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This is a list of political parties in South Africa. South Africa is a democratic but one-party dominant state with the African National Congress as the governing party. Other parties such as the Democratic Alliance govern provinces and municipalities, with some in coalitions with smaller parties.
| Name | Abbrev. | Founded | Dissolved | Main Ideologies | Peak MPs (year) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging English: Afrikaner Unity Movement | AEB | 1998 | 2003 | Afrikaner nationalism Conservatism | 1 (1999) | |
| Democratic Party Afrikaans : Demokratiese Party | DP | 1989 | 2000 | Conservative liberalism Economic liberalism | 38 (1999) | |
| Federal Alliance Afrikaans : Federale Alliansie | FA | 1998 | 2007 | Conservatism Libertarianism | 2 (1999) | |
| Independent Democrats | ID | 2003 | 2014 | Populism Social liberalism | 7 (2004) | |
| National Party Afrikaans : Nasionale Party | NP | 1914 | 1997 | Christian democracy Conservative liberalism | 82 (1994) | |
| New National Party Afrikaans : Nuwe Nasionale Party | NNP | 1997 | 2005 | Civic nationalism Conservatism | 28 (1999) | |
| Name | Abbrev. | Founded | Dissolved | Main Ideologies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative Party Afrikaans : Konserwatiewe Party | KP | 1982 | 2004 | Afrikaner nationalism Social conservatism | |
| Labour Party Afrikaans : Arbeidersparty | AP | 1969 | 1994 | Coloured people's rights Anti-apartheid Labourism Social democracy | |
| National Union Afrikaans : Nasionale Unie | NU | 1960 | 1966 | Centrism Social conservatism | |
| New Republic Party Afrikaans : Nuwe Republiekparty | NRP | 1977 | 1988 | Conservatism Consociationalism | |
| Progressive Federal Party Afrikaans : Progressiewe Federale Party | PFP | 1977 | 1989 | Anti-racism Liberalism | |
| Progressive Party Afrikaans : Progressiewe Party | PP | 1959 | 1975 | Anti-racism Liberalism | |
| South African Party Afrikaans : Suid-Afrikaanse Party | SAP | 1977 | 1980 | Conservatism Federalism | |
| United Party Afrikaans : Verenigde Party | UP | 1934 | 1977 | Conservative liberalism Monarchism | |
| Name | Abbrev. | Founded | Dissolved | Main Ideologies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaner Party Afrikaans : Afrikanerparty | AP | 1941 | 1951 | Afrikaner nationalism Conservatism | |
| Dominion Party Afrikaans : Dominiumparty | DP | 1934 | 1948 | Conservatism Monarchism | |
| Herenigde Nasionale Party English: Reunited National Party | HNP | 1940 | 1948 | Afrikaner nationalism Social conservatism | |
| Labour Party Afrikaans : Suid-Afrikaanse Arbeidersparty | LP | 1910 | 1958 | Democratic socialism Social democracy | |
| Purified National Party Afrikaans : Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party | GNP | 1935 | 1940 | Afrikaner nationalism Social conservatism | |
| Roos Party | RP | 1929 | 1935 | Afrikaner nationalism Monetary reform | |
| Socialist Party | SP | 1938 | 1948 | Democratic socialism Social democracy | |
| South African Party Afrikaans : Suid-Afrikaanse Party Dutch : Zuidafrikaanse Partij | SAP | 1910 | 1934 | Afrikaner nationalism Liberal conservatism | |
| Unionist Party Afrikaans : Unionisteparty | UP | 1910 | 1920 | Monarchism Protectionism | |
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election resulted in Nelson Mandela being elected as President of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent national President, has served as President of the ANC since 18 December 2017.
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 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.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing National Party under the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950. The Communist Party was reconstituted underground and re-launched as the SACP in 1953, participating in the struggle to end the apartheid system. It is a member of the ruling Tripartite Alliance alongside the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and through this it influences the South African government. The party's Central Committee is the party's highest decision-making structure.
The National Party, also known as the Nationalist Party, was a political party in South Africa from 1914 to 1997, which was responsible for the implementation of apartheid rule. The party was an Afrikaner ethnic nationalist party, which initially promoted the interests of Afrikaners but later became a stalwart promoter and enactor of white supremacy, for which it is best known. It first became the governing party of the country in 1924. It merged with its rival, the SAP, during the Great Depression, and a splinter faction became the official opposition during World War II and returned to power. With the National Party governing South Africa from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994, the country for the bulk of this time was only a de jure or partial democracy, as from 1958 onwards non-white people were barred from voting. In 1990, it began to style itself as simply a South African civic nationalist party, and after the fall of apartheid in 1994, attempted to become a moderate conservative one. The party's reputation was damaged irreparably by perpetrating apartheid, and it rebranded itself as the New National Party in 1997 before eventually dissolving in 2005.
The Freedom Front Plus is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald.
Joe Slovo was a South African politician, and an opponent of the apartheid system. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP), a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC), and a commander of the ANC's military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
The ECOPEACE Party is a national environmentalist political party in South Africa founded in 1995. The party was formerly known as eThekwini ECOPEACE and eThekwini Ecoparty—eThekwini is the Zulu name for Durban, where the party is based. The Zulu party motto is Buhlakuleni uButhi, Yitshaleni iMithi, which translates to "Uproot Poisons, Replant Trees ".
The Herstigte Nasionale Party is a South African political party which was formed as a far-right splinter group of the now defunct National Party in 1969. The party name was commonly abbreviated as HNP, evoking the Herenigde Nasionale Party, although colloquially they were also known as the Herstigtes. The party is, unlike other splinter factions from the National Party, still active but politically irrelevant.
The Congress of the People (COPE) is a South African political party formed in 2008 by former members of the African National Congress (ANC). The party was founded by former ANC members Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George to contest the 2009 general election. The party was announced following a national convention held in Sandton on 1 November 2008, and was founded at a congress held in Bloemfontein on 16 December 2008. The name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC and other parties, a name strongly contested by the ANC in a legal move dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.
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The Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) is a Marxist and Trotskyist political party in South Africa affiliated to International Socialist Alternative.
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The council of the City of Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa is elected every five years by a system of mixed-member proportional representation. Half of the councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting from individual wards, while the other half are appointed from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. By-elections are held to replace the councillors elected by wards if a vacancy occurs.
The 2019 Western Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to elect the 6th Western Cape Provincial Parliament. It was the sixth provincial election held since the establishment of the provincial legislature in 1994.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on 20 March 2019 that a record number of 48 parties had registered candidates for the national parliamentary election. This is 19 more parties that contested the 2014 national elections. In the provincial legislature elections, the total number of parties registering candidates were:
General elections will be held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. This will be the seventh general election held under the conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994. The new National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will be elected at the first sitting of each provincial legislature. Since the inaugural post-apartheid election in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has continuously achieved a majority in both chambers of the South African Parliament: the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
The MAP16 Civic Movement (MAP16) is a minor South African political party. It was formed after sixteen African National Congress (ANC) local councillors from the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality were expelled by the ANC for voting to unseat the ANC mayor Vusi Tshabalala, who faced a number of corruption charges.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)five parties – the Justice Party, the Real Congress, the United Democratic Civic Organisation, the Unemployed People's Party and the Christian Front – were deregistered
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