At stake in this election:

• 0 seats in the National Council of Provinces

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 Council of Provinces with 90 seats and the National Assembly with 400 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Council of Provinces, 90 members are elected by regional legislatures to serve 5-year terms and [[uh.3.seats]] members are [[uh.3.electedby]] [[uh.3.election_type]]*. In the National Assembly, [[lh.2.seats]] members are [[lh.2.electedby]] [[lh.2.election_type]] and [[lh.4.seats]] members are [[lh.4.electedby]] [[lh.4.election_type]].**

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

** 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.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: African National Congress (ANC)
  Leader: Jacob ZUMA
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 264
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 279
• Party: African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
  Leader: Kenneth MESHOE
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 3
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 6
• Party: Congress of the People (COPE)***
  Leader: Mosiuoa LEKOTA
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 30
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Democratic Alliance (DA)
  Leader: Helen ZILLE
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 67
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 50
• Party: Freedom Front Plus (FF+)*****
  Leader: Pieter MULDER
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 4
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Inkatha Freedom Party (INK)
  Leader: Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 18
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 28
• Party: Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC)
  Leader: N/A
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 3
• Party: United Democratic Movement (UDM)
  Leader: Bantu HOLOMISA
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 4
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 9
• Party: Independent Democrats (ID)
  Leader: Patricia DE LILLE
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 4
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP)
  Leader: Lucas MANGOPE
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 2
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 3
• Party: African People's Convention (APC)
  Leader: Themba GODI
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO)
  Leader: Mosibudi MANGENA
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0
• Party: Minority Front (MF)
  Leader: Amichand RAJBANSI
  Seats won in this National Council of Provinces election: 1
  Seats won in last National Council of Provinces election: 0

*** COPE formed in 2008 by former members of the ANC
***** Formerly Freedom Front.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 49,052,489 (July 2009 est.)
• Registered Voters: 23,181,997 (April 2009 )