The Democratic Party (DP) was a South African political party that was the forerunner of the Democratic Alliance. Although the Democratic Party name dates from 1989, the party existed under other labels throughout the apartheid years, when it was the Parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party's policies.
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.
Anthony James Leon is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He led the DA from its inception in 2000, until his retirement from leadership in 2007. Before that, he led the Democratic Party from 1994. He is the longest-serving leader of the official opposition in parliament since the advent of democracy in 1994. Although still a member of the DA, he served as the South African Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay under the African National Congress government from 2009 to 2012.
Mike Waters is a South African politician, and former Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), where he served as the Opposition's Deputy Chief Whip from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Shadow Minister of Health from 2006 to 2012, and as the Shadow Minister of Social Development from 2012 to 2014.
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.
Jacobus Tertius Delport was a South African academic, lawyer, and politician.
Natasha Wendy Anita MazzoneMP OSI is a South African politician who served as the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from October 2019 until August 2022. She has been a Member of the National Assembly, representing the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), since 2009. She was the second Deputy Federal Council Chairperson of the DA and the party's spokesperson on state capture. Mazzone has previously served as Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises and of Communications.
Suhla James Masango is a South African politician who represented the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly and Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature between 2004 and 2019. Since 2021, he has been a local councillor for the DA in Mpumalanga's Govan Mbeki Municipality. Masango was a deputy chairperson of the DA Federal Council from November 2020 to April 2023 and is a former provincial leader of the party's Mpumalanga branch.
Gregory Rudy Krumbock was a South African politician. He was a Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance (DA). He held the position of Shadow Minister of Tourism from 2009 to 2012.
Annelie Lotriet is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa since June 2024. She has served in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet since she joined the National Assembly in 2009. She is also a Deputy Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council.
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.
The Democratic Alliance held its 6th Federal Congress in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape from 9 May to 10 May 2015. After incumbent leader Helen Zille announced she would not seek reelection, the Congress became focused on the contest to succeed her.
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.
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:
Tsepo Winston Mhlongo is a South African politician. As a member of the Democratic Alliance, he served as a councillor in the City of Johannesburg until the 2014 national election, when he was elected to the National Assembly of South Africa. After that, he was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform. Mhlongo became the Shadow Minister of Sport and Recreation in January 2017 before he was selected to be Shadow Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture in June 2019. On 1 December 2023, Mhlongo was expelled from the DA and lost his parliamentary membership. He has since joined ActionSA.
Douglas Harvey Monro Gibson is a South African retired attorney, politician and diplomat who served as South Africa's ambassador to Thailand between 2008 and 2012. Previously, he had served as chief whip of the opposition from 1999 to 2007, as chairperson of the federal council of the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2000, and as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa between 1994 and 2008.
Evert Phillipus du Plessis is a South African politician and a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature for the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Raenette Taljaard, also known as Raenette Gottardo, is a South African academic and former politician. She represented the Democratic Party (DP) and Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly from June 1999 until her resignation at the end of 2004. She later served stints as director of the Helen Suzman Foundation and as a member of the Electoral Commission of South Africa.
Daniel Kapeni Maluleke is a retired South African politician who served in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2009, representing the Gauteng constituency. He was a member of the Democratic Party (DP), later the Democratic Alliance (DA), until September 2005, when he crossed the floor to the African National Congress (ANC). He is a former deputy chairperson of the DA.
Roy Jankielsohn is a South African politician who has been the leader of the opposition in the Free State Provincial Legislature since 2014. He has been the provincial leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State since 2020.
