At stake in this election:

• 400 seats in the National Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Kgalema MOTLANTHE
• Head of Government: President Kgalema MOTLANTHE
• Assembly: South Africa has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Council of Provinces with 90 seats and the National Assembly with 400 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Council of Provinces, 90 members are elected by regional legislatures to serve 5-year terms.* In the National Assembly,400 members areelected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* There is an additional, non-voting 10-member delegation from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

** In the regional tier there are 9 multi-member districts, each corresponding to a province, with seats allocated in proportion to population. In both tiers, the electoral system is closed list proportional representation.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: African National Congress (ANC)
  • Leader: Jacob ZUMA
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 264
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 279
• Party: African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
  • Leader: Kenneth MESHOE
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 3
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 6
• Party: Congress of the People (COPE)***
  • Leader: Mosiuoa LEKOTA
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 30
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Democratic Alliance (DA)
  • Leader: Helen ZILLE
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 67
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 50
• Party: Freedom Front Plus (FF+)*****
  • Leader: Pieter MULDER
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 4
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Inkatha Freedom Party (INK)
  • Leader: Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 18
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 28
• Party: Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 3
• Party: United Democratic Movement (UDM)
  • Leader: Bantu HOLOMISA
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 4
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 9
• Party: Independent Democrats (ID)
  • Leader: Patricia DE LILLE
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 4
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP)
  • Leader: Lucas MANGOPE
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 2
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 3
• Party: African People's Convention (APC)
  • Leader: Themba GODI
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO)
  • Leader: Mosibudi MANGENA
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Minority Front (MF)
  • Leader: Amichand RAJBANSI
  • Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  • Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0

*** COPE formed in 2008 by former members of the ANC
***** Formerly Freedom Front.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 50,020,917 (2009)
• Registered Voters: 23,181,997 (April 2009)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 25,486,129 (2009)

·         Is South Africa a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (29 January 1993)

·         Has South Africa ratified CEDAW: Yes (15 December 1995)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 174 (National Assembly); 16 (National Council) following the 2009 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 116 (2014) 

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is South Africa a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has South Africa ratified CRPD: Yes (30 November 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 7,503,137 (est.)