The Democratic Alliance (DA) is a South African political party which is a part of the current South African Government of National Unity (GNU). The party has been the second-largest in South Africa since its foundation in 2000. The party is broadly centrist, and has been attributed both centre-left and centre-right policies. It is a member of Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network. The DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. The DA has a variety of ideologically liberal tendencies, including neoliberalism, social liberalism, classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism. The party draws its support predominantly from Afrikaans and English speakers, people aged over 35, and white South Africans, as well as the Indian and Coloured communities.
Otta Helene Maree, known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she was the Premier of the Western Cape province for two five-year terms, and a member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. She served as Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance from 2007 to 2015 and as Mayor of Cape Town from 2006 to 2009.
General elections were held in South Africa on 22 April 2009 to elect members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. These were the fourth general elections held since the end of the apartheid era.
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 18 May 2011, electing new councils for all municipalities in the country. Municipal elections are held every five years, and the previous municipal elections were held in 2006. The first municipal elections following the reorganisation of municipalities took place in December 2000.
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.
Although the Democratic Alliance of South Africa in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers.
The politics of the Western Cape differs from that of most other provinces in South Africa, because, unlike the other provinces, the African National Congress (ANC) does not dominate the political landscape. Instead, the province is a stronghold for the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has won a majority of the vote in the province in every national, provincial, and municipal election since 2009. The Western Cape's political landscape is also notable for the presence of a relatively strong local devolution and separatist movement.
Bonginkosi Success Madikizela is a South African politician.
General elections were held in South Africa on 7 May 2014, to elect a new National Assembly and new provincial legislatures in each province. It was the fifth election held in South Africa under conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994, and also the first held since the death of Nelson Mandela. It was also the first time that South African expatriates were allowed to vote in a South African national election.
Mmusi Aloysias Maimane is a South African politician, businessman, and leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political party from 10 May 2015 to 23 October 2019, and the former Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from 29 May 2014 to 24 October 2019. He became the first black South African to lead the DA.
Marius Llewellyn Fransman is a South African politician and teacher. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2014 to 2016, and as Chairperson of the Western Cape African National Congress from 2011 to 2016. He served as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in the cabinet of Jacob Zuma. From 2009 to 2014, he was a Member of the National Assembly. Fransman served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 1999 to 2009, and again from 2014 to 2016.
Alan Richard Winde is a South African politician and businessman. He is the 8th and current Premier of the Western Cape, having held the position since 2019. He has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since 1999 and belongs to the Democratic Alliance.
Bennet Mzwenqaba Bhanga, known as Nqaba Bhanga, is a South African politician. He is the former Leader of the Official Opposition in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, the former Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape, a former Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, a former Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Human Settlements in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, a former member of Parliament, and the DA's former Shadow Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).
A provincial election was held in the Western Cape on 7 May 2014 to elect a new provincial parliament. It was the fifth provincial election held since the end of the apartheid era, and also the first held since the death of Nelson Mandela. Although not constitutionally required, the election was held simultaneously with elections to the National Assembly. The legislature is unicameral, and consists of 42 members elected by a system of party-list proportional representation.
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.
Nomafrench Mbombo is a South African academic and politician who has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since 2014, representing the Democratic Alliance. She previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport from 2014 to 2015 and as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health from 2015 until 2024. Mbombo was the Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance Women's Network from 2018 to 2021.
Thomas Charles Ravenscroft Walters is a South African politician of the Democratic Alliance (DA) who has been serving as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2024. Previously, he served as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 2009 to 2014 and then as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2014 until 2024. In 2012, Walters was elected Deputy Federal Council Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance, and has been deputising Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille since 2019. He deputised James Selfe from 2012 to 2019. Walters was the party's Shadow Minister and Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.
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:
Anton Wilhelm Bredell is a South African politician for the Democratic Alliance. He is the current Western Cape Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
The 2004 Western Cape provincial election was held on 14 April 2004, concurrently with the 2004 South African general election, to elect the 3rd Western Cape Provincial Parliament. As of 2024, this election was the first and only time in which the African National Congress led the provincial government, as well as the most recent time that the ANC was the largest party in the Provincial Parliament.
