South African general election, 2014

South African general election, 2014

2009 ← 2014 → 2019

All 400 seats to the National Assembly of South Africa   Leader Jacob Zuma Helen Zille Party African National Congress Democratic Alliance Last election 65.90% 16.66% Current seats 264 67

The map of South Africa for the 2014 elections

Incumbent President Jacob Zuma African National Congress

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 South African general election of 2014 will be the next general election, to be held in 2014 which will elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each province. It will be the fourth quinquennial election held since the end of apartheid era in 1994. According to the Constitution of South Africa elections must occur in April–July 2014.

The National Assembly consists of 400 members elected by proportional representation with a closed list approach. Two hundred members are elected from national party lists; the other 200 are elected from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa is chosen by the National Assembly after each election; in 2009, the presidential election was on the 6th of May. The premiers of each province are chosen by the winning majority in each provincial legislature.

Background

NCOP seats

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) consists of 90 members, ten elected by each provincial legislature. The Members of NCOP have to be elected in proportion to the party membership of the provincial legislature.

The ANC have held a majority of the seats in the National Assembly since 1994 (governed in coalition) and have governed on their own since 1999, being comfortably re-elected in 2004 and 2009

Jacob Zuma was re-eelcted to a second five-year term as President and leader of the African National Congress, beating his only rival and deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe by a wide margin. Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as Deputy President of the ANC, succeeding Motlanthe who had declined a second term after losing to Zuma.

Helen Zille was also re-elected, at the Democratic Alliance's Federal Congress in Gauteng, she was re-elected unopposed as Leader of the party, while Lindiwe Mazibuko continues as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. The DA won a landslide victory in the Western Cape Provincial elections of 2009 and swept to power in several Western Cape municipalities in the 2011 municipal elections.

The legal battle between Mosiuoa Lekota and Mbhazima Shilowa continues indefinitely in the High Court as to which one is the legal leader of the Congress of the People (COPE), South Africa's third largest party. Lekota continues to act as de facto leader. After the resignation of Parliamentary leader and former presidential canddiate Mvume Dandala and former deputy leader Lynda Odendaal.

Mangosuthu Buthelezi remains Leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party despite a challenged by former IFP Chairman Premier candidate Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi who went on to form the National Freedom Party after her feud with Buthelezi. The NFP and IFP split the vote in the Zulu-dominated KwaZulu-Natal Province, both getting an even share of the vote, while the ANC continued to dominate the former IFP stronghold.

See also

• List of political parties in South Africa
• South African municipal election, 2011