2014 South African general election

2014 South African general election

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All 400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Registered	25,388,082
Turnout	73.48% ( 3.82pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jacob Zuma Helen Zille Julius Malema Party ANC DA EFF Last election 65.90%, 264 seats 16.66%, 67 seats Did not exist Seats won 249 89 25 Seat change 15 22 New party Popular vote 11,436,921 4,091,584 1,169,259 Percentage 62.15% 22.23% 6.35% Swing 3.75pp 5.57pp New party   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi Bantu Holomisa Party IFP NFP UDM Last election 4.55%, 18 seats Did not exist 0.85%, 4 seats Seats won 10 6 4 Seat change 8 New party Popular vote 441,854 288,742 184,636 Percentage 2.40% 1.57% 1.00% Swing 2.15pp New party 0.15pp
President before election Jacob Zuma ANC Elected President Jacob Zuma ANC

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General elections were held in South Africa on 7 May 2014,^[3] to elect a new National Assembly and new provincial legislatures in each province. It was the fifth election held in South Africa under conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994, and also the first held since the death of Nelson Mandela. It was also the first time that South African expatriates were allowed to vote in a South African national election.^[4]

The National Assembly election was won by the African National Congress (ANC), but with a reduced majority of 62.1%, down from 65.9% in the 2009 election. The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) increased its share of the vote from 16.7% to 22.2%, while the newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) obtained 6.4% of the vote.

Eight of the nine provincial legislatures were won by the ANC. The EFF obtained over 10% of the vote in Gauteng, Limpopo and North West, and beat the DA to second place in the last two. In the other six provinces won by the ANC, the DA obtained second place. This included KwaZulu-Natal, where the DA for the first time beat the Inkatha Freedom Party to second place. In the Western Cape, the only province not won by the ANC, the DA increased its majority from 51.5% to 59.4%.