The Republic of South Africa is a unitary parliamentary democratic republic. The President of South Africa serves both as head of state and as head of government. The President is elected by the National Assembly and must retain the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also elect provincial legislatures which govern each of the country's nine provinces.
Bophuthatswana, officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana, and colloquially referred to as the Bop and by outsiders as Jigsawland was a Bantustan that was declared (nominally) independent by the apartheid regime of South Africa in 1977. However, like the other Bantustans of Ciskei, Transkei and Venda, its independence was not recognized by any country other than South Africa.
The Inkatha Freedom Party is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who served as chief minister of KwaZulu during the Apartheid period, founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. He was succeeded as party president in 2019 by Velenkosini Hlabisa.
Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope was the leader of the Bantustan (homeland) of Bophuthatswana. The territory he ruled over was distributed between the Orange Free State – what is now Free State – and North West Province. He was also the founder and leader of the United Christian Democratic Party, a political party based in the North West of South Africa.
The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) is a South African political party founded in 1993. It is a conservative Christian party based on Biblical principles. The leader of the party is Kenneth Meshoe.
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana.
The Freedom Front Plus is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Since 2024, it is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance and other parties.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer, a former African National Congress and Transkei homeland leader, General Bantu Holomisa, and a former ANC Executive Committee member, John Taylor. It has an anti-separatist, pro-diversity platform; and supports an individualist South Africa with a strong moral sense, in both social and economic senses.
Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa is a political party in the Free State province, South Africa. The party was founded by Kenneth Mopeli in 1975. The party governed the bantustan state of QwaQwa from 1975 to 1994.
The 1994 Bophuthatswana crisis was a major political crisis which began after Lucas Mangope, the president of Bophuthatswana, a nominally independent South African bantustan created under apartheid, attempted to crush widespread labour unrest and popular demonstrations demanding the incorporation of the territory into South Africa pending non-racial elections later that year. Violent protests immediately broke out following President Mangope's announcement on 7 March that Bophuthatswana would boycott the South African general elections. This was escalated by the arrival of right-wing Afrikaner militias seeking to preserve the Mangope government. The predominantly black Bophuthatswana Defence Force and police refused to cooperate with the white extremists and mutinied, then forced the Afrikaner militias to leave Bophuthatswana. The South African military entered Bophuthatswana and restored order on 12 March.
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.
Peter Ishmael Rocky Malebana-Metsing was a South African politician who was a member of the African National Congress in the 1990s.
The African Independent Congress (AIC) is a minor political party in South Africa.
The National Freedom Party (NFP) is a South African political party. It was launched on 25 January 2011 by Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, former chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), along with other former IFP members. Similar to the IFP, the party's main base is in KwaZulu-Natal.
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.
Good is a South African social democratic political party that was formed in December 2018.
Kgomotso Paul Harry Ditshetelo was a South African politician who represented the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2009. He was also the deputy president of the UCDP from 1998 to 2011. During apartheid, he was a politician and civil servant in Bophuthatswana.
Isaac Sipho Mfundisi is a South African politician who represented the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2009 and from 2012 to 2014. He is also a former president of the UCDP.
Bafitlhile Edmund Pule is a retired South African politician from the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP). Formerly a politician in the apartheid-era Bophuthatswana government, he was one of the UCDP's three representatives in the National Assembly between 2004 and 2009. Before that, he represented the party in the North West Provincial Legislature.
