Political Outline

Current Political Leaders

President: Cyril RAMAPHOSA (since February 2018) – ANC ; the president is both chief of state and head of government
Vice President: Paul MASHSATILE (since 7 March 2023)

Next Election Dates

Presidential: May 2024
Legislative (National Council of Provinces and National Assembly): 2024

Current Political Context

Although the African National Congress (ANC) continues to maintain its position as the leading political entity, its popularity has been consistently diminishing in recent years, with recent surveys showing backing dropping below 50%. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who assumed office in 2018, weathered the "Phala Phala" misconduct scandal and succeeded in retaining the leadership of the ANC prior to the 2024 elections.
Ahead of the impending elections, the Democratic Alliance, South Africa's second-largest party, joined forces with the Inkatha Freedom Party and several smaller parties to launch the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa. The objective is to unify opposition forces and present an alternative to the ANC. Notably, the charter coalition did not include the populist Economic Freedom Fighters, which is the third largest party.

Main Political Parties

The main political parties in South Africa are:

• African National Congress (ANC): ruling party in power since the end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in 1994; consistently wins at least 60% of the vote, although its popularity declined by several percentage points between 2004 and 2014; centre-left to left-wing, but allied with the far left groups, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP)
• Democratic Alliance (DA): official opposition, centrist, supports liberal democracy and free market principles, progressively gaining in popularity
• Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): far-left, Marxist, has been gaining popularity
• Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): conservative, right-wing, dominated by rural, Zulu-speakers based in the KwaZulu-Natal region; emphasises social justice and the role of traditional communities. The party's popularity has been consistently decreasing in recent years
• Freedom Front Plus (FF+): right-wing, advocates for the rights of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans and minority groups.

Executive Power

The President is both the chief of state and the head of the Government. The President is indirectly elected by the Parliament (lower house) to serve a five-year term. He/She is usually the leader of the largest party. The President is the also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, declares war or peace and appoints the Cabinet.

Legislative Power

South Africa has a bicameral legislature. The National Council of Provinces (the upper house) has 90 seats, with 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms. The National Assembly ( the lower house) has 400 seats; the members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms.

The executive branch of the Government is directly or indirectly dependent on the support of the Parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. The President can dissolve the Parliament if a majority of the members of the National Assembly seek its dissolution and if has been at least three years since the last election.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

32/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Free

Political Freedom:

2/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House