Politics of South Africa

Table of contents

1 Constitution 2 Executive branch 3 Legislative branch 3.1 Elections 4 Judicial branch

Constitution

The present Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President Mandela on 10 December 1996, and entered into effect on 3 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases.

Executive branch

Under the Constitution, the President is both head of state and head of government. President Thabo Mbeki was unamimously elected by the National Assembly on 16 June 1999. Jacob Zuma is Executive Deputy President. Cabinet Ministers are appointed by the President, the government being a coalition of the African National Congress, Inkatha Freedom Party and New National Party.

Legislative branch

The bicameral Parliament of South Africa consists of the National Assembly (400 seats; members are elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms) and the National Council of Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms. Half of the members of the National Assembly are chosen from nationwide party lists, the other from party lists for each province. Electoral reform is under consideration, with smaller multi-member constitutencies being introduced. Following the implementation of the new constitution on 3 February 1997 the National Council of Provinces replaced the former Senate with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new institution's responsibilities have been changed; with the body now having special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities.

Elections

Elections were last held 2 June 1999 (next to be held in 2004). The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) are in a formal alliance with the ANC. After the election the National Party (renamed the New National Party) and the Democratic Party combined to form the Democratic Alliance (DA), which proved to be short-lived. The NNP has since left the DA, joining into an alliance with the ruling ANC. Other parties represented in parliament include the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) and the African Christian Democratic Party.

• National Assembly

African National Congress (ANC) 66.4% 266 seats
Democratic Party (DP)9.6% 38 seats
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)8.6%, 34 seats
National Party (NP) 6.9%, 28 seats
United Democratic Movement ()3.4% 14 seats
Freedom Front (FF) 0.8% 3 seats 
Others - 4.3%; 17 seats

African National Congress (ANC) 61 seats 
National Party (NP) 17 seats 
Freedom Front (FF) 4 seats 
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) 5 seats 
Democratic Party 3 seats