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Country Profile:

South Africa
  • South Africa
  • Republic of South Africa
  • Region: Africa

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President Kgalema MOTLANTHE
  • Head of Government: President Kgalema MOTLANTHE
  • Assembly: South Africa has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly with 400 seats and the National Council of Provinces with 90 seats.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 5-year term.
  • In the National Assembly, 200 members are elected by popular vote via proportional representation to serve 5-year terms and 200 members are elected by popular vote via proportional representation*. In the National Council of Provinces, 54 members are nominated by regional legislatures and 36 members are nominated by regional legislatures.**

* In the regional tier there are 9 multi-member districts, each corresponding to a province, with seats allocated in proportion to population. In both tiers, the electoral system is closed list proportional representation.

** There is an additional, non-voting 10-member delegation from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

Population:

  • Population: 49,052,489 (July 2009 est.)

Past elections

Last Updated on 02/04/2010

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