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Cyril Ramaphosa
Head of government Active
President of the Republic of South Africa · Principal · De jure
M49 710
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Primary executive
Editorial profile v1
Verified country brief
Versioned editorial facts take priority over database records on this country page.
- Executive system
- Parliamentary republic · One primary executive function
- Dominant executive office
- Head of government
- Why this office is primary
- The National Assembly elects the President, who is head of state, head of the national executive and leader of the Cabinet.
Government
Government of National Unity led by President Cyril Ramaphosa
Jun 19, 2024 · De jure
African National Congress
ANC
Democratic Alliance
DA
Inkatha Freedom Party
IFP
uMkhonto weSizwe Party
MK
Economic Freedom Fighters
EFF
Legislature and composition
BicameralSeventh Parliament of the Republic of South Africa
Jun 14, 2024
National Assembly
400 SeatsANC159 / 400
DA87 / 400
MK58 / 400
EFF39 / 400
IFP17 / 400
National Council of Provinces
90 SeatsNext election
Date not scheduledNext South African national election
Date not scheduled · General election
- Electoral system
- The National Assembly is elected through proportional representation and then elects the President; no exact polling date is announced.
Latest election
Completed2024 South African national election
May 29, 2024 · General election
- Electoral system
- The 400-member National Assembly is elected through proportional representation; the Assembly then elects the President.
- Published result
- ANC · 40.5% · 159 Seats; DA · 22.2% · 87 Seats; MK · 14.6% · 58 Seats; EFF · 9.9% · 39 Seats; IFP · 4.2% · 17 Seats
Current policy issues
- 1Inclusive economic growth and employmentGovernment of South Africa - Government of National Unity priorities
- 2Poverty, inequality and the cost of livingGovernment of South Africa - Government of National Unity priorities
- 3A capable, ethical and developmental stateGovernment of South Africa - Government of National Unity priorities
- 4Public safety and reliable basic servicesGovernment of South Africa - Government of National Unity priorities
Indexed party landscape
Parties and alliances currently indexed for this jurisdiction. Active and historical labels reflect the source dataset, not an official national register.
- Tracked parties
- 40
- Active in source
- 5
- Historical in source
- 35
- parties shown
- 40
- Founded
- 1912
- Ideology
- social democracy, African nationalism
- Political spectrum
- Centre-left
- Party leadership
- Cyril Ramaphosa, Ace Magashule
- Founded
- 2013
- Founded
- 1969
- Founded
- 1959
- Founded
- 1990
- Founded
- 1993
- Founded
- 1941
- Founded
- 2004
- Founded
- 2008
- Founded
- 1982
- Founded
- 1990
- Founded
- 1989
More parties (28)
- Founded
- 1989
- Founded
- 1934
- Founded
- 1969
- Founded
- 1994
- Founded
- 1935
- Founded
- 1940
- Founded
- 2003
- Founded
- 1975
- Founded
- 1910
- Founded
- 1969
- Founded
- 1989
- Founded
- 1915
- Founded
- 1969
- Founded
- 1960
- Founded
- 1997
- Founded
- 1943
- Founded
- 1977
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
Party Historical
- Founded
- 1984
- Founded
- 1977
- Founded
- 1959
- Founded
- 1890
- Founded
- 1933
- Founded
- 1984
- Founded
- 1910
- Founded
- 1910
- Founded
- 1997
- Founded
- 1934
Elections
Partial2009 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Apr 22, 2009
Completed
2004 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Apr 14, 2004
Completed
1999 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Jun 2, 1999
Completed
1994 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Apr 27, 1994
Completed
1953 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Apr 15, 1953
Completed
1948 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
May 26, 1948
Completed
1921 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Feb 8, 1921
Completed
1920 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Mar 20, 1920
Completed
1915 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Oct 20, 1915
Completed
1910 South African general election
Parliamentary election · Legislative
Sep 15, 1910
Completed
Candidates
Partial1910 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Sep 15, 1910
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1915 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Oct 20, 1915
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1994 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 27, 1994
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
African Christian Democratic Party
1999 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Jun 2, 1999
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1999 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Jun 2, 1999
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1999 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Jun 2, 1999
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1999 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Jun 2, 1999
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1999 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Jun 2, 1999
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
1999 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Jun 2, 1999
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2004 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 14, 2004
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2004 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 14, 2004
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2004 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 14, 2004
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2004 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 14, 2004
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2004 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 14, 2004
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2004 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 14, 2004
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
2009 South African general election · Completed
Aug 9, 2026 · Apr 22, 2009
- Independent clusters, last 30 days
- 0
- Independent clusters, days 31–180
- 0
- Confidence
- 80.0%
Sources
11
- 1Parliament of South Africa - National Assembly elects Cyril Ramaphosa as President-electcitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 2Presidency of South Africa - President oath of office at the 2024 inaugurationcitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 3Parliament of South Africa - Establishing the Seventh Democratic Parliamentcitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 4Parliament of South Africa - National Assembly compositioncitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 5Electoral Commission of South Africa - 2024 national and provincial elections reportcitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 6Parliament of South Africa - MK Party recognized as the official oppositioncitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 7Government of South Africa - Government of National Unity prioritiescitation_only · Aug 10, 2026
- 8Inter-American Development Bank Database of Political Institutions 2023CC-BY-4.0 · Aug 9, 2026
- 9WikidataCC0-1.0 · Aug 9, 2026
- 10Wikimedia CommonsCC BY-SA 4.0 · Aug 9, 2026
- 11Unicode Common Locale Data RepositoryUnicode-3.0 · Aug 9, 2026
Political world map
Southern Africa
South AfricaPrimary executive: Cyril RamaphosaPartial
- Complete
- Partial
- Stale
- Conflicting
- Unavailable due to licence
- Not applicable
Boundaries and names shown on this map do not imply a position by CiviOrg. Small territories without geometry remain available in the index.