Leader of the Opposition (South Africa)

Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of South Africa
List 10 other official names: Leier van die Opposisie (Afrikaans) umRholi weHlangano ePhikisako (Southern Ndebele) INkokeli yeQela eliPhikisayo (Xhosa) UMholi weQembu Eliphikisayo (Zulu) Umholi Welicembu Leliphikisako (Swazi) Moetapele wa Lekgotlakgolo la Kganetšo (Northern Sotho) Moetapele wa Mokga wa Kganyetso (Sotho) Moeteledi wa Kganetso (Tswana) Murhangeri wa Vukaneti (Tsonga) Murangaphanḓa wa Ḽihoro Ḽihanedzi (Venda)
Incumbent John Hlophe since 25 June 2024
Style	The Honourable
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government
Inaugural holder	Leander Starr Jameson
Formation	15 September 1910

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The Leader of the Opposition in South Africa is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government. The House of Assembly was the most important House from 1910 to 1994 and the National Assembly from 1994. The leader of the opposition acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet and the challenge to the government on the floor of Parliament. They thus act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government.

The position of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly is currently held by John Hlophe of the uMkhonto weSizwe, who was appointed on 25 June 2024.^[1]

In the list below, when the office is said to be vacant, there was no opposition party with more than ten seats and no clear Leader of the Opposition has been identified. This was the case between the formation of the Hertzog–Smuts coalition in 1933 and the breakaway of the Purified National Party in 1934. It was also the case during the Government of National Unity between 1994 and 1996, when the National Party withdrew.^[2]

In the case of the Democratic Alliance, the Leader of the Opposition may have been the Parliamentary leader only, during a vacancy in the party leadership and the first part of their own tenure, before being confirmed as party leader by a party congress. Athol Trollip and Lindiwe Mazibuko (and Mmusi Maimane for a short period) have been Parliamentary leaders only, whilst the incumbent Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance, Helen Zille, was not a member of Parliament.