South African National Elections 2009

South Africans will take to the poles on 22 April 2009. This year's elections are probably the most exciting in the history of the country's short democracy. People expect the political landscape in South Africa to change considerably after the elections. Parties that are expected to do well in the elections include the African National Congress (ANC), Congress of the People (COPE) and the Democratic Alliance (DA).

A Changing Political Landscape

Although polictical analysts agree that the ANC may have lost considerable support since the 2004 elections, they are still widely expected to win the elections. Jacob Zuma, the president of the ANC, who have been in a long legal battle over corruption charges, is the presidential candidate of the ANC and is likely to be the new president of South Africa after election day.

The question is really whether the DA or the newly founded COPE will become the official opposition. The DA, under leadership of Helen Zille, is expected to do well and has gained considerable support in the Western Cape. COPE is a new political party in South Africa and is met with a lot of excitement, as many South Africans believe that it offers black South Africans a real alternative to the ANC.

Some of the other parties, such as the IFP, UDM, ID, ACDP and FF+ are also likely to get some percentage of the vote and is likely to take part in coalitions with other parties. The NNP will not take part in the 2009 elections.

South African Elections 2004

During the 2004 South African National Elections, the ANC won with 69.69% of the national vote, giving them 279 of the 400 seats in parliament. Thabo Mbeki retained his position as president of South Africa, which he held for the previous term of 1999 to 2004. The DA, under leadership of Helen Zille, came second with 12.37% of the vote, and received 50 seats in parliament and the title of official opposition. Other parties that did well include the IFP, UDM, ID, NNP, ACDP, FF+, UCDP and PAC.

Party	Leader	Votes	%	Seats
African National Congress (ANC)	Thabo Mbeki	10 880 915	69.69	279
Democratic Alliance (DA)	Helen Zille	1 931 201	12.37	50
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)	Mangosuthu Buthelezi	1 088 664	6.97	28
United Democratic Movement (UDM)	Bantu Holomisa	355 717	2.28	9
Independent Democrats (ID)	Patricia de Lille	269 765	1.70	7
New National Party (NNP)	Marthinus van Schalkwyk	257 824	1.65	7
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)	Kenneth Meshoe	250 272	1.60	7
Freedom Front Plus (FF+)	Pieter Mulder	139 465	0.89	4
United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP)	Lucas Mangope	117 792	0.75	3
Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)	Motsoko Pheko	113 512	0.73	3
Minority Front (MF)	Amichand Rajbansi	55 267	0.35	2
Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO)	Mosibudi Mangena	39 116	0.25	1
Christian Democratic Party (CDP)	Ra Du Plooy	17 619	0.11	0
National Action (South Africa) (NA)	Jacobus Frederick Jonker	15 804	0.10	0
Peace and Justice Congress (PJC)	Muhammed Rashad Khan	15 187	0.10	0
Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA)	Crazy Chad	14 853	0.10	0
New Labour Party (NLP)	Colin Francois du Sart	13 318	0.09	0
United Front (UF)	T. D. Hlatshwayo	11 889	0.08	0
Employment Movement of South Africa (EMSA)	M. Reitz	10 446	0.07	0
The Organisation Party (TOP)	Bradford Wood	7 531	0.05	0
Keep It Straight and Simple (KISS)	C.C. Emary	6 514	0.04	0
Total		15 612 671	100.00	400