The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of 129,449 square kilometres (49,981 sq mi), and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020. About two-thirds of these inhabitants live in the metropolitan area of Cape Town, which is also the provincial capital. The Western Cape was created in 1994 from part of the former Cape Province. The two largest cities are Cape Town and George.
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 Freedom Front Plus is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald.
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.
The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town.
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. The Western Cape's political landscape is also notable for the presence of a relatively strong local devolution and seperatist movement.
The Cape Independence Party (CAPEXIT), previously called the Cape Party, is a political party in South Africa which seeks to use all constitutional and legal means to bring about Cape independence, which includes the entire Western Cape, Northern Cape, six municipalities in the Eastern Cape, and one municipality in the Free State. The area includes all municipalities in those provinces with an Afrikaans-speaking majority. In 2009, it was claimed to have had a membership of approximately 1,000 people across South Africa, but official membership figures are not made public. The party currently holds two seats on the Cape Town City Council.
Daniel Plato, known as Dan Plato, is a South African politician and a former Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He served from June 2011 until October 2018 and again from January 2022 until February 2024. He is the former mayor of Cape Town, a position he held for two nonconsecutive terms from May 2009 until June 2011 and again from November 2018 until October 2021. From June 2011 to October 2018, he was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety.
Albert Theo Fritz is a South African politician and advocate. He was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety for two nonconconsecutive terms from 2010 to 2011 and again from 2019 until his dismissal from the position amid sexual misconduct allegations in 2022. He was a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2010 until his resignation from the DA in 2022. He served as the interim Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape from the suspension and resignation of Bonginkosi Madikizela in April 2021 until his resignation from the party in March 2022. He was also the deputy DA provincial leader 2017 to 2021. Fritz previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Social Development from 2011 to 2019. From 2009 to 2010, he was a Member of the National Assembly and the Shadow Deputy Minister of Correctional Services.
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. Winde is a member of the Democratic Alliance.
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.
Deborah Anne "Debbie" Schäfer is a South African politician and lawyer who served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2014 to 2022. Prior to serving in the provincial government, Schäfer served as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2014.
Tertuis Alfred Simmers is a South African politician who has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Infrastructure since April 2022. He previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Human Settlements from May 2019 to April 2022. He has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since 2017. Simmers is a member of the Democratic Alliance.
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.
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.
Mireille Mary Wenger is a South African politician who has been the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities since May 2022 and a Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2014. She was Chief Whip of the Majority Party from May 2019 to May 2022.
Cape independence, also known by the portmanteau CapeXit, is a political movement that seeks the independence of the Western Cape province from South Africa.
The Multi-Party Charter (MPC), officially the Multi-Party Charter For South Africa (MPCSA), is a pre-election agreement in South Africa that aims to challenge both the three-decade rule of the African National Congress (ANC) party, and the recent rise of the controversial Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party in the 2024 South African general election, and present a united front against them.
