Government of South Africa

South Africa
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Africa
Constitution Bill of Rights
Government
Executive President (List) Jacob Zuma Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe Cabinet Shadow Cabinet
Legislative Parliament National Council of Provinces Chairperson M. J. Mahlangu National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu Leader of the Opposition Helen Zille (national) Lindiwe Mazibuko (parliament)
Judiciary Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke Pres. of Supreme Court of Appeal Lex Mpati Courts Constitutional Court Supreme Court of Appeal High Courts Magistrates' Courts Electoral Court
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The Republic of South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a federally structured, three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a nearly unique system that combines aspects of parliamentary and presidential systems. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet. The President is elected from the Parliament to serve a fixed term. South Africa's government differs greatly from those of other Commonwealth nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the South African Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated".

Operating at both national and provincial levels ("spheres") are advisory bodies drawn from South Africa's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the country be run on a system of co-operative governance.

The national government is composed of three inter-connected branches:

• Legislative: Parliament, consisting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces
• Executive: The President, who is both Head of State and Head of Government
• Judicial: The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the High Court

All bodies of the South African government are subject to the rule of the Constitution, which is the supreme law in South Africa.

Legislative

The Houses of Parliament in Cape Town.

Main article: Parliament of South Africa

The bicameral Parliament of South Africa makes up the legislative branch of the national government. It consists of the National Assembly, the lower house, and the National Council of Provinces, the upper house. The National Assembly consists of 400 members elected by popular vote using a system of party-list proportional representation. Half of the members are elected from parties' provincial lists and the other half from national lists.

Following the implementation of the new constitution on 3 February 1997 the National Council of Provinces replaced the former Senate with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new institution's responsibilities have been changed; with the body now having special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities. In ordinary legislation, the two chambers have coordinate powers, but all proposals for appropriating revenue or imposing taxes must be introduced in the National Assembly.

Under the prevailing Westminster system, the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that wins a majority of the seats in the National Assembly is named President. The President and the Ministers are responsible to the Parliament, of which they must be elected members. General elections are held at least once every five years. The last general election was held on 22 April 2009.

Executive

The President, Deputy President and the Ministers make up the executive branch of the national government. Ministers are Members of Parliament who are appointed by the President to head the various departments of the national government. The ministers individually, and the Cabinet collectively, are accountable to Parliament for their actions.

Ministries

Main article: Cabinet of South Africa

Each minister is responsible for one or more departments, and some ministers have a deputy minister to whom they delegate some responsibility. The portfolios, incumbent ministers and deputies, and departments are shown in the following table.

Portfolio	Minister	Deputy Minister(s)	Department(s)
President of South Africa	Jacob Zuma	-	-
Deputy President of South Africa	Kgalema Motlanthe	-	-
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	Tina Joemat-Peterson	Pieter Mulder	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Arts and Culture	Paul Mashatile	Joe Phaahla	Arts and Culture
Basic Education	Angie Motshekga	Enver Surty	Basic Education
Communications	Dina Pule	Thembisa Stella Ndabeni	Communications
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	Richard Baloyi	Yunus Carrim	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Correctional Services	S'bu Ndebele	Ngoako Ramathlodi	Correctional Services
Defence and Military Veterans	Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula	Thabang Makwetla	Defence, Military Veterans
Economic Development	Ebrahim Patel	Hlengiwe Mkhize	Economic Development
Energy	Dipuo Peters	Barbara Thompson	Energy
Finance	Pravin Gordhan	Nhlanhla Nene	Treasury, Stats SA
Health	Aaron Motsoaledi	Gwen Ramokgopa	Health
Higher Education and Training	Blade Nzimande	Mduduzi Manana	Higher Education and Training
Home Affairs	Naledi Pandor	Fatima Chohan	Home Affairs
Human Settlements	Tokyo Sexwale	Zou Kota	Human Settlements
International Relations and Cooperation	Maite Nkoana-Mashabane	Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, Marius Fransman	International Relations and Cooperation
Justice and Constitutional Development	Jeff Radebe	Andries Nel	Justice and Constitutional Development
Labour	Mildred Oliphant		Labour
Mineral Resources	Susan Shabangu	Godfrey Oliphant	Mineral Resources
Police	Nathi Mthethwa	Makhotso Sotyu	Police, ICD
Public Enterprises	Malusi Gigaba	Gratitude Magwanishe	Public Enterprises
Public Service and Administration	Lindiwe Sisulu	Ayanda Dlodlo	Public Service and Administration, PSC, PALAMA
Public Works	Thembelani Nxesi	Jeremy Cronin	Public Works
Rural Development and Land Reform	Gugile Nkwinti	Lechesa Tsenoli	Rural Development and Land Reform
Science and Technology	Derek Hanekom		Science and Technology
Social Development	Bathabile Dlamini	Maria Ntuli	Social Development
Sport and Recreation	Fikile Mbalula	Gert Oosthuizen	Sport and Recreation
State Security	Siyabonga Cwele		State Security Agency
Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission	Trevor Manuel		National Planning Commission
Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation as well as Administration in the Presidency	Collins Chabane	Obed Bapela	The Presidency, GCIS
Tourism	Marthinus van Schalkwyk	Thozile Xasa	Tourism
Trade and Industry	Rob Davies	Thandi Tobias, Elizabeth Thabethe	Trade and Industry
Transport	Ben Martins	Sindiswe Chikunga	Transport
Water and Environmental Affairs	Edna Molewa	Rejoice Mabhudafhasi	Water Affairs, Environmental Affairs
Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities	Lulu Xingwana	Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu	Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities

Judicial

Main article: Judiciary of South Africa

The third branch of the national government is an independent judiciary. The judicial branch interprets the laws, using as a basis the laws as enacted and explanatory statements made in the Legislature during the enactment. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law and accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations. The constitution's bill of rights provides for due process including the right to a fair, public trial within a reasonable time of being charged and the right to appeal to a higher court. To achieve this, there are four major tiers of courts:

• Magistrates' Courts – The court where civil cases involving less than R100 000, and cases involving minor crimes, are heard.
• High Courts – The court of appeal for cases from the magistrates courts, as well as the court where major civil and criminal cases are first heard.
• Supreme Court of Appeal – The final court of appeal for matters not pertaining to the constitution.
• Constitutional Court – The final court of appeal for matters related to the constitution

In addition provision is made in the constitution for other courts established by or recognized in terms of an Act of Parliament.

Provincial government

Main article: Provincial governments of South Africa

Local government

Main article: Municipalities of South Africa

Opposition

In each parliament, the major party holding a majority forms the Government. The major party not holding a majority forms the Opposition.

External links

• South African Government Online
• Constitution of South Africa