Politics of South Africa

Politics of South Africa
Coat of arms of South Africa
Polity type	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency
Constitution	Constitution of South Africa
Legislative branch
Name	Parliament
Meeting place	Houses of Parliament, Cape Town
Upper house
Name	National Council of Provinces
Presiding officer	Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces
Appointer	Provincial legislatures
Lower house
Name	National Assembly
Presiding officer	Thoko Didiza, Speaker of the National Assembly
Appointer	National Assembly
Executive branch
Head of state and government
Title	President
Currently	Cyril Ramaphosa
Appointer	National Assembly
Cabinet
Name	Cabinet of South Africa
Current cabinet	Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa
Leader	President
Deputy leader	Deputy President
Appointer	President
Ministries	26
Judicial branch
Name	Judiciary of South Africa
Constitutional Court
Chief judge	Mandisa Maya
Supreme Court of Appeal
Chief judge	Xola Mpetse

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
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The Republic of South Africa is a unitary parliamentary democratic republic. The President of South Africa serves both as head of state and as head of government. The President is elected by the National Assembly (the lower house of the South African Parliament) and must retain the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also elect provincial legislatures which govern each of the country's nine provinces.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has dominated South Africa's politics. The ANC is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in most provinces. The ANC received 40.18% of the vote during the 2024 general election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance (DA), led by John Steenhuisen, which received 21.81% of the vote in the 2024 election. Other major political parties represented in Parliament includes uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK Party), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The formerly dominant New National Party (NNP), which both introduced and ended apartheid through its predecessor the National Party (NP), disbanded in 2005 to merge with the ANC.

Nelson Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999 and his successors were Thabo Mbeki (1999−2008), Kgalema Motlanthe (2008−2009) and Jacob Zuma (2009−2018). Zuma was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa after his resignation in February 2018. The 2024 general election was held on 29 May 2024, with the ANC losing its majority in the national parliament for the first time in South Africa's democratic history, though it still remained the largest political party.^[1] Despite losing the majority in 2024, the ANC managed to retain power with a coalition government.^[2]

South Africa is a democracy. Universal suffrage was granted in 1994 with the end of apartheid. Since then, elections have been open and competitive, and the lives of South Africans have improved across multiple metrics.^[3] However, it has faced challenges as a multi-racial, young democracy.^[3] The Economist Intelligence Unit rated South Africa a "flawed democracy" in 2022.^{[4][needs update]}