2009 South African general election

2009 South African general election

← 2004 22 April 2009 2014 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Registered	23,181,997
Turnout	77.30% ( 0.60pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jacob Zuma Helen Zille Mosiuoa Lekota Party ANC DA COPE Last election 69.69%, 279 seats 12.37%, 50 seats Did not exist Seats won 264 67 30 Seat change 15 17 New party Popular vote 11,650,748 2,945,829 1,311,027 Percentage 65.90% 16.66% 7.42% Swing 3.79pp 4.29pp New party   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi Patricia de Lille Bantu Holomisa Party IFP ID UDM Last election 6.97%, 28 seats 1.73%, 7 seats 2.28%, 9 seats Seats won 18 4 4 Seat change 10 3 5 Popular vote 804,260 162,915 149,680 Percentage 4.55% 0.92% 0.85% Swing 2.42pp 0.81pp 1.43pp
President before election Kgalema Motlanthe ANC Elected President Jacob Zuma ANC

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of South Africa
Constitution Bill of Rights
Executive President Cyril Ramaphosa Deputy President Paul Mashatile Cabinet Departments Shadow Cabinet
Legislature National Council of Provinces Chairperson Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza Leader of the Opposition John Hlophe
Judiciary Chief Justice Ray Zondo Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya Courts Constitutional Court Supreme Court of Appeal President: Mahube Molemela High Court Magistrate's courts Electoral Court
Elections General 1910 1915 1920 1921 1924 1929 1933 1938 1943 1948 1953 1958 1961 1966 1970 1974 1977 1981 1984 1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024 Municipal 2000 2006 2011 2016 2021 Referendums 1960 1983 1992 Political parties
Administrative divisions Provinces Districts Metropolitan municipality District municipality Municipalities (list)
Foreign relations Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister: Naledi Pandor Diplomatic missions of / in South Africa Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Related topics Human rights National debt Political assassinations Protests Repression Social Welfare Taxation
Provincial politics Politics of the Eastern Cape Politics of the Free State Politics of Gauteng Politics of KwaZulu-Natal Politics of Limpopo Politics of Mpumalanga Politics of the Northern Cape Politics of North West Politics of the Western Cape
South Africa portal Other countries
v t e

General elections were held in South Africa on 22 April 2009 to elect members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.^[1] These were the fourth general elections held since the end of the apartheid era.

The North Gauteng High Court ruled on 9 February 2009 that South African citizens living abroad should be allowed to vote in elections.^[2] The judgment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 12 March 2009, when it decided that overseas voters who were already registered would be allowed to vote.^[3] Registered voters who found themselves outside their registered voting districts on election day were also permitted to vote for the national ballot at any voting station in South Africa.

The result was a victory for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which won 264 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, a fifteen seat reduction compared to the 2004 elections and losing its two-thirds supermajority. ANC leader Jacob Zuma became president.