South Africa

:This article is about the country called South Africa. For the region, see southern Africa.

Politics

:Main article: Politics of South Africa

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South Africa has a bicameral Parliament, comprising the National Council of Provinces (or upper house) with 90 members, and a National Assembly (or lower house) with 400 members. Members of the lower house are elected on a population basis by proportional representation: half of the members are elected from national lists and half are elected from provincial lists. Ten members are elected to represent each province in the National Council of Provinces, regardless of the population of the province. Elections for both chambers are held every five years. The government is formed in the lower house, and the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly is the President.

Related Topics:
Parliament - National Council of Provinces - National Assembly - Proportional representation - President

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Current South African politics is dominated by the ANC, who received 69.7 percent of the vote during the 2004 general election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance party, which received only 12.4 percent of the vote. The formerly dominant New National Party, who introduced apartheid through its predecessor, the National Party, has suffered increasing humiliation at election polls since 1994, and finally voted to disband on 9 April 2005.

Related Topics:
2004 general election - Democratic Alliance - New National Party - National Party - 1994 - 9 April - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~