 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Politics of South Africa" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Politics of South Africa | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Polity type | Unitaryparliamentary republic with an executive presidency |
| Constitution | Constitution of South Africa |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Parliament |
| Meeting place | Houses of Parliament,Cape Town |
| Upper house | |
| Name | National Council of Provinces |
| Presiding officer | Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane,Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces |
| Appointer | Provincial legislatures |
| Lower house | |
| Name | National Assembly |
| Presiding officer | Thoko Didiza,Speaker of the National Assembly |
| Appointer | National Assembly |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state andgovernment | |
| Title | President |
| Currently | Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Appointer | National Assembly |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet of South Africa |
| Current cabinet | Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Leader | President |
| Deputy leader | Deputy President |
| Appointer | President |
| Ministries | 32 |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary of South Africa |
| Constitutional Court | |
| Chief judge | Mandisa Maya |
| Supreme Court of Appeal | |
| Chief judge | Mahube Molemela |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Politics of South Africa |
|---|
 |
 South Africa portal |
TheRepublic of South Africa is aunitaryparliamentarydemocratic republic. ThePresident of South Africa serves both ashead of state and ashead of government. The President is elected by theNational Assembly (thelower house of theSouth African Parliament) and must retain the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also electprovincial legislatures which govern each of the country's nineprovinces.
Since the end ofapartheid in 1994, theAfrican National Congress (ANC) has dominated South Africa's politics. The ANC is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in most provinces. The ANC received 40.18% of the vote during the2024 general election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is theDemocratic Alliance (DA), led byJohn Steenhuisen, which received 21.81% of the vote in the 2024 election. Other major political parties represented in Parliament includesuMkhonto we Sizwe (MK Party),Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and theInkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The formerly dominantNew National Party (NNP), which both introduced and ended apartheid through its predecessor theNational Party (NP), disbanded in 2005 to merge with theANC.
Nelson Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999 and his successors wereThabo Mbeki (1999−2008),Kgalema Motlanthe (2008−2009) andJacob Zuma (2009−2018). Zuma was replaced byCyril Ramaphosa after his resignation in February 2018. The 2024 general election was held on 29 May 2024, with the ANC losing its majority in the national parliament for the first time in South Africa's democratic history, though it still remained the largest political party.[1] Despite losing the majority in 2024, the ANC managed to retain power with a coalition government.[2]
South Africa is a democracy.Universal suffrage was granted in 1994 with the end ofapartheid. Since then, elections have been open and competitive, and the lives of South Africans have improved across multiple metrics.[3] However, it has faced challenges as a multi-racial, young democracy.[3] TheEconomist Intelligence Unit rated South Africa a "flawed democracy" in 2022.[4][needs update] It is the third-most electorally democratic and the second-most liberally democratic African nation, as well as the most electorally and liberallydemocratic continental African nation, according to theV-Dem Institute.
On 31 May 1910, theCape Colony,Natal Colony,Transvaal and theOrange River Colony were united in one state called theUnion of South Africa. The Union of South Africa adopted a system of governance based on the political system of theUnited Kingdom. TheBritish monarch was the ceremonial head of state of South Africa and was represented by aGovernor-General. Real political power lay in the hands of thePrime Minister and Cabinet. The basic ideas of this system such as a three branch government and strong Parliament remain in force today.
On 15 November 1926, theBalfour Declaration was adopted at the1926 Imperial Conference. This document made the dominions of theBritish Empire including South Africa equal to each other and the United Kingdom. In practice, this made the Union of South Africa a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. The Union of South Africa became formally independent in 1931 when theStatute of Westminster was passed. It gave theParliament of South Africa the power to make laws for South Africa without the approval of theParliament of the United Kingdom.
In 1948, theNational Party of South Africa adopted a policy of institutional racial segregation calledapartheid. People of colour, especially the majority black population, were deprived of the few rights they had. Racial classification and discrimination was used to distribute economic resources and control political power. The white population, particularly theAfrikaners, controlled the political system. Black people were disenfranchised in all provinces of South Africa.
In 1961, South Africa became a Republic. The British monarch was replaced as head of state by a President elected by the minority of the population through elected representatives. In 1970, the Homeland Citizens Act was passed. It built on the system of reservations for the indigenous black African population to create a system of superficially independent black countries. Many Black people were deprived of their South African citizenship and instead became citizens of theBantustan of their tribe. They were not recognized by a majority of the world's countries and the extent of their independent control over internal affairs was highly limited.
TheAfrican National Congress (ANC) led the fight against this system of apartheid. After intense international pressure and domestic struggle, theDe Klerk government repealed or relaxed many apartheid laws. After negotiations between the ANC,Inkatha Freedom Party, NP and other organizations, apartheid was formally abolished and theInterim Constitution was passed. The Bantustans were abolished and reintegrated into South Africa and their citizens regained South African citizenship.
TheGovernment of National Unity (GNU) established under the interim constitution ostensibly remained in effect until the 1999 national elections. The parties originally comprising the GNU – theAfrican National Congress (ANC), theNational Party (NP), and theInkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – shared executive power. On 30 June 1996, the NP withdrew from the GNU to become part of the opposition.
Many of the principles of racial equality, majority democracy and minority rights that it established were translated into the finalConstitution of South Africa that was adopted in 1996 and which remains in force. It sets out the structure of the government, protects fundamental human rights, creates mechanisms of accountability and divides legislative and executive power among the national, provincial and local spheres of government.
.jpg)
South Africa is aparliamentaryrepresentative democraticrepublic, wherein thePresident of South Africa, elected by parliament, is thehead of government, and of amulti-party system. It consists of three branches.
The executive branch consists of thePresident of South Africa and theCabinet of South Africa. The President is elected by the Parliament of South Africa for a five-year term. The President may only serve two terms. By convention this position is occupied by the leader of the largest party in theNational Assembly. The President appoints other members of the Cabinet called Ministers. Ministers overseeexecutive government departments. The Cabinet forms and executes policies and most legislative proposals originate from the Cabinet. The President and members of the Cabinet are accountable to the National Assembly. It has the power to remove them from office by passing a motion of no confidence and to hold them accountable through oral and written replies to questions from Members of Parliament.
The legislative branch consists of the Parliament. The Parliament consists of two chambers: the upper house is theNational Council of Provinces (NCOP) and the lower house is the National Assembly. In practice, the National Assembly is by far the more powerful house. It controls the composition of the government and its approval is required for most legislative proposals to become law. The NCOP provides equal representation to South Africa's nine provinces and its approval is required for laws that affect South Africa's provinces and cultural communities. Whereas the National Assembly is elected by party proportional representation, the NCOP is elected by the legislatures of each province.
The judicial branch consists of the courts. It interprets and enforces laws. The highest court for constitutional matters is theConstitutional Court of South Africa. It has the power to rescind laws that conflict with the Constitution. TheSupreme Court of Appeals is the highest court for non-constitutional matters. TheHigh Court of South Africa is a court of general jurisdiction with appellate powers. It is divided into divisions that have authority over a geographic region of the country. Magistrate Courts serve as courts of first instance. There are specialized courts and tribunals with power that can be equivalent to the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Following the 1994 elections, South Africa was governed under an interim constitution. This constitution required theConstituent Assembly (CA) to draft and approve a permanent constitution by 9 May 1996. The present constitution was passed in 1996 and promulgated by President Nelson Mandela in 1997. It is the highest law in the land; all other laws are expected to abide by and conform to the principles of the constitution. The Constitution not only sets out the structure of the three branches of government and the fundamental human rights of all of South Africa's people, but also provides for the management of public funding, the delineation of the boundaries and organization of Provinces and the formation ofChapter 9 Institutions to hold the government accountable.
General elections take place every 5 years. The first fully non-racial democratic election was held in1994. Subsequent elections were held in1999,2004,2009,2014,2019, and2024. Until 2008, elected officials were allowed to change political party, while retaining their seats, during set windows which occurred twice each electoral term, due to controversialfloor crossing legislative amendments made in 2002. The last two floor crossing windows occurred in 2005 and in 2007.
After the 2009 elections, the ANC lost its two-thirds majority in the national legislature which had allowed it to unilaterally alter the constitution.
TheCongress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and theSouth African Communist Party (SACP) are in a formal alliance with the ruling ANC (the so-calledTripartite Alliance), and thus do not stand separately for election.
During the2024 general election, the ANC lost its majority in the national parliament for the first time in South Africa's democratic history, though it still remained the largest political party.[5]
 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||||||||||||
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Politics of South Africa" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The constitution's bill of rights provides extensive guarantees, includingequality before the law and prohibitions against discrimination; theright to life,privacy, property, and freedom and security of the person; prohibition against slavery andforced labour; andfreedom of speech,religion, assembly, and association. The legal rights of criminal suspects also are enumerated. It also includes wide guarantees ofaccess of food,water,education, health care, andsocial security. The constitution provides for an independent and impartial judiciary, and, in practice, these provisions are respected.
Citizens' entitlements to a safe environment, housing, education and health care are included in the Bill of Rights, and are known as secondary constitutional rights. In 2003 the constitutional secondary rights were used by theTreatment Action Campaign, aHIV/AIDS activist group as a means of forcing the government to change its health policy.
Violent crime, including violence against women and children, and organised criminal activity are at high levels and are a grave concern. Partly as a result,vigilante action andmob justice sometimes occur.
Some members of the police are accused of applying excessive force and abusing suspects in custody; as a result, the number of deaths in police custody remains a problem. In April 1997, the government established an Independent Complaints Directorate to investigate deaths in police custody and deaths resulting from police action.
Somediscrimination against women continues, although it has improved overall, anddiscrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS has been becoming a serious issue.
There has been a growing political intolerance and repression, especially with regard to grassroots activists.[6][7]
Mangosuthu Buthelezi was chief minister of hisKwa-Zulu homeland from 1976 until 1994. Inpost-apartheid South Africa he has served as President of the Inkatha Freedom Party.He was a Minister in President Mandela's cabinet. He also served as acting President of South Africa when President Nelson Mandela was overseas.
Bantubonke Holomisa, who was a general in the homeland ofTranskei from 1987, has served as the president of theUnited Democratic Movement since 1997. Today he is a Member of Parliament.
GeneralConstand Viljoen was a former chief of theSouth African Defence Force, who, as a leader of theAfrikaner Volksfront, sent 1500[8] of his militiamen to prop up the government ofLucas Mangope and to contest the termination ofBophuthatswana as a homeland in 1994. He co-founded theFreedom Front in 1994. He retired from being a Member of Parliament before his death in 2020.
Lucas Mangope, former[9] chief of the Motsweda Ba hurutshe-Boo-Manyane tribe of theTswana, ex-president of the former bantustan ofBophuthatswana, was the leader of theUnited Christian Democratic Party.
