El marc polític de Sud-àfrica

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders

President: Cyril RAMAPHOSA (since February 2018) – ANC ; the president is both chief of state and head of government
Executive Deputy President: David MABUZA (since February 2018) - ANC

Next Election Dates

Presidential: May 2024
Legislative (National Council of Provinces and National Assembly): 2024

Current Political Context

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been re-elected leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party in December 2022 despite a series of political difficulties and facing calls to step down as president. He is now focusing on rebuilding public support ahead of elections in 2024. Backing for the party has slipped amid persistent inequality in the country, but his re-election as leader of the ANC is strengthening his pursuit of economic reforms and paves the way for him to run for a second term as president in 2024. Nevertheless, M. Ramaphosa has many social and economical challenges to address in 2023 as South Africa experiences crippling power cuts of more than seven hours a day, an unemployment rate of 35 percent and reports of widespread corruption.

Despite M. Ramaphosa’s win, the ANC remains deeply divided. Former President Jacob Zuma leads nearly half of the party that is opposed to Ramaphosa and his anti-corruption drive. M. Mkhize has emerged as the public head of that faction.

Main Political Parties

• The African National Congress (ANC): ruling party in power since the end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in 1994; consistently wins at least 60% of the vote, although its popularity declined by several percentage points between 2004 and 2014; centre-left to left-wing, but allied with the far left groups, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP)
• Democratic Alliance (DA): official opposition, centrist, supports liberal democracy and free market principles, progressively gaining in popularity
• Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): far left, Marxist, has been gaining popularity
• Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): conservative, right-wing, dominated by rural, Zulu-speakers based in the KwaZulu-Natal region; emphasises social justice and the role of traditional communities. The party's popularity has been consistently decreasing in recent years.

Executive Power

The President is both the chief of state and the head of the Government. The President is indirectly elected by the Parliament (lower house) to serve a five-year term. He/She is usually the leader of the largest party. The President is the also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, declares war or peace and appoints the Cabinet.

Legislative Power

South Africa has a bicameral legislature. The National Council of Provinces (the upper house) has 90 seats, with 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms. The National Assembly ( the lower house) has 400 seats; the members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms.

The executive branch of the Government is directly or indirectly dependent on the support of the Parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. The President can dissolve the Parliament if a majority of the members of the National Assembly seek its dissolution and if has been at least three years since the last election.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

32/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Free

Political Freedom:

2/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House