The 2024 national assembly elections held in South Africa resulted in the African National Congress (ANC) losing its majority with around 6.46 million votes. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) followed, with around 3.5 million votes. Support for the ANC has gradually declined since 1994, however, the number of votes for the party dropped significantly by more than 3.56 million votes since the previous election in 2019.
During the apartheid era, there were only three main political parties, whereas in 1994, 19 political parties participated in the election. This number of parties grew to 51 parties by 2024.
Post-apartheid national assembly election results in South Africa from1994 to 2024, by political party
Characteristic
African National Congress (ANC)
Democratic Party (DP)/Democratic Alliance (DA)
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
Patriotic Alliance (PA)
Vryheidsfront Plus (VF PLUS)
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
United Democratic Movement (UDM)
Al Jama-ah (ALJAMA)
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC)
Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO)
Congress of the People (COPE)
Minority Front (MF)
Keep It Straight & Simple Party (KISS)
Nasionale Party (NP)/Nuwe Nasionale Party (NNP)
United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP)
African People's Convention (APC)
African Independent Congress (AIC)
Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA)
Independent Democrats (ID)
Pan Africanist Movement (PAM)
Women Forward (WF)
Better Residents Associations (BRA)
Independent Civic Organization of South Africa (ICOSA)
Agang South Africa (AGANG SA)
Afrikaner Selfbeskikking Party (AFRSP)
African Transformation Movement (ATM)
GOOD
Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights (SOCCER)
Women's Rights Peace Party (WRPP)
Worker’s List Party (WLP)
Ximoko Progressive Party (XPP)
Africa Muslim Party (AMP)
African Democratic Movement (ADM)
African Moderates Congress Party (AMCP)
Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa (DPSA)
Federal Party (FP)
Luso-South African Party (LUSAP)
Federal Alliance (FA)
Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party (AITUP)
Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (AEB)
The Government by the People Green Party
United Africans Transformation (UAT)*
Christian Democratic Party (CDP)
Nasionale Aksie (NA)
Peace and Justice Congress (P.J.C.)
New Labour Party
United Front (U.F.)
Employment Movement of South Africa (EMSA)
The Organization Party (T.O.P.)
Movement Democratic Party (MDP)
Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA)
National Democratic Convention (NADECO)
New Vision Party (NVP)
United Independent Front (UIF)
Great Kongress of South Africa (GKSA)
South African Democratic Congress (SADECO)
Alliance of Free Democrats (AFD)
A Party
Workers and Socialists Party (WASP)
Ubuntu Party( UBUNTU)
The House of Independents (THI)
National Freedom Party (NFP)
African Security Congress (ASC)
Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP)
Black First Land First (BLF)
Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats (AASD)
Capitalist Party of South Africa (ZACP)
Alliance for Transformation for All (ATA)
Democratic Liberal Congress (DLC)
Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD)
Land Party (LAND)
African Covenant (AC)
African Democratic Change (ADEC)
Economic Emancipation Forum (ECOFORUM)
Christian Political Movement (CPM)
African Content Movement (ACM)
International Revelation Congress (IRC)
National People's Front (NAPF)
African Renaissance Unity (ARU)
African Congress of Democrats (A.C.D)
South African National Congress of Traditional Authorities (SANCOTA)
Compatriots of South Africa (CSA)
People's Revolutionary Movement (PRM)
Power of Africans Unity (PAU)
Free Democrats (FREE DEMS)
South African Maintenance and Estate Beneficiaries Association (SAMEBA)
The New National Party (NNP) was formed in 1997 and was the successor of the National Party. The name change occurred as an attempt for the party to reinvent itself to become a moderate, conservative party and cut ties with its apartheid past. The party eventually disbanded in 2005.
The Democratic Party was renamed to the Democratic Alliance
The Keep It Straight & Simple Party was dormant in the 1999 election and remained inactive since 2014.
Elections occur in South Africa once every five years, with provincial and national elections taking place at the same time, and local/municipal elections taking place two years later. South Africa uses the proportional representation electoral system for provincial and national elections and a combination of the proportional representation and ward system for local/municipal elections. This means that South Africans vote for their chosen party in the provincial and national elections and vote for their chosen ward candidate in the local/municipal elections.
South African citizens from the age of 18 are eligible to vote. South Africans who live outside of South Africa are also allowed to vote, but only in the national elections. To vote in the provincial or local/municipal elections, South Africans have to reside in South Africa and be within the province and municipality they have registered in. If they live in a different province or municipality to the one they originally registered in, they will have to re-register before the voting day.
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Independent Electoral Commission South Africa. (August 13, 2024). Post-apartheid national assembly election results in South Africa from1994 to 2024, by political party [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 24, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1484129/post-apartheid-election-results-in-south-africa-by-party/
Independent Electoral Commission South Africa. "Post-apartheid national assembly election results in South Africa from1994 to 2024, by political party." Chart. August 13, 2024. Statista. Accessed August 24, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1484129/post-apartheid-election-results-in-south-africa-by-party/
Independent Electoral Commission South Africa. (2024). Post-apartheid national assembly election results in South Africa from1994 to 2024, by political party. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 24, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1484129/post-apartheid-election-results-in-south-africa-by-party/
Independent Electoral Commission South Africa. "Post-apartheid National Assembly Election Results in South Africa From1994 to 2024, by Political Party." Statista, Statista Inc., 13 Aug 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1484129/post-apartheid-election-results-in-south-africa-by-party/
Independent Electoral Commission South Africa, Post-apartheid national assembly election results in South Africa from1994 to 2024, by political party Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1484129/post-apartheid-election-results-in-south-africa-by-party/ (last visited August 24, 2024)
Post-apartheid national assembly election results in South Africa from1994 to 2024, by political party [Graph], Independent Electoral Commission South Africa, August 13, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1484129/post-apartheid-election-results-in-south-africa-by-party/
