There are 16 parties represented in the South African Parliament yet non have come close to the ANC in the last four elections. Therefore could it be said that South Africa is a one party state?

Authors Avatar

Their are 16 parties represented in the South African Parliament yet non have come close to the ANC in the last four elections. Therefore could it be said that South Africa is a one party state?

  The last four elections indicate the ANC's clear posistion of dominance. In 1994 they won 62.6% of the votes, 66.3% in 1999 and 69.7% in 2004. In 2004 they also took over all nine provinces and gained the right to change the constitution. This is why Nelson Mandela branded ANC's opposition as 'Mickey Mouse' parties.

  However, Helen Zile's democratic alliance performance threatened the ANC in the 2011 local elections gaining 24% of the vote and took over western cape. The DA changed their name from Democratic party in 2000 when they formed an alliance with Federal alliance and national party. They were of to a good start gaining 22% of votes in their first election. This shows that there if effective opposition to the ANC therefore it is not a one party state.

Join now!

  However, the 2009 election showed that DA are far behind ANC as they only received 16.6% of the votes whereas ANC gained 65.9%. Furthermore in 2001 NP left the DA's alliance due a build up of tension with tony leon. This benefited the ANC as their opposition was weakened. Tony Leon's prediction that "NP will slide into oblivion" came true in 2005 when they were disbanded. Also inkatha freedom party, rulers of Kwazulu-Natal in 1994 and 1999 began to loose support after the 2004 election. They won 7% of the votes in 2004 and lost control of Natal to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay