 May 1933
• 18 May 1938
• 7 July 1943
• 26 May 1948
• 15 April 1953
• 16 April 1958
• 18 October 1961
• 30 March 1966
• 22 April 1970
• 24 April 1974
• 30 November 1977
• 29 April 1981
• 22 and 28 August 1984 (House of Representatives and House of Delegates)
• 6 May 1987 (House of Assembly)
• 6 September 1989 (all three houses)
• 26–29 April 1994
• 2 June 1999
• 14 April 2004
• 22 April 2009
• 7 May 2014
• 8 May 2019
• 29 May 2024

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

• "Women's suffrage". Archived fromthe original on 5 March 2006. Retrieved4 March 2006.
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• African Elections Database
• Democratic Development in South AfricaArchived 3 March 2016 at theWayback Machine from theDean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital ArchivesArchived 12 January 2012 at theWayback Machine

• Elections in South Africa

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