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 Democratic Alliance is a South African political party and the official opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC). 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 ideologically shows a variety of liberal tendencies, including social liberalism, classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism.
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.
Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi was a South African politician who was the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of South Africa in the cabinet of Jacob Zuma. She was also President of the National Freedom Party (NFP). Prior to being elected to Parliament, she served for nineteen years as a councillor, fifteen of those years as Mayor of the Zululand District Municipality. She was formerly chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the IFP's candidate for Premier of KwaZulu-Natal in the 2009 general election.
The Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) is a Marxist and Trotskyist political party in South Africa affiliated to International Socialist Alternative.
Dagga Party, formally known as Iqela Lentsango: The Dagga Party of South Africa, is a South African political party founded in 2009 by Jeremy Acton, who remains the party's leader. "Dagga" is a South African colloquial term for cannabis, the legalisation of which forms the core of the party's platform. The Dagga Party was established to allow voters who support the legalisation of dagga to have representation in elections.
Black First Land First (BLF) is a political movement and political party in South Africa. It was founded in 2015 by Andile Mngxitama following his expulsion from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by Julius Malema.
General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President, National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.
Makhosi Busisiwe Khoza is a South African politician who was the ActionSA candidate for Mayor of eThekwini in the 2021 municipal elections. She was previously an ANC Member of Parliament (MP) who served as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and on the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development. She became known for calling on then president Jacob Zuma to step down. In 1996, she was appointed as the deputy mayor of the Pietermaritzburg Local Municipality, at the age of 26.
Good is a South African political party that was formed in December 2018. It is led by its founder Patricia de Lille, current Minister of Tourism and former mayor of Cape Town. The party's policies are predominantly left-wing and its platform is premised on social democracy, environmentalism, anti-racism and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment. The party's stronghold is the Western Cape and mainly draws support from the Coloured community.
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 African Security Congress (ASC) is a South African political party founded to lobby for the interests of private security guards, in particular for government to employ security guards directly.
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:
The 2021 South African municipal elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It is the sixth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, held every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections will be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
Mohammed Haniff Hoosen is a South African politician who served as a Member for the National Assembly for the Independent Democrats (ID) (2007–2014) and for the Democratic Alliance (DA) (2014–2024). Within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, he was the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs from 2014 to 2019, the Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2019 to 2020 and the DA's spokesperson on the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General from 2020 until his resignation in 2024.
Refiloe Nt'sekhe is a South African politician who has been a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2014. A member of the Democratic Alliance, she served as one of the party's deputy federal chairpersons between 2015 and 2023 and as one of the party's national spokespeople between 2015 and 2020.
Mabel Patronella Mentor, known as Vytjie Mentor, was a South African politician, who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2002 until 2014. She represented the African National Congress and served as the party's caucus chairperson between 2004 and 2008. She was chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises from 2009 to 2010. She is credited to be one of the first people to break ranks with the ANC and raise the alarm on state capture.
ActionSA is a South African political party established by a former mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, soon after he left the Democratic Alliance.
Zephroma Sizani Dlamini-Dubazana is a South African politician and African National Congress member who served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2009 to 2019. Dlamini-Dubazana is known for being a supporter of the former ANC president and President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.
