The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature;under the present Constitution of South Africa,the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seventh Parliament was first convened on 22 May 2019.
The Democratic Party (DP) was the name of the South African political party now called 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 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.
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 under the ANC 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.
James Selfe is a South African politician,a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA),and the party's former Federal Council Chairperson. He is also the party's Shadow Minister of Correctional Services. Selfe resigned from Parliament and as the Shadow Minister of Correctional Services with effect from 31 December 2021.
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.
James Masango is a South African politician,and a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). He currently serves in the national leadership as deputy chairperson of the Federal Council,and as a municipal councillor for the DA in Govan Mbeki municipality. Masango is the former leader of the opposition in the Mpumalanga provincial legislature,and was also formerly a member of Parliament's National Assembly (MP),where he served as the Chairperson of Caucus.
Gregory Krumbock is a South African politician,a Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance (DA),and the Shadow Minister of Tourism from 2009 to 2012.
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 federal 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. Ideologically,Steenhuisen has been described as a liberal,a supporter of non-racialism and a firm believer in racial equality.
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 on 24 September 2022
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.
Mondli Gungubele is a South African politician,trade union leader and educator who is the current Minister in the Presidency and a member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the African National Congress. He previously served as Executive Mayor of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (2010–2016),as Deputy Minister of Finance (2018–2019) and as Chairperson of the Social Development Committee (2019–2021).
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. 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.
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).
Francois Beukman is a South African attorney and former politician who served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 1999 to 2009 and again from 2014 to 2019.
