The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election resulted in Nelson Mandela being elected as President of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent national President, has served as President of the ANC since 18 December 2017.
Chris Hani, born Martin Thembisile Hani, was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government, and was assassinated by Janusz Waluś, a Polish immigrant and sympathiser of the Conservative opposition on 10 April 1993, during the unrest preceding the transition to democracy.
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.
Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe is a South African politician who served as the third president of South Africa from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. Thereafter, he was deputy president under Jacob Zuma from 9 May 2009 to 26 May 2014.
Tony Sithembiso Yengeni is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from May 1994 to March 2003, including as Chief Whip of the Majority Party from November 1998 to October 2001. He was a member of the ANC National Executive Committee between 1994 and 2022, though he resigned from legislative politics after he was convicted of fraud in 2003.
The 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held in Polokwane, Limpopo, from 16 to 20 December 2007. At the conference, Jacob Zuma and his supporters were elected to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee (NEC), dealing a significant defeat to national President Thabo Mbeki, who had sought a third term in the ANC presidency. The conference was a precursor to the general election of 2009, which the ANC was extremely likely to win and which did indeed lead to Zuma's ascension to the presidency of South Africa. Mbeki was prohibited from serving a third term as national President but, if re-elected ANC President, could likely have leveraged that office to select his successor.
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.
South Africa has been dubbed "the protest capital of the world", with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world.
John Henry Steenhuisen is a South African politician who has served as the twentieth leader of the Opposition since October 2019 and has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2020, having served as the interim leader for one year from November 2019. He was chief whip of the official opposition from May 2014 until October 2019.
Bonginkosi Success Madikizela is a South African politician.
There have been many political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa. In 2013 it was reported that there had been more than 450 political assassinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since the end of apartheid in 1994. In July 2013 the Daily Maverick reported that there had been "59 political murders in the last five years". In August 2016 it was reported that there had been at least twenty political assassinations in the run up to the local government elections on the 3rd of August that year, most of them in KwaZulu-Natal.
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 is the former leader of the DA in the Johannesburg City Council and the DA National Spokesperson. In 2011, he was elected to be the DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate in the 2011 municipal elections. In that election, Maimane helped to grow the party's voter base, but was not elected mayor. Thereafter he served as Leader of the Official Opposition on the Johannesburg City Council until May 2014. In addition to his political career, he is also a pastor and elder at Liberty Church. He formed the One South Africa Movement in 2020. Mmusi Maimane launched this new political party, Build One South Africa on 24 September 2022.
The 2016 South African municipal elections were held on 3 August 2016, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It was the fifth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994; municipal elections are held every five years.
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 54th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) took place from 16 to 20 December 2017 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, Gauteng. At the conference, the ANC elected its National Executive Committee (NEC) and other top internal leaders. Often referred to as the Nasrec Conference, it was held during the centenary of the birth of former ANC President Oliver Tambo and was convened under the theme, "Remember Tambo: Towards Unity, Renewal and Radical Socioeconomic Transformation."
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 has served as a Member for the National Assembly for the Independent Democrats (ID) (2007–2014) and currently for the Democratic Alliance (DA) (2014–present). Within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, he serves as the DA's spokesperson on the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General. He was the Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2019 to 2020. Hoosen was also the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs from 2014 to 2019.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) is a South African political party. It is led by Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the One SA Movement and the former leader of the Democratic Alliance. The deputy leader is Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, founder and convener of the South African Women’s Commission. The chairperson of the party is the current Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Mkhuseli Jack. The party was launched on 24 September 2022 in Naledi, Soweto.
The Provincial Executive Committees (PECs) of the African National Congress (ANC) are the chief executive organs of the party's nine provincial branches. Comprising the so-called “Top Five” provincial officials and up to 30 additional elected members, each is structured similarly to the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) and is elected every four years at party provincial conferences.
