Elections in South Africa
Encyclopedia
Elections in South Africa take place on national, provincial, and local levels. South Africa
is a multi-party democracy
with the African National Congress
in power with a significant majority since 1994. Although South Africa's democracy is rated as flawed in the Democracy Index survey conducted by the Economist, its score for electoral process is the same as that of the United States and Japan. A system of proportional representation
, incorporating party lists, is in place which makes it possible for small parties to achieve representation in parliament.
The parliament
has two chambers
, and elects the president
. The National Assembly
has 400 members, elected for a five year term. The National Council of Provinces
has 90 members, elected for a five year term by the provincial parliaments. The National Assembly and Provincial Councils are elected when General Elections
are held.
Members to the local governing councils in the municipalities
and mayors are elected in municipal elections
.
in 1910 until the 1929 elections the franchise structures of the constituent colonies were applied. Subsequently only white men were allowed to vote in three of the provinces while a highly restricted number of black and coloured men where able to vote in the Cape Province
. In 1930 white women received political franchise
. However by 1939 black men were disenfranchised in the Cape by being placed on a separate voters roll - eventually this representation was removed.
to decide whether to become a republic. No changes were made to the franchise with the Republic's emergence in 1961. However with the policy of establishing Bantustans the remaining black representation in the Senate was completely removed.
, giving limited political franchise to the Coloured and Indian population groups.
, deciding to end apartheid, universal suffrage
was implemented allowing people of all races to take part in the first democratic elections in 1994
.
Since 1994 all adult South Africans have in principle possessed the franchise and the right to vote is entrenched in the Constitution, however various logistical challenges still exist as is common with all democracies.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
is a multi-party democracy
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
with the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
in power with a significant majority since 1994. Although South Africa's democracy is rated as flawed in the Democracy Index survey conducted by the Economist, its score for electoral process is the same as that of the United States and Japan. A system of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
, incorporating party lists, is in place which makes it possible for small parties to achieve representation in parliament.
The parliament
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
has two chambers
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
, and elects the president
President of South Africa
The President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President....
. The National Assembly
National Assembly of South Africa
The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape Province. It consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 members...
has 400 members, elected for a five year term. The National Council of Provinces
National Council of Provinces
The National Council of Provinces is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the constitution which came into full effect in 1997...
has 90 members, elected for a five year term by the provincial parliaments. The National Assembly and Provincial Councils are elected when General Elections
South African general elections
This article lists the general elections held in the history of South Africa:* South African general election, 1910 - Establishment of the Union of South Africa* South African general election, 1915* South African general election, 1920...
are held.
Members to the local governing councils in the municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and mayors are elected in municipal elections
South African municipal election, 2006
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa...
.
Early days of the Union
At the time of Unification and admission as a dominion of Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 1910 until the 1929 elections the franchise structures of the constituent colonies were applied. Subsequently only white men were allowed to vote in three of the provinces while a highly restricted number of black and coloured men where able to vote in the Cape Province
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
. In 1930 white women received political franchise
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. However by 1939 black men were disenfranchised in the Cape by being placed on a separate voters roll - eventually this representation was removed.
Constitutional Crisis in 1950s
After coming to power in 1948 the National Party engaged in a policy of removing coloured voters in a similar manner to black voters. This policy lead to legal challenges and amounted to a Constitutional Crisis which was stopped by Parliament reconstituting the Senate. During the crisis the Supreme Court asserted its right to test the procedure of law creation by Parliament.Republic of South Africa
In 1960 a referendum was heldSouth African referendum, 1960
In 1960, the National Party government of South Africa held a referendum on whether or not the then Union of South Africa should abandon its status as a Commonwealth realm and become a republic...
to decide whether to become a republic. No changes were made to the franchise with the Republic's emergence in 1961. However with the policy of establishing Bantustans the remaining black representation in the Senate was completely removed.
Tricameral Parliament
After the 1983 referendum, it was decided to create a Tricameral ParliamentTricameral Parliament
The Tricameral Parliament was the name given to the South African parliament and its structure from 1984 to 1994, established by the South African Constitution of 1983...
, giving limited political franchise to the Coloured and Indian population groups.
End of Apartheid
After the 1992 referendumSouth African referendum, 1992
The 1992 referendum was held in South Africa on 17 March of that year. In it, white South Africans were asked to vote in the country's last whites-only referendum to determine whether or not they supported the negotiated reforms begun by State President F.W. de Klerk two years earlier, in which he...
, deciding to end apartheid, universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
was implemented allowing people of all races to take part in the first democratic elections in 1994
South African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
.
Since 1994 all adult South Africans have in principle possessed the franchise and the right to vote is entrenched in the Constitution, however various logistical challenges still exist as is common with all democracies.
General elections
- 15 September 1910South African general election, 1910The 1910 South African general election was held for the 121 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, on 15 September 1910. This was the first general election, after the Union came into force on 31 May 1910....
- 20 October 1915South African general election, 1915The 1915 South African general election was held on 20 October 1915 for the 130 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa. This was the second Union Parliament...
- 20 March 1920South African general election, 1920The 1920 South African general election was held for the 134 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, on 20 March 1920. This was for the third Union Parliament....
- 8 February 1921South African general election, 1921The 1921 South African general election was held for the 134 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, on 8 February 1921. The South African Party, which since the previous election had fused with the Unionist Party, won an absolute majority.-Delimitation of electoral...
- 19 June 1924South African general election, 1924The 1924 South African general election was a realigning election in the Union of South Africa's House of Assembly held on June 19, 1924 to elect 135 members...
- 14 June 1929South African general election, 1929In the 1929 South African general election, held on 14 June of that year, the National Party under James Barry Munnik Hertzog won an outright majority in tne House of Assembly. Hertzog had the opportunity to form a government without the aid of the Labour Party. In fact the Pact government...
- 17 May 1933South African general election, 1933The 1933 South African general election was held for the 150 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, on 17 May 1933. The National Party won half the seats in the House, but the coalition with the South African Party continued....
- 18 May 1938South African general election, 1938The 1938 South African general election was held, on 18 May 1938, for the 150 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa. The United Party won an absolute majority.-Party changes since the last general election:...
- 17 July 1943South African general election, 1943The 1943 South African general election was held for the 152 seats in the parliament of the Union of South Africa. The United Party of Jan Smuts won an absolute majority over its opponents in the House of Assembly....
- 26 May 1948South African general election, 1948The parliamentary election in South Africa on 26 May 1948 represented a turning point in the country's history. The United Party, which had led the government since its foundation in 1933 and its leader, incumbent Prime Minister Jan Smuts was ousted by the Reunited National Party , led by Daniel...
- 15 April 1953South African general election, 1953The 1953 South African general election consolidated the position of the National Party under DF Malan, who won an absolute majority of the 156 seats in the House of Assembly...
- 16 April 1958South African general election, 1958The 1958 South African general election led to a victory for the National Party, under the leadership of J.G. Strijdom, which took 103 seats in the House of Assembly.-Native Representative Members:...
- 8 October 1961South African general election, 1961The 1961 South African general election was the first general election after South Africa became a republic following the 1960 South African referendum. The National Party under Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd won a majority in the House of Assembly....
- 30 March 1966South African general election, 1966The 1966 South African general election, on 30 March 1966, resulted in yet another comprehensive victory for the National Party under Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd....
- 22 April 1970South African general election, 1970The 1970 South African general election was held on 22 April for the 166-seat House of Assembly. Parliament was dissolved on 2 March and the deadline for the submission of candidates was 13 March...
- 24 April 1974South African general election, 1974The 1974 South African general election, held on 24 April, was called one year earlier than scheduled by Prime Minister John Vorster on 4 February. The House of Assembly was increased from 166 to 171 members. The Progressive Party made a major advance. In addition to Helen Suzman, re-elected for...
- 30 November 1977South African general election, 1977The 1977 South African general election was held on 30 November 1977. The National Party, led by John Vorster won a landslide victory in the House of Assembly. The newly formed Progressive Federal Party, led by Colin Eglin became the official opposition. The New Republic Party, successor to the...
- 29 April 1981South African general election, 1981During the 1981 South African general election, the National Party achieved another landslide victory, winning 131 of 165 seats in the House of Assembly, which had become the sole legislative chamber following the abolition of the Senate that year...
- 22 and 28 August 1984South African general election, 1984The 1984 South African general election held in August of that year, it saw a number of Coloured and Indian parties participating in an election for the houses of Parliament created for their respective racial groups, although a majority of people in both of these groups opposed the Tricameral...
(House of Representatives and House of Delegates) - 6 May 1987South African general election, 1987The 1987 South African general election was held on 6 May 1987. The State of Emergency existing in South Africa at that time cast a cloud over the elections. It was once again won by the National Party under the leadership of P. W...
(House of Assembly) - 6 September 1989South African general election, 1989The 1989 South African general election was South Africa's last national race-based parliamentary election. The election was called early to gauge support for the recently elected head of the National Party, Frederik Willem de Klerk and his program of reform, which was to...
- 26–29 April 1994South African general election, 1994The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
- 2 June 1999South African general election, 1999South Africa's second non-racial general election, held on 2 June 1999 was won by the African National Congress , who increased their number of seats by 14. Notable was the sharp decline of the New National Party, previously the National Party , who without former president F.W. de Klerk lost more...
- 14 April 2004South African general election, 2004Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....
- 22 April 2009South African general election, 2009South Africa held national and provincial elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each province on 22 April 2009....
Referendums
- Republic referendum, 5 October 1960
- Constitutional reform referendum, 2 November 1983
- Negotiated reform referendum, 17 March 1992
Local elections
- 1 November 1995South African municipal election, 1995–1996Municipal elections were held in South Africa in 1995 and 1996. Over 11 000 seats were contested of which the African National Congress won 6 032, the National Party 1 814, the Inkhata Freedom Party 754 and the Democratic Party 138....
(delayed to 29 May 1996 in the Western Cape and 26 June 1996 in KwaZulu-Natal) - 5 December 2000South African municipal election, 2000Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 5 December 2000 to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa.-Results:...
- 1 March 2006South African municipal election, 2006Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa...
- 18 May 2011