Description of Electoral System:

 The President is the Head of State and Government. The President is elected by every new National Assembly to serve a five year term and is restricted two terms. The Deputy President is appointed by the President from amongst members of the National Assembly and can be dismissed by the President.

Parliament consists of ­ the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly consists of 400 members elected in a proportional representation system (with no minimum entry threshold) and members are elected by direct universal adult franchise; 130 members are elected from national party lists, the other 270 are elected from party lists in each of the nine provinces. Members serve a five year term. The National Council of Provinces is comprised of a delegation of ten members from each of the nine provincial legislatures and each delegation has one vote. Members of a delegation are allocated to parties in proportion to their seats in the provincial legislature of that province.

Politics of South Africa

 The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 from four British colonies. In 1912, the South Africa Native National Congress was founded in Bloemfontein and eventually became known as the African National Congress (ANC). Its goals were the elimination of restrictions based on colour and the enfranchisement of and parliamentary representation for Africans. Despite these efforts the government continued to pass laws limiting the rights and freedoms of blacks. South Africa legally became independent with the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931.

In 1948 the National Party (NP) won the all-white elections and passed legislation codifying and enforcing an even stricter policy of white domination and racial separation known as "apartheid" which intensified resistance. In the early 1960s Nelson Mandela and many other anti-apartheid leaders were convicted and imprisoned on charges of treason. The ANC and PAC were forced to fight apartheid underground through rebel warfare and sabotage. In May 1961, South Africa became a republic. It withdrew from the Commonwealth because of international protests against apartheid.

Between 1976 and 1985 popular uprisings in African and Coloured townships, along with international economic sanctions, increasingly whites of the need for change. Secret discussions were held between those members and Nelson Mandela began in 1986 and culminated in the unbanning of the ANC and all other anti-apartheid groups and the release of Nelson Mandela and other leaders from prison in 1990. Racially discriminatory laws were repealed and after a long series of negotiations, the country saw its first free and fair election 1994, with the ANC gaining a clear majority in the National Assembly and Nelson Mandela emerging as President.

Over time political violence has decreased, economic growth has risen and the government has managed to extend services to those who had been discriminated against in the past. However, the benefits have been unevenly distributed and a large class of people has emerged that is in danger of being locked into a downward spiral of increasing impoverishment and misery. On the other hand the high expectations of those who have seen moderate improvements have led to increasing dissatisfaction and social unrest.

Previous elections

DID YOU KNOW?  Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the first woman to hold Deputy President this office

In the 2009 National Assembly election the ANC won 65.90% of the votes, followed by Democratic Alliance with 16.66%, Congress of the People (COPE) with 7.42%, the Inkatha Freedom Party with 4.55% and the remaining 4.9% went to other parties of which nine gained seats. Jacob Zuma was elected as President for the first term by the National Assembly (for more detail see: National results 2009).

Next elections

The next National Assembly election will take place in 2014 and Local government election will be held in 2016.