2024 South African general election

2024 South African general election
South Africa
← 2019 29 May 2024 2029 →

All 400 seats in the National Assembly
201 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Current seats
ANC Cyril Ramaphosa 230
DA John Steenhuisen 84
EFF Julius Malema 44
IFP Velenkosini Hlabisa 14
FF Plus Pieter Groenewald 10
ACDP Kenneth Meshoe 4
UDM Bantu Holomisa 2
ATM Vuyolwethu Zungula 2
Good Patricia de Lille 2
NFP Ivan Rowan Barnes 2
AIC Mandla Galo 2
COPE Mosiuoa Lekota 2
PAC Mzwanele Nyhontso 1
Al Jama-ah Ganief Hendricks 1
Incumbent President
Cyril Ramaphosa
ANC

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 province. This will be the seventh general election held under the conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994 (apartheid actually ended officially in 1990, allowing for the first democratic election, which included all South Africans from all races, to take place 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 consistently secured a majority of seats in both the National Assembly and the NCOP.

The date of the elections are set by the incumbent President, Cyril Ramaphosa, and must be within 90 days of the end of the term of the current Parliament, which is in mid May 2024. It was announced on 20 February 2024 that the election would be held on 29 May 2024.

Background

In the 2021 South African municipal elections, the African National Congress received less than 50% of the vote for the first time nationwide in any election since the end of apartheid. The party also lost support in the key metros of Tshwane (Pretoria), Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and eThekwini (Durban). The ANC retained control of eThekwini while the Democratic Alliance managed to take control of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni through a majority coalition and a minority coalition respectively ,in addition to forming a majority coalition government in Tshwane, which it had governed since 2016.

In early 2023, the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters formed a coalition in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni where the two parties hold MMC positions whilst electing a mayor from a minority party. In April 2023, noting the prospects of an ANC/EFF national coalition, the DA leader John Steenhuisen called for "like-minded" parties to join together to prevent a "doomsday coalition".

Support for the ANC has declined in opinion polls leading to expectations of a hung parliament.

United opposition

In July 2023, a joint statement by the Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), the United Independent Movement (UIM) and the Spectrum National Party (SNP) was released announcing a convention on 16 and 17 August proposing a national coalition in the event of a hung parliament. On 17 August 2023 a pre-election agreement called the Multi-Party Charter was signed between the parties as well as the Independent South African National Civic Organisation, with the aim of presenting a united front against the two decade rule of the African National Congress (ANC) party, and the recent rise of the controversial Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party. On 7 October 2023, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) announced it would be joining the charter increasing the charter's seat count from 108 to 112 in the 400 seat National Assembly.

The Spectrum National Party and the Unemployed People's Movement were the two constituent parties of the Multi-Party Charter that failed to meet the Independent Electoral Commission's minimum number of signatures required to contest seats in the National Assembly.

Umkhonto we Sizwe

On 16 December 2023, former President Jacob Zuma announced his departure from the ANC, accusing the party and incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa of serving as a “proxy for white monopoly capital.” He also announced establishment of his own political party, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), named after the apartheid-era military wing of the ANC. The latter filed a lawsuit against the MK's registration in the Electoral Commission of South Africa, which was dismissed by the Electoral Court of South Africa on 26 March 2024 due to lack of merit. The ANC also plans to file a lawsuit against the party's naming after the historic MK. According to opoinon polling, MK could become the kingmakers after the elections.

Electoral system

South Africa has a parliamentary system of government. The President of South Africa is unusual among heads of state of countries with a parliamentary system in that the President is also the head of government, with executive powers.

In June 2020, the Constitutional Court ruled in New Nation Movement NPC v President of the Republic of South Africa that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional to the extent that it did not allow independents to contest national and provincial elections. Since the first elections held under universal suffrage, 400 members elected were elected to the National Assembly by a system of proportional representation with a closed list approach. Two hundred members were elected from national party lists, while the other 200 were elected from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The national list seats were awarded by subtracting seats won at the provincial level from each party's national allocation to generate a maximally proportional result. The Droop quota variant of the largest remainder method was used to allocate seats at both the national and provincial levels. Provincial legislatures were also elected by a system of proportional representation with closed party lists.

In February 2021, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi appointed a ministerial advisory committee led by Valli Moosa to recommend a new electoral system. While the committee was divided, a slim majority of members favoured a hybrid system with half of the seats elected in constituencies and the other half elected through party lists.

On 17 April 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Electoral Amendment Bill into law allowing independent candidates to stand for election to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures while keeping the proportional representation with closed lists. Two hundred members will be elected from national party lists, while the remaining 200 seats will be contested by political parties and independent candidates in each of the nine provinces. In provincial legislatures, the single-tier multimember proportional system will continue to apply with political parties and independent candidates contesting for seats. Voters will receive three ballot papers as opposed to two in previous elections; the first ballot will be to elect the 200 members of the National Assembly only contested by political parties and the second ballot will be to elect the remaining 200 members of the National Assembly which will be contested by political parties and independent candidates in each of the nine provinces while the third ballot will be to elect members of the provincial legislatures with political parties and independent candidates as well.

Following the election, the President of South Africa will be elected by the National Assembly. Although the President is required to be a member of the National Assembly at the time of election, a person that is elected as President must resign their seat in order to assume office. The premiers of each province will also be elected by the respective provincial legislatures after the election.

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) comprises 90 members, ten elected by each of the provincial legislatures in proportion to the composition of the legislature. The NCOP members will be sworn in the day after the first sitting of the National Assembly.

Candidates

Issues

Voter Turnout

Voter turnout has been decreasing since the end of Apartheid, when 86% of eligible voters turned out.

Corruption

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, known colloquiallly as the Zondo Commission completed its work and submitted its final report to the President in June 2022. The Commission cost the South African taxpayer "almost R1 billion". Investigator Paul Holden of Shadow World Investigations read into evidence that State capture cost the South African economy at least R49,157,323,233.68 (R49 billion).

In their 2024 election manifesto, the African National Congress claims that, as per the Zondo Commission's recommendations, "laws, institutions and practices are being put in place to reduce the potential for corruption of any sort and on any scale". The Democratic Alliance puts the blame for corruption and State Capture squarely on the shoulders of the ANC, saying that it will "establish a genuinely independent anti-crime and anti-corruption unit by dissolving the Hawks and establishing a new Chapter 9 institution, an Anti-Corruption Commission, which will only be accountable to the Parliament of South Africa." The Economic Freedom Fighters proposes to amend the Constitution to "make the National Prosecuting Authority a Chapter 9 institution accountable to Parliament.

The ANC was also criticized for provisionally including four ministers (Zizi Kodwa, Malusi Gigaba, David Mahlobo, and Gwede Mantashe) who were implicated in a corruption investigation into the administration of former President Jacob Zuma on 11 March, pending the final results of an intraparty review. Fourteen other officials were either disqualified or not listed as candidates by the ANC over the same issue.

Land Reform

The ANC's proposed amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution of South Africa failed in the Parliament of South Africa, by a vote of 204 MPs in favour, 145 MPs against and 0 abstentions. The bill required a ⅔ majority. The constitutionality of the amendment was also questioned by civil society organisations. The ANC maintains that Expropriation without Compensation is necessary, so does the EFF. The DA and Freedom Front Plus, ACDP and IFP remain opposed to the ANC's renewed attempt at expropriation through the Expropriation Amendment Bill.

Energy crisis

Rolling blackouts, or "loadshedding", caused by problems with the state utility Eskom have been occurring since 2007, however the prevalence of blackouts has increased substantially since 2020.

Crime

According to the South African Police Service Crime Statistics for Quarter 2 of the 2023/24 financial year, reported contact crimes (defined by SAPS as "crimes against the person") has increased by 3 391 (2.1%) compared to the previous year. Recorded attempted murder illustrated the highest increase year-on-year, with 12.3%. Total contact crimes reported for the quarter are 165,909. The murder rate correlates to 77 people murdered per day. 160 cases of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm are reported each day. In context of the election, political violence is reportedly on the rise, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.

Crime Statistics for Quarter 3 of the 2023/24 financial year show an increase of 3.8% compared to the previous year. Attempted murder once again illustrated the highest increase year-on-year, with 13%. Total contact crimes reported for the quarter are 190,973. The murder rate correlates to 86 people per day and 88 attempts at murder. Assault with the attempt to do grievous bodily harm (Assault GBH) correlates to 595 incidents per day.

Action Society notes that "if the current murder trend continues, at least 31 000 people will be killed in the next 12 months...the [South African Government] has lost control..."

Devolution of policing

Over the last term of government, the devolution of policing power has become a key issue between the Western Cape Government and the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele. The Western Cape Government argues that the Minister has the power to devolve policing, but the Minister denies having the power of devolution, saying that "the centralisation of the SAPS [is] in line with the Department [of Police's] constitutional mandate to prevent, combat and investigate crime..." Section 205 of the Constitution of South Africa sets out policing policy in South Africa, noting that the police service "must be structured to function in national [and] provincial...spheres of government." The Constitution gives provincial executives the power to monitor police conduct within their respective provinces, as well as the responsibility for policing functions in three cases; namely Chapter 11 of the Constitution, assigned to provincial government in terms of national legislation and allocated to it in national policing policy.

Housing

The lack of adequate housing has been a major issue. According to a report from Parliament, dated May 2022, the human settlements sector had a total of 3.4 million housing units built since 1994. The respective provinces and municipalities delivered a separate 1.3 million "serviced sites". A parliamentary question to the Minister of Human Settlements revealed there were 2,456,773 households registered on the National Housing Needs Register as of February 2023. In the City of Cape Town, there were 375,150 on the municipalities' Housing Needs Register.

Cadre Deployment

The ANC has practised a policy of employing people who are loyal to the ANC to positions within institutions of government. The Zondo Commission has found that cadre deployment played a significant part in corruption and went as far as to say that it is "illegal and unconstitutional".

On 12 February 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that the ANC had five days to hand over their cadre deployment records to the Democratic Alliance dating back to 1 January 2013. Documents released by the DA so far contain a sworn affidavit from Thapelo Masilela, a Strategic Support Manager in the Office of the ANC Deputy Secretary General's Office which states that a laptop containing information in relation to the Deployment Committee had "crashed and...data which was stored on that hard drive had been lost". DA Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen responded in a press briefing on 23 February 2024 saying "the missing laptops, the missing minutes, President's Cyril Ramaphosa WhatsApp's from his own personal devices are simply incongruent with the way in which the modern world works." showing that the party does not believe that the ANC has entirely complied with the order of the Constitutional Court.

Foreign policy

Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africa v. Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) may lead to foreign interference in the general election.

The African Growth & Opportunity Act

South Africa's links to Russia and China, through military co-operation and potential co-operation with Iran has placed the country in danger of losing its preferential access to the U.S. market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, with multiple members of the U.S. Congress raising concern with South Africa's alleged threats to U.S. interests, the most high-ranking member being Senator Jim Risch, the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In response, the Leader of the Opposition, John Steenhuisen led a delegation arguing that "the ANC is not South Africa" in an effort to lessen the impact of a possible removal from AGOA. Later, the Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde and a Western Cape Government delegation also made a trip to the United States to detail the possible impact that a loss would have on the agricultural industry in the province. The Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, Cameron Dugmore (ANC) accused the provincial government of wasting taxpayer's money, saying "this trip was about the DA’s desperation to secure support for the 2024 elections by creating a certain narrative about this matter".

Cape independence

Various parties and organisations proposing Cape independence have existed since 2007 and the idea has been gaining significantly more traction in recent years. While a supposed Independent poll was made by Victory Research in August 2023, it found that 68% of a unverified group of voters in the Western Cape and 79% of self identified DA voters in the Western Cape are in favour of holding a referendum on Cape independence.

The Referendum Party was formed in November 2023 as a single-issue political party contesting in the 2024 general election to pressure the Western Cape Democratic Alliance government into holding a referendum on Western Cape independence as part of any potential coalition agreement.

As of March 2024, News24 reported that the Cape Independence Party had only obtained 200 signatures out of the 7000 signatures necessary to contest on the provincial ballot in the Western Cape. The claim was denied by party leader, Jack Miller, in a video posted to YouTube.

The Cape Independence Party did not make it on to the national ballot or the Western Cape provincial ballot. The Referendum Party made it on to both ballots.

Opinion polls

LOESS curve of the polling for the 2024 South African General Election.
Polling Organisation Fieldwork Date Sample
Size
ANC DA EFF IFP VF+ ACDP ActionSA MK Others Don't
Know
Lead
Brenthurst Foundation/SABI 12–28 February 2024 1,506 39% 27% 10% 2% 2% 13% 5% 12%
ENCA/Markdata 19 January – 14 February 2024 3,022 41.4% 20% 15.5% 4.3% 0.6% 0.5% 1.4% 10.9% 5.4% 21.4%
December 2023 uMkhonto we Sizwe included in polling data.
IPSOS 23 October – 1 December 2023 3,600 40.5% 20.5% 19.6% 4.9% 2.1% 1% 4.3% 7.1 20%
IRR October 2023 604 46.5% 26.1% 11.6% 9.4% 20.4%
IPSOS October 2023 50% 18% 16% 5% 2% 1% 4% 4% 32%
Social Research Foundation October 2023 1,412 45% 31% 9% 6% 9% 14%
7 October 2023 The ACDP joins the Multi-Party Charter. The charter now holds 112 out of the 400-seat National Assembly.
Brenthurst Foundation/SABI 11 September – 3 October 2023 1,500 41% 23% 17% 7% 2% 3% 4% 3% 18%
17 July 2023 The Multi-Party Charter is signed between the DA, IFP, VF+ and 4 other parties holding 108 of 400 National Assembly seats.
IPSOS 1 June – 20 July 2023 3,600 43% 20% 18% 5% 2% 1% 4% 7% 23%
IPSOS & Inclusive Society Institute April 2023 3,600 49.9% 23.6% 12.7% 4.4% 4.1% 5.2% 26.3%
Social Research Foundation March 2023 1,517 45.9% 23.3% 8.4% 6.1% 2.2% 0.9% 3.1% 10.1% 22.6%
Social Research Foundation 29 August 2022 3,204 52% 25% 11% 5% 7% 27%
50% 25% 12% 6% 7% 25%
Brenthurst Foundation 27 October – 10 November 2022 1,000 47.6% 24% 10.7% 4% 12.2% 23.6%
Rivonia Circle September – October 2022 2,000 41% 18% 15% 6% 7% 13% 23%
IPSOS 14 May – 3 July 2022 3,600 42% 11% 9% 2% 2% 1% 3% 4% 26% 25%
2021 municipal elections. 1 November 2021 N/A 47.52% 19.84% 10.54% 6.27% 2.32% 0.71% 1.82% 6.76% 27.68%
IPSOS 1 November 2021 N/A 43.4% 24.2% 14.8% 1.9% 1.6% 0.9% 3.7% 9.5% 31% 19.2%
IPSOS July – September 2020 3,758 50% 16% 13% 2% 1% 2% 16% 34%
IPSOS 20 September – 8 November 2019 3,600 55% 13% 8% 2% 1% 1% 3% 18% 42%
2019 general election. 8 May 2019 57.5% 20.8% 10.8% 3.4% 2.4% 0.8% 10.1% 36.7%

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-26 23:18 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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