South African national election of 2024
- Date:
- May 29, 2024
- Location:
- South Africa
South Africa held national and provincial elections on May 29, 2024. Significantly, this year marked the 30th anniversary of the country’s 1994 election, which was the first to be held after the fall of legislated apartheid and the first to be held by universal suffrage. The national election proved to be the toughest one yet for the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party since 1994. The party was unable to overcome the multiple challenges in its quest to retain a majority in the National Assembly and to guarantee another term for Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa. It won only about 40 percent of the vote, leading to discussions of a coalition government. The party instead opted to form government of national unity with the Democratic Alliance and invited other parties to participate as well; the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Patriotic Alliance confirmed that they would also be a part of it. Ramaphosa was reelected as president by members of the newly elected National Assembly on June 14, 2024.
Background
For many years, the ANC had seen its support gradually erode over issues such as internal dissent, corruption scandals, and voters’ disappointment with the party’s failure to fully deliver on its promises of a better life: after three decades of ANC-led government, the country still struggled with economic troubles, including record unemployment rates; insufficient electricity supplies and other service delivery problems; and overall inequality among South African groups. Furthermore, the ANC’s ability to retain its status as ruling party was threatened by the inroads made by the new uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party), led by former South African president and ANC stalwart Jacob Zuma. The ANC also faced the risk of being ousted by a coalition of other parties, such as the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), an alliance of opposition parties, spearheaded by John Steenhuisen of the Democratic Alliance (DA), that hoped to unseat the ANC.
This year also marked the first time independent candidates were allowed to run for seats in the National Assembly as well as in the provincial legislatures. This is due to the Electoral Amendment Act of 2023, which among its reforms included a provision for candidates to contest seats without having to be affiliated with a political party.
How does South Africa elect a president?
In order to understand how South Africa elects a president, a brief explanation of the country’s legislative branch is needed. South Africa has a bicameral parliament. The National Council of Provinces is the upper house. It is made up of 10-member delegations (each with six permanent and four special members, including the provincial premier) chosen by each of the nine provincial assemblies. But it is the lower house, the National Assembly, that will elect the president of South Africa.
The members of the National Assembly are elected to a five-year term via proportional representation, an electoral system that seeks to create a representative body that reflects the overall distribution of public support for each political party. South Africans will have a choice of voting for one of several lists of candidates prepared by the political parties, though this year, for the first time, there will be an opportunity to vote for independent candidates for the National Assembly—more on that below. In general, each political party is granted seats in proportion to the number of popular votes it receives. Therefore, the candidates at the top of the list are more likely to be guaranteed a seat, and parties typically have their preferred presidential candidate at the top of their list. Once the new National Assembly members are seated in the weeks after the election, they will vote for a member to serve as the president of the country.
How will South Africans vote for National Assembly members?
This year, with the introduction of independent candidates being allowed to run for National Assembly seats, changes were made to the way South Africans vote for the members of this body. Beginning this year, there were not one but two ballots for voters to cast in order to fill the National Assembly seats. (A third ballot was used for provincial legislature elections.)
- A regional ballot, new to this election, the contents of which were dependent upon the province in which a voter resided. It listed political parties as well as individual independent candidates who qualified in that province to contest 200 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly. Many of these parties are active across the country and were also on the national ballot. These seats were distributed based on a quota that was figured by the number of seats allocated to the province (based on the registered population) and the number of valid votes cast on the regional ballot.
- A national ballot, which South Africans had seen in past elections. It was identical throughout the country, and listed political parties. This ballot was used to fill the remaining 200 of the 400 seats in the body. These seats were distributed to a party in proportion to the number of popular votes it received, after subtracting any seats allocated via the regional ballot.
In the 2024 election, fewer than a dozen candidates qualified to run as independents, and only four provinces had independent candidates on their regional ballot. None were elected to the National Assembly.
Political parties
In the 2024 national election, 52 parties qualified to be on the national ballot. They included three established parties that have held the top three spots in the National Assembly for at least the past two elections and two new parties that had the potential to shake up South African politics.
African National Congress (ANC)
- Founded: 1912
- First national election: 1994
- Leader: Cyril Ramaphosa
The party was founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress and was renamed the African National Congress in 1923. It functioned as a liberation movement during the apartheid era, after which it transformed into a political party and contested the 1994 election. It has taken the largest percentage of votes in National Assembly elections since then, though its percentage has dropped since 2009, as the party saw its support gradually diminish because of corruption scandals, disappointment over service delivery problems, such as a reliable electricity supply, and divisions in the party that led to high-ranking members leaving and forming new parties, such as Congress of the People (COPE) in 2008 and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in 2013. The party’s percentage of the vote plummeted to about 40 percent in the 2024 election and, unable to govern on its own, formed a government of national unity.
Democratic Alliance (DA)
- Founded: 2000
- First national election: 2004
- Leader: John Steenhuisen
The Democratic Alliance was the longtime official opposition party in the National Assembly, having placed second behind the ANC in the elections held in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Over the years, the party has increased its portion of the vote from about one-tenth to about one-fifth. The DA has its roots in the Democratic Party (formed in 1989), which opposed apartheid; it placed fifth in the 1994 election and second in the 1999 election. The DA has been regarded as a liberal “white” party, though it has made efforts to diversify its membership and now sports a roster that draws from many of South Africa’s peoples. The party’s message for this election was “Rescue South Africa.” Its platform included fighting corruption and crime, and improving health care, education, and the delivery of electricity and clean water. The party’s leader, John Steenhuisen, created the Multi-Party Charter (MCP), an alliance of opposition parties that hopes to unseat the ANC. However, the party did not ruling out a coalition with ANC if that was the only option to keep the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and MK Party out of power. The DA placed second in the 2024 election, taking almost 22 percent of the vote, and opted to join the government of national unity with the ANC.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
- Founded: 2013
- First national election: 2014
- Leader: Julius Malema
The Economic Freedom Fighters placed third behind the ANC and DA in the 2014 and 2019 elections. The EFF’s leader, Julius Malema, was originally a staunch ANC member and at one time was the president of the ANC Youth League. He was expelled from the ANC in 2012, however, for having made controversial statements. The EFF is known for having its National Assembly members wear red domestic worker uniforms or worker coveralls to convey their dedication to the plight of the working class. The party embraces a more leftist approach than other parties, advocating for the nationalization of mines and banks as well as the expropriation of land for redistribution, all toward the goal of reversing historical economic inequality. In early 2024 the EFF saw some of its support siphoned off by the MK Party in by-elections, a trend which carried over in the national election to some extent: the EFF fell to fourth place, winning almost 10 percent of the vote. The EFF refused to work with the DA, so it did not join the ANC’s government of national unity. Instead, the EFF formed the Progressive Caucus with several other smaller parties.
Build One South Africa (BOSA)
- Founded: 2022
- First national election: 2024
- Leader: Mmusi Maimane
Build One South Africa (BOSA) is led by Mmusi Maimane, who previously led the Democratic Alliance from 2015 to 2019. When BOSA was launched, it was presented as an alternative to mainstream political parties and aimed to “unearth, train and equip future political leaders” who would stand in the 2024 elections. The party’s platform also focused on such issues as implementing inclusive economic policies, tackling corruption, and securing reliable and sustainable electricity. Maimane and BOSA also advocated for the adoption of direct elections and for persons not affiliated with political parties to be able to stand in elections at the national and provincial levels; the latter goal was partially realized with the electoral amendment bill that Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law in April 2023. BOSA won less than one percent of the vote in the 2024 national election, but it was enough to garner a handful of seats for the new party in the National Assembly.
uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party)
- Founded: 2023
- First national election: 2024
- Leader: Jacob Zuma
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) is a young political party that has already accumulated a rather eventful history. It was founded and originally led by Jabulani Khumalo to little fanfare, but the party’s profile rose in December 2023 when former president—and current ANC member—Jacob Zuma surprised many with his announcement of support for the party, saying he could not support the ANC under Ramaphosa. In April 2024 Zuma was named the MK Party’s leader, and Khumalo was expelled from the party later that month. The party has faced myriad legal challenges in its relatively short period of existence, including challenges to the use of its name and trademark, its registration with South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and the validity of Zuma’s candidacy for a seat in the National Assembly; little more than a week before the May 29 election, the Constitutional Court ruled he was not eligible. Furthermore, in late April a former MK Party member alleged that there was widespread forgery involved in the compilation of voter signatures for the party’s paperwork, submitted to the IEC, to qualify for the 2024 election. A police investigation into the claim was initiated. The party’s manifesto included concerns shared by most other political parties, such as addressing the country’s electrical supply problems, and, similar to the EFF, it also advocated for the nationalization of mines and banks as well as the expropriation of land for redistribution. The MK party performed extremely well in the 2024 election, coming in third with more than 14 percent of the vote. Zuma and the party, however, claimed they had actually won a far greater share of the vote and alleged that the election had been rigged, though they provided no evidence to support their allegation. The party unsuccessfully challenged the results and boycotted the first sitting of the newly elected National Assembly.
List of all parties on the national ballot
There are 52 parties that qualified for inclusion on the national ballot, listed below.
| party name | party name |
|---|---|
| Source: Electoral Commission of South Africa. | |
| Abantu Batho Congress | Democratic Liberal Congress |
| Able Leadership | Economic Freedom Fighters |
| Action Alliance Development Party | Economic Liberators Forum South Africa |
| ActionSA | Forum 4 Service Delivery |
| Africa Africans Reclaim | Free Democrats |
| Africa Restoration Alliance | GOOD |
| African Christian Democratic Party | #Hope4SA |
| African Congress for Transformation | Inkatha Freedom Party |
| African Content Movement | National Coloured Congress |
| African Heart Congress | National Freedom Party |
| African Independent Congress | Northern Cape Communities Movement |
| African Movement Congress | Organic Humanity Movement |
| African National Congress | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania |
| African People’s Convention | Patriotic Alliance |
| African People’s Movement | People’s Movement for Change |
| African Transformation Movement | Referendum Party |
| Al Jama-ah | RISE Mzansi |
| All Citizens Party | Sizwe Ummah Nation |
| Alliance of Citizens for Change | South African Rainbow Alliance |
| Allied Movement for Change | South African Royal Kingdoms Organization |
| Azanian People’s Organisation | uMkhonto weSizwe |
| Build One South Africa | United Africans Transformation |
| Citizans | United Democratic Movement |
| Congress of the People | United Independent Movement |
| Conservatives in Action | Vryheidsfront Plus (Freedom Front Plus) |
| Democratic Alliance | Xiluva |
To see a list of candidates fielded by each of the parties on the national ballot, click here.
To see a list of the parties and their candidates on the nine regional ballots, click here.