South Africa, Government of. South Africa is a parliamentary republic with an elected legislature and president. The Parliament chooses the president from among its members. In practice, the president is the leader of the ruling party in Parliament. In this way, South Africa’s government resembles a typical parliamentary system, such as that of Canada or the United Kingdom, rather than a presidential system, such as that of the United States.
From the late 1940’s to the early 1990’s, South Africa’s white government enforced a policy of rigid racial segregation called apartheid << ah PAHRT hayt or ah PAHRT hyt >> . Under apartheid, the government denied voting rights and other rights to the Black majority. Many South Africans and people throughout the world opposed apartheid. Protests against it often led to violence.
In 1990 and 1991, South Africa repealed most of the main laws on which apartheid was based. In 1993, the country extended voting rights to all races, and democratic elections took place the next year. After those elections, South Africa’s white leaders handed over power to the country’s first multiracial government.
The Constitution
South Africa adopted a temporary constitution in 1993. It provided for a new government that took office in May 1994, following the country’s first all-race elections. In 1996, South Africa completed a new Constitution. South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly adopted the document on Oct. 11, 1996. The Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court in constitutional matters, certified the document on Dec. 4, 1996. President Nelson Mandela signed the Constitution into law on International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, 1996. Most of its provisions took effect in 1997.
The Constitution calls for a nonracial, multiparty, democratic system of government. It provides for three levels of government—national (central), provincial, and local—and a bill of rights. The document calls for equality of race and gender, the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, and universal adult suffrage (right to vote).
Official languages.
The Constitution lists 11 official languages. They are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele (which Africans call isiNdebele), Sepedi, Sesotho, Swazi (siSwati), Tsonga (Xitsonga), Tswana (Setswana) Venda (Tshivenda), Xhosa (isiXhosa), and Zulu (isiZulu). A Pan South African Language Board supports the development and use of all official languages. It also promotes sign language and the Khoi, Nama, and San languages of South Africa’s original inhabitants. The board must also ensure respect for other languages of South Africa, which include Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
The Bill of Rights.
The Constitution emphasizes South Africans’ rights in a specific section, the Bill of Rights. The provisions of the Bill of Rights cover many rights and protections that were lost in the apartheid era. These include the right to privacy, security, self-expression, religious belief, and freedom from enslavement. The Bill of Rights guarantees South Africans the right of assembly and demonstration, trade and occupation, and a clean environment. It also provides for the right of property ownership, housing, health care, basic education, and access to information. The Bill of Rights prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, ethnic or social origin, and religion. South African citizens also have a number of legal protections in the Bill of Rights, including access to courts and the right to a just administration and fair treatment in detention.
The Bill of Rights requires the government to preserve peace and the indivisibility (unity) of South Africa. The government must secure the well-being of the people and provide effective and accountable (responsible and answerable) government for the country.
The Constitution gives special rights to South Africa’s many ethnic groups. Indigenous (native) and customary law still exists, though national law has higher authority. Representatives of the Xhosa, Zulu, and other Black ethnic groups make up the National House of Traditional Leaders. This council advises the national government on the role of traditional leaders and on customary law. The Constitution also acknowledges the role and position of the Zulu monarch.
The president and Cabinet
The members of the National Assembly—the lower house of South Africa’s Parliament—elect the president. As the head of government, he or she is responsible for such duties as signing bills; summoning the National Assembly; and appointing and dismissing the deputy president, Cabinet ministers, and all diplomatic representation. The president and the Cabinet are responsible to the Assembly and must resign if they lose a vote of confidence. In such a vote, the Assembly decides whether to support a matter of importance to the president’s program. The Assembly passes a vote of no confidence by a simple majority. The president may not serve more than two terms.
The Cabinet of South Africa consists of a deputy president and the ministers who head the government departments. The president determines the size and composition of the Cabinet, choosing members mainly from the National Assembly. The president may choose no more than two ministers from outside the Assembly. The president allocates Cabinet portfolios (responsibilities) in consultation with the political party leaders. All executive government departments have their headquarters in Pretoria, the administrative capital.
Parliament
South Africa’s Parliament consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The South African Parliament meets in Cape Town, the country’s legislative capital. The National Assembly has at least 350 and no more than 400 members. The members are elected using a system of proportional representation, which gives a political party a share of seats in proportion to its share of the total vote. The Assembly’s members are elected for five-year terms. Under certain conditions, however, the Assembly may be dissolved before the members serve their full terms.
The National Council of Provinces is the upper house of South Africa’s Parliament, representing provincial interests at the national level. The National Council has 90 members. Each of the nine provincial legislatures chooses 10 delegates to send to the National Council. The proportion of seats a political party holds in the provincial legislature determines how many of the 10 delegates come from that party.
If the Cabinet intervenes in provincial affairs, the issue must be sent to the National Council of Provinces. Five of the nine provinces must approve the Cabinet’s action within 30 days.
Bills must pass through both houses of Parliament. Only the National Assembly may introduce financial bills. Any amendments to the Constitution must have the support of two-thirds of the National Assembly and six of the nine provinces in the Council of Provinces.
The courts
South Africa’s court system includes the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, several High Courts, and local courts run by magistrates. The Constitutional Court meets in Johannesburg, and the Supreme Court of Appeal meets in Bloemfontein.
The Constitutional Court
is South Africa’s highest court in all constitutional matters. This court consists of a chief justice, a deputy chief justice, and nine other judges. Its members serve 12-year terms. The Constitutional Court settles constitutional disputes between national, provincial, and local governments. It decides whether constitutional amendments and laws approved by Parliament are legal. In addition, it can determine whether the conduct of the president is constitutional.
The president of South Africa appoints judges to the Constitutional Court after consulting with the leaders of the parties represented in the National Assembly and with the Judicial Service Commission. The Judicial Service Commission has about 25 members, including judges, attorneys, a teacher of law, and representatives of both houses of Parliament. The commission makes recommendations regarding the appointment, terms of office, and tenure (length of term) of judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. It also advises on the administration of justice.
The Supreme Court of Appeal
hears appeals from lower courts. It is the country’s highest court except in constitutional matters. The Supreme Court of Appeal consists of a president, a deputy president, and several other judges.
Other courts.
South Africa also has a number of High Courts, which rule on certain constitutional issues. The country’s lowest courts are local courts run by magistrates and traditional leaders. South Africa also has several independent national institutions designed to strengthen the country’s democracy. These institutions include the Human Rights Commission; the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Communities; the Commission for Gender Equality; and the Independent Electoral Commission.
Provincial governments
Before 1993, South Africa was divided into 4 provinces and 10 areas called homelands. The provinces were Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal. The homelands were reserved for Black people. The South African government granted independence to four homelands and allowed the other six a degree of self-government. But none of the homelands had much real power, and Black Africans strongly opposed the homeland system.
The 1993 interim Constitution dissolved the 4 provinces and 10 homelands. In their place, 9 new provinces were created. Today, these provinces are called Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, and Western Cape. Each province has a premier and an executive council of between 5 and 10 members. A provincial legislature elects the premier, and the premier appoints the executive council.
The provincial legislatures have between 30 and 80 members. These legislatures can pass bills on many of the same matters as the national Parliament, but their powers are more limited. Areas of the law in which both national and provincial legislatures are involved are known as concurrent competencies. In such cases, national law takes precedence over provincial law. The provinces are allowed to draft constitutions for themselves. They receive some revenue from the national government and can also collect provincial taxes.
Each province also has a House of Traditional Leaders that advises the government on the role of traditional leaders and on customary law. In addition, councils work with local governments in interpreting and upholding their traditional laws.
Local government
Local government under apartheid was racially segregated, with separate areas for white and Black people. After apartheid ended in the early 1990’s, South Africa redrew its local government boundaries to merge previously segregated areas. Today, all parts of South Africa lie within either a metropolitan municipality or a district municipality. There are 8 metropolitan municipalities—Buffalo City, Cape Town, Durban (officially called eThekwini), East Rand (officially Ekurhuleni), Johannesburg, Mangaung, Port Elizabeth (officially Nelson Mandela Bay), and Pretoria (officially Tshwane)—and 44 district municipalities. The district municipalities are further divided into local municipalities and district management areas. District management areas are national parks, desert regions, and other areas that cannot be administered as local municipalities. An elected council governs each municipality at the metropolitan, district, and local levels. Each municipality passes laws, levies taxes, and provides services for areas within its boundaries. The municipalities include both urban and rural areas.
Political parties
The most important political parties in South Africa are the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The ANC was founded in 1912 to promote the rights of Black Africans. Although illegal from 1960 until 1990, it served as the main political voice for Black people, who were not allowed to vote. Its supporters now include people from all ethnic groups. The DA is supported mainly by white voters. The EFF is a Black nationalist party. Most members of the IFP belong to the Black Zulu ethnic group. See African National Congress (ANC) ; Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) .
Armed forces
The South African National Defence Force combines the forces of the army, navy, and air force. The president appoints the chief of the National Defence Force. Both men and women and members of all racial and ethnic groups serve in the force. All service is voluntary. Before 1994, most of the officers in the armed forces were white. The number of Black African soldiers and officers increased when armies of some of the Black homelands became part of the National Defence Force. The force also absorbed the military wings of the ANC and another Black political group, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
