Politics of South Africa

The Political System of South Africa after the official end of apartheid in 1994, is organized in the core as a parliamentary system of government.

The state is divided into nine provinces and has since the 1996 Constitution federal elements.

  • 3.1 Election 1994
  • 3.2 Election 1999
  • 3.3 2004 election
  • 3.4 Election 2009

Constitution

The state owned from 1994 to 1996 a democratic transitional constitution, which guaranteed the equality of all citizens of South Africa and the so-called homelands incorporated it back into the state. The final constitution was adopted in 1996 and has been effective since February 1997.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was recognized on December 4, 1996 by the Constitutional Court of the country and introduced on 4 February 1997. It consists of an introduction and 14 chapters. Each chapter has a focus on a particular theme.

The heart of the South African Constitution is called the Bill of Rights, the second chapter. It sets out the rights and obligations in political, economic, social and civil issues. Especially on issues of equality of genders, cultures and skin colors is focused.

Positions to a democratic transition constitution and new country structure

The repeal of apartheid laws was important in the 1991 session of the South African Parliament. Thus, the basic question was inevitably raised about the future form of government in South Africa. Prior to this legislative initiatives, there was accordingly a very controversial debate. The spectrum of opinion moved here between positions of a still practiced ethnic separation with the resulting political- administrative boundaries and on the other hand the formation of a structurally uniform state with equal civil rights for all residents.

To a future development of South Africa said in April 1990 Carel Boshoff, the chairman of the African Volkswag that his organization consider the upcoming interim period on the possible creation of a single state as problematic.

Robert van Tonder of the Boerestaat Party took in June 1990 considered that each ethnic group exercise in its territory, political power and that the stay should be allowed in the Black " Boer states only as guest workers ". According to the ideas of his party southern Africa would henceforth form an economic community with political and cultural independence and economic cooperation.

Expected Andries Treurnicht of the Conservative Party in May 1990 by the constitutional development of his country a smaller "white" state than the previous South Africa.

A pointing in the direction of similar ideas expressed in May 1990, Lucas Mangope, the then President of the Bantu state Bophuthatswana, which his country is not based on the loose would be modeled on the European Community against an "economic Federation South Africa ". He reiterated this position in April 1990 with a policy statement in the National Assembly of his Bantu state, after a federal structure in South Africa is desirable with a strong decentralization of power in regional components.

The Democratic Party took the view that a future South Africa should receive a new geographical Federation with 15 to 20 not racial States and repealing the existing internal borders. This position has been clarified in May 1991 of its MPs Tommy Abraham, after which it held in South Africa a " patchwork quilt " as for KwaZulu not feasible.

Gabriel Ramushwana, the head of the then military leadership of the Bantu state Venda, saw in April 1991, the future of their homelands in the reintegration of South Africa.

From the National Party 's policy of independent homelands was abandoned and work towards a new constitutional order for South Africa. In June 1990, the Minister for Constitutional Development Gerrit Viljoen expressed cornerstones for the future constitutional framework. Within its considerations should continue to form the basis for the reorganization of internal borders and as a replacement for the former homelands, provinces and other regional areas (regional services council areas) nine regions.

Mangosuthu Buthelezi, President of the Inkatha Freedom Party, campaigned in April 1991 for a " reasonable and sensible " system for the protection of group rights in South Africa. At the same time he advocated the regionalization of future power structures and said that KwaZulu / Natal had his future place in a new South Africa.

Benny Alexander, former general secretary of the Pan Africanist Congress, spoke in June 1991 on behalf of his organization in favor of democracy in a "non -bred " multi-party system, including a uniform, equal franchise with common voter lists.

The African National Congress in April 1991 published a working paper on the basis of the content and structure of a new constitution for South Africa could be discussed publicly. In the center of this initiative focused on three key messages:

  • A unified South Africa on the basis of a list of fundamental rights (Bill of Rights - paper)
  • The reverse inclusion of the independent homeland states,
  • A tripartite system of state administration with a central, regional and local decision-making level.

In this context, the ANC also called for the establishment of a Constitutional Court. In May 1991, Nelson Mandela, then still deputy ANC president spoke, but from that under a new constitution, a structural warranty must be created for it, so that the white population would in future not dominated by blacks.

President

The President of the Republic of South Africa is also head of government. He is elected by the deputies of the National Assembly and can be deselected by a destructive confidence vote. A new president must be elected within 30 days, otherwise the Parliament may be dissolved. Official statements by the President of the Office shall be published in the Government Gazette.

Parliament

The national parliament has two chambers, the National Assembly ( National Assembly ) of 400 elected MPs and the National Council of Provinces ( National Council of Provinces, NCOP ) are each charged with ten representatives from the nine provinces, partly nominated by the governments of the provinces are partly elected by the provincial legislatures. Since 2002 it is possible to change within a certain period, the party and keep the mandate (Floor crossing ).

The Parliament is the legislative authority in South Africa and has the power to create laws and change it. The regulations will be officially published in the Government Gazette.

The National Assembly consists of between 350 and 400 members, who are elected every five years by the people. The current Assembly is composed of 400 deputies. The number of seats that each party receives in itself is proportional to the percentage of votes, which they reached in the elections.

Election 1994

The first democratic elections after apartheid in South Africa in 1994 provided the following results (number of voters: 19,533,497 ):

  • African National Congress
  • National Party (NP )
  • Inkatha Freedom Party
  • Vryheidsfront (VF )
  • Democratic Party ( DP)
  • Other

The first democratic, free and general elections in South Africa were peaceful. Voters granted extremist parties a rejection, so that moderate forces were consolidated.

The more populous parts of the country to the east elected by majority the ANC, while in the less populated parts of the country in the West ( Western Cape and Northern Cape ) the NP dominated. She was especially due to conservative white voters a majority. Were striking about the high proportion of votes for the IFP in the rural areas of KwaZulu -Natal, while in turn the lying in the same province " urbanized corridor" between Durban and the border of the Free State majority of the ANC chose.

1999 elections

The South African elections on 2 June 1999 provided the following results (number of voters: 15,977,142 ):

  • African National Congress ( ANC)
  • Democratic Party ( DP)
  • Inkatha Freedom Party ( IFP)
  • New National Party ( NNP)
  • United Democratic Movement (UDM )
  • Other parties

The planned two-thirds majority that allows constitutional amendments was a choice target of the ANC. This was missed by only one mandate. The Liberal Democratic Party ( DP) came out of the election, the largest opposition force. The in New National Party ( NNP), renamed the National Party (NP ), which in 1994 reached 20.39 %, was only 6.87% and 28 seats, the big loser of the election.

It competed 31 parties for the favor of the voters. The turnout was 90 % of the electorate.

2004 election

Found on 14 April 2004, after 1994 and 1999, instead of the third democratic elections. The 20.6 million registered voters were asked to decide on the composition of the new parliament. It competed for a total of 4598 candidates from 21 parties for the 400 available seats in the National Assembly. Recent polls before the election ensured the ruling ANC under the leadership of Thabo Mbeki a concise two-thirds majority. This is necessary to carry out constitutional changes. The ANC won for the first time in South African history, the two-thirds majority and be with for ten years stated goal. The NNP, which emerged in 1994 from the NP, recorded for the second time a significant setback. In the last ten years, you have lost 18 percentage points of the vote. The turnout was 76.73 %. The election was peaceful and without any major incidents.

  • African National Congress ( ANC)
  • Democratic Alliance (DA)
  • Inkatha Freedom Party ( IFP)
  • Other parties

Election 2009

On 22 April 2009 the fourth South African Parliamentary elections were held after apartheid. 26 parties competed for election, 13 succeeded in entering parliament. The turnout was 77.3 %. The ruling African National Congress under Jacob Zuma defended its absolute majority, but lost the two-thirds majority, which he reached in the election in 2004.

  • African National Congress
  • Democratic Alliance
  • Congress of the People
  • Inkatha Freedom Party
  • Other

Parties

  • African National Congress ( ANC ruling party )
  • Democratic Alliance (DA, liberal ), and 2000 Democratic Party ( DP)
  • Inkatha Freedom Party ( IFP) (mostly Zulu)
  • Congress of the People ( COPE ), split from the ANC
  • Independent Democrats (ID ) ( social democratic ), merged with the Democratic Alliance in 2010
  • United Democratic Movement (UDM, multicultural )
  • African Christian Democratic Party ( ACDP )
  • Vryheidsfront Plus (VF , originally Vryheidsfront (VF ), new name by recording the Conservative Party and Africans Eenheidsbeweging; emphasizes conservative)
  • United Christian Democratic Party ( UCDP ) ( Christian Democrats )
  • Pan Africanist Congress (PAC )
  • Federal Alliance ( FA ) ( Christian Democrats )
  • Azanian People's Organisation ( AZAPO )
  • Minority Front ( MF) ( De facto representation of the ethnic Indian minority )
  • South African Communist Party ( SACP )

In 2005, the New National Party ( NNP) dissolved, the successor to the National Party ( NP) was.

Democratic Alliance (South Africa) Congress of the People (South African political party) Bantustan KwaZulu-Natal Government Gazette of South Africa Federal Alliance (South Africa) Mandate (politics) Helen Zille Patricia de Lille Bantu Holomisa Pieter Mulder Zulu people South African Institute of Race Relations Politics of Madagascar Politics of Mozambique Politics of Zambia Politics of Somalia Politics of Somaliland Politics of Tunisia Politics of Uganda Jebali Cabinet
655304
de