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2009 South African general election

General elections were held in South Africa on 22 April 2009 to elect members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.[1] These were the fourth general elections held since the end of the apartheid era.

2009 South African general election

← 2004 22 April 2009 2014 →

All 400 seats in the National Assembly of South Africa
Turnout77.30%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jacob Zuma Helen Zille Mosiuoa Lekota
Party ANC Democratic Alliance COPE
Leader's seat National List n/a National List
Last election 69.69%, 279 seats 12.37%, 50 seats
Seats won 264 67 30
Seat change 15 17 New
Popular vote 11,650,748 2,945,829 1,311,027
Percentage 65.90% 16.66% 7.42%
Swing 3.79% 4.29% new

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi Patricia de Lille Bantu Holomisa
Party IFP ID UDM
Leader's seat National List National List National List
Last election 6.97%, 28 seats 1.73%, 7 seats 2.28%, 9 seats
Seats won 18 4 4
Seat change 10 3 5
Popular vote 804,260 162,915 149,680
Percentage 4.55% 0.92% 0.85%
Swing 2.42% 0.81% 1.43%


President before election

Kgalema Motlanthe
ANC

Elected President

Jacob Zuma
ANC

Election ballot.

The North Gauteng High Court ruled on 9 February 2009 that South African citizens living abroad should be allowed to vote in elections.[2] The judgment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 12 March 2009, when it decided that overseas voters who were already registered would be allowed to vote.[3] Registered voters who found themselves outside their registered voting districts on election day were also permitted to vote for the national ballot at any voting station in South Africa.

The result was a victory for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which won 264 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, a fifteen seat reduction compared to the 2004 elections and losing its two-thirds supermajority. ANC leader Jacob Zuma remained president.

Background and campaign

African National Congress – ruling party

The African National Congress was the ruling party in parliament going into the 2009 elections, having won 69.69% of the vote at the 2004 elections. During its term in office a number of internal changes occurred, the primary one being the election of Jacob Zuma to the party presidency ahead of Thabo Mbeki at the 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress held on 18 December 2007.[4] Zuma's victory in the election was partly due to the wide degree of support for him from the ANC Youth League, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions.[citation needed]

Subsequent to this, in 2008 Zuma's ongoing corruption trial in relation to a multi-billion Rand arms deal was dismissed by the courts, which insinuated that Mbeki had unduly influenced the investigation into Zuma. In light of the court's findings, the ANC's National Executive Committee asked Mbeki to resign as president of the country, which he duly did on 20 September 2008.

Mbeki was replaced by Kgalema Motlanthe, who had been elected as ANC deputy president at the 2007 conference. Motlanthe was not the presidential candidate of the ANC for the 2009 general election, but rather the current President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma.[5] The ANC's electoral list was led by Zuma, followed by Motlanthe, Deputy President of South Africa Baleka Mbete, finance minister Trevor Manuel and Winnie Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela.[6]

The recall of Mbeki, amongst other issues, created severe tensions and splits within the party, and eventually led to the formation of the Congress of the People, a new political party formed by former ANC members. Nevertheless, most pre-poll predictions gave the ANC between sixty and seventy per cent of the popular vote; even the lowest prediction, giving the ANC 47 per cent, still rendered it comfortably South Africa's most favoured political party.[7]

Democratic Alliance – official opposition

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa's main opposition party, had undergone a leadership change, with Cape Town mayor and former anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille having succeeded long-serving Tony Leon in May 2007.

With a disproportionate focus on the Western Cape province, which it had identified as winnable, the DA launched its election campaign with the slogan "Vote to Win". It released its manifesto on 14 February.[8]

The party was expected to perform strongly in the Western Cape, with analysts suggesting it would take control of the province from the ruling ANC.[9] The ANC's support in the province was on the wane, while the DA had performed well in by-elections in the province leading up to the poll.[10]

The party projected that it would govern in the Western Cape province – a task made easier by the ANC-COPE split – though it expected to need to form a governing coalition in order to do so.[11] The party anticipated that it would take control of several other major cities and towns in the 2011 local elections, and, with what it termed a "realignment of SA politics", predicted it would take its "winning streak" into the 2014 elections, when it plans to challenge for the mantle of ruling party.[12]

The DA's relationship with ANC breakaway party Cope started strongly. Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota showed a willingness to co-operate with Zille in the future.[13][14] Subsequently, Zille criticised COPE's internal structures and suggested many of the party's new members were merely Mbeki loyalists hoping to resurrect defunct political careers.[15]

In the closing stages of the DA's campaign, it launched its "Stop Zuma" drive, which came under considerable criticism in the press—political analysts dubbing the tactic an example of "negative" politics. Zille later retorted, however, that what was really negative was the idea of handing over the right to change the Constitution unilaterally to Jacob Zuma and his "closed, crony network", as they would abuse that right both to enrich themselves and to protect themselves from prosecution. She later claimed the decline in the ANC's support base and the concomitant increase in that of her own party was a result of the DA 'Stop Zuma' campaign.

Electoral system

The 400 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed list proportional representation; two hundred members were elected from national party lists and 200 from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa was chosen by the National Assembly after the election; in 2009, the presidential election was held on 6 May. The premiers of each province are chosen by the winning majority in each provincial legislature.

Boycott

A number of communities, organisations, social movements and well-known personalities threatened not to vote in the 2009 elections.[16] The most well-known personality was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who at first said he would not vote but then changed his mind.[17] South Africa's Poor People's Alliance, the Anti-Privatisation Forum, NOPE, and the independent farmworkers' union Sikhula Sonke resolved to boycott the election under the banner No Land! No House! No Vote!.[18]

Results

 
 
Most popular party in each ward, depicted as a map (top), and as a cartogram in which size is proportional to the number of votes cast (bottom).

     African National Congress
     Democratic Alliance
     Congress of the People
     Inkatha Freedom Party
     Independent Democrats
     United Democratic Movement

The darker shade indicates a majority, while the lighter shade indicates a non-majority plurality.
 
Map showing, for each municipality, the percentage point change in the ANC's share of the vote since the 2004 election
  37.5–50 pp to the ANC
  25–37.5 pp to the ANC
  12.5–25 pp to the ANC
  0–12.5 pp to the ANC
  0–12.5 pp away from the ANC
  12.5–25 pp away from the ANC
  25–37.5 pp away from the ANC
  37.5–50 pp away from the ANC

The ANC, which has been in power since 1994, obtained 65.90% of valid votes cast on the national ballot, making it just shy of being able to change the constitution. The DA retained its position as the official opposition and also won the election in the Western Cape province with an outright majority.

Some 23-million people were registered for the 2009 general elections, which was about 2.5 million more than in 2004. There was a 77.3% turnout of registered voters, 1.34% of whom spoiled their ballots rendering them invalid.[19] About 12-million people eligible to vote either did not register to vote (about 7-million), or did register but did not vote (5.4 million).[20] In this election, there was a slight decrease in voter abstention though there was at least one high-profile election and registration boycotts campaign, the No Land! No House! No Vote! Campaign.

The Independent Electoral Commission made results available on their website as they were received from voting districts, filtered by national, provincial, municipality, and voting district.[21]

National Assembly

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress11,650,74865.90264−15
Democratic Alliance2,945,82916.6667+17
Congress of the People1,311,0277.4230New
Inkatha Freedom Party804,2604.5518−10
Independent Democrats162,9150.924−3
United Democratic Movement149,6800.854−5
Freedom Front Plus146,7960.8340
African Christian Democratic Party142,6580.813−4
United Christian Democratic Party66,0860.372−1
Pan Africanist Congress48,5300.271−2
Minority Front43,4740.251−1
Azanian People's Organisation38,2450.2210
African People's Convention35,8670.201New
Movement Democratic Party29,7470.170New
Al Jama-ah25,9470.150New
Christian Democratic Alliance11,6380.0700
National Democratic Convention10,8300.060New
New Vision Party9,2960.050New
United Independent Front8,8720.050New
Great Kongress of South Africa8,2710.050New
South African Democratic Congress6,0350.030New
Keep It Straight and Simple Party5,4400.0300
Pan Africanist Movement5,4260.030New
Alliance of Free Democrats5,1780.030New
Women Forward5,0870.030New
A Party2,8470.020New
Total17,680,729100.004000
Valid votes17,680,72998.66
Invalid/blank votes239,2371.34
Total votes17,919,966100.00
Registered voters/turnout23,181,99777.30
Source: Election Resources

Provincial legislatures

The following table summarises the results of the elections to the provincial legislatures. The majority party in each province is indicated in bold.

Eastern Cape

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress1,552,67668.8244−7
Congress of the People308,43913.679New
Democratic Alliance225,3109.996+1
United Democratic Movement93,1964.133−3
African Independent Congress17,3060.771New
Pan Africanist Congress12,1080.540−1
African Christian Democratic Party11,9740.5300
Independent Democrats10,4660.4600
Azanian People's Organisation4,5980.2000
African People's Convention4,5170.200New
Freedom Front Plus4,4280.2000
Inkatha Freedom Party2,2700.1000
National Democratic Convention2,0270.090New
Pan Africanist Movement1,9210.090New
United Christian Democratic Party1,9080.0800
Christian Democratic Alliance1,6630.070New
New Vision Party1,2810.060New
Total2,256,088100.00630
Valid votes2,256,08898.59
Invalid/blank votes32,2991.41
Total votes2,288,387100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,056,55974.87
Source: Election Resources

Free State

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress734,68871.1022−3
Congress of the People120,01811.614New
Democratic Alliance119,84411.6030
Freedom Front Plus20,7802.0110
Dikwankwetla Party11,2571.0900
African Christian Democratic Party7,5560.730−1
United Democratic Movement3,7220.3600
United Christian Democratic Party3,4590.3300
Pan Africanist Congress3,4490.3300
African People's Convention3,2000.310New
Inkatha Freedom Party2,2320.2200
Independent Democrats1,6540.1600
National Democratic Convention1,0650.100New
Peace and Justice Congress3980.040New
Total1,033,322100.00300
Valid votes1,033,32298.50
Invalid/blank votes15,7441.50
Total votes1,049,066100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,388,58875.55
Source: Election Resources

Gauteng

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress2,662,01364.0447−4
Democratic Alliance908,61621.8616+1
Congress of the People323,3277.786New
Freedom Front Plus67,6601.6310
Inkatha Freedom Party61,8561.491−1
African Christian Democratic Party36,0990.8710
Independent Democrats25,2430.6110
United Democratic Movement16,4800.400−1
Pan Africanist Congress12,8800.310−1
United Christian Democratic Party10,0910.2400
Azanian People's Organisation8,9270.2100
Movement Democratic Party5,7310.140New
African People's Convention5,1230.120New
Christian Democratic Alliance2,9010.0700
African Christian Alliance2,5410.060New
Women Forward1,9740.050New
Great Kongress of South Africa1,9090.050New
National Democratic Convention1,4970.040New
Alliance of Free Democrats1,1010.030New
New Vision Party1,0790.030New
Total4,157,048100.00730
Valid votes4,157,04898.98
Invalid/blank votes42,8151.02
Total votes4,199,863100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,555,15975.60
Source: Election Resources

KwaZulu-Natal

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress2,192,51662.9551+13
Inkatha Freedom Party780,02722.4018−12
Democratic Alliance318,5599.1570
Minority Front71,5072.0520
Congress of the People44,8901.291New
African Christian Democratic Party23,5370.681−1
United Democratic Movement7,9530.230−1
Al Jama-ah7,6120.220New
National Democratic Convention6,8810.200New
Independent Democrats6,8530.2000
Freedom Front Plus5,7600.1700
African People's Convention5,0870.150New
South African Democratic Congress3,8830.110New
Pan Africanist Congress2,5780.0700
Women Forward1,8160.050New
United Christian Democratic Party1,7980.0500
Great Kongress of South Africa1,7300.050New
Total3,482,987100.00800
Valid votes3,482,98798.76
Invalid/blank votes43,7131.24
Total votes3,526,700100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,475,21778.81
Source: Election Resources

Limpopo

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress1,265,63184.8843−2
Congress of the People112,3257.534New
Democratic Alliance51,8563.4820
African Christian Democratic Party10,2460.690−1
Freedom Front Plus9,0350.6100
Pan Africanist Congress7,9340.5300
New Vision Party6,4970.440New
Azanian People's Organisation5,6400.3800
United Democratic Movement5,1930.350−1
African People's Convention4,4550.300New
Ximoko Party3,4520.2300
United Independent Front1,7690.120New
Black Consciousness Party1,4320.100New
Independent Democrats1,3330.0900
United Christian Democratic Party1,3200.0900
Alliance of Free Democrats1,0410.070New
Women Forward9770.070New
Inkatha Freedom Party9360.060New
Total1,491,072100.00490
Valid votes1,491,07298.51
Invalid/blank votes22,5491.49
Total votes1,513,621100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,256,07367.09
Source: Election Resources

Mpumalanga

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress1,110,19085.55270
Democratic Alliance97,2047.4920
Congress of the People37,7892.911New
Freedom Front Plus11,5900.890−1
African Christian Democratic Party6,5650.5100
Inkatha Freedom Party6,5400.5000
Sindawonye Progressive Party6,4230.4900
African People's Convention4,8340.370New
Pan Africanist Congress4,0970.3200
United Democratic Movement3,3660.2600
Azanian People's Organisation2,9280.2300
Christian Party2,4350.190New
Independent Democrats1,5270.1200
National Democratic Convention1,3740.110New
United Christian Democratic Party9130.0700
Total1,297,775100.00300
Valid votes1,297,77598.55
Invalid/blank votes19,1191.45
Total votes1,316,894100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,696,70577.61
Source: Election Resources

North West

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress783,79472.8925−2
Congress of the People89,5738.333New
Democratic Alliance88,7288.253+1
United Christian Democratic Party56,6785.272−1
Freedom Front Plus19,4631.810−1
African Christian Democratic Party7,3660.6900
United Democratic Movement5,4670.5100
Independent Democrats4,9840.4600
Movement Democratic Party4,4320.410New
African People's Convention3,1160.290New
Pan Africanist Congress2,8310.2600
Azanian People's Organisation2,7120.2500
South African Political Party1,8320.170New
African Christian Alliance1,7500.160New
Inkatha Freedom Party1,6190.1500
National Democratic Convention9780.090New
Total1,075,323100.00330
Valid votes1,075,32398.08
Invalid/blank votes21,0071.92
Total votes1,096,330100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,564,35770.08
Source: Election Resources

Northern Cape

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
African National Congress245,69960.7519−2
Congress of the People67,41616.675New
Democratic Alliance50,81712.574+1
Independent Democrats19,9954.9420
Freedom Front Plus5,0341.240−1
United Christian Democratic Party4,8891.2100
African Christian Democratic Party4,0411.000−1
Azanian People's Organisation2,4390.6000
African People's Convention1,3640.340New
Pan Africanist Congress8820.2200
Inkatha Freedom Party7570.1900
United Democratic Movement6040.1500
Christian Democratic Alliance4810.120New
Total404,418100.00300
Valid votes404,41898.49
Invalid/blank votes6,1901.51
Total votes410,608100.00
Registered voters/turnout554,90074.00
Source: Election Resources

Western Cape

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Democratic Alliance1,012,56851.4622+10
African National Congress620,91831.5514−5
Congress of the People152,3567.743New
Independent Democrats92,1164.682−1
African Christian Democratic Party28,9951.471−1
United Democratic Movement14,0130.710−1
Al Jama-ah9,0390.460New
Freedom Front Plus8,3840.4300
Pan Africanist Congress4,4670.2300
Africa Muslim Party4,3330.2200
Christian Democratic Alliance3,9870.2000
National Party South Africa3,3780.170New
Cape Party2,5520.130New
National Alliance1,9960.100New
African People's Convention1,7780.090New
United Christian Democratic Party1,5520.0800
Azanian People's Organisation1,2910.0700
United Independent Front1,1780.060New
Inkatha Freedom Party1,1580.0600
Peace and Justice Congress6300.0300
Universal Party5990.0300
National Democratic Convention4630.020New
Total1,967,751100.00420
Valid votes1,967,75198.99
Invalid/blank votes20,0261.01
Total votes1,987,777100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,634,43975.45
Source: Election Resources

NCOP seats

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) consists of 90 members, ten elected by each provincial legislature. The Members of NCOP have to be elected in proportion to the party membership of the provincial legislature.

Party Delegate type Province Total
EC FS G KZN L M NW NC WC
African National Congress Permanent 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 3 2 35 62
Special 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 1 27
Democratic Alliance Permanent 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 10 13
Special 1 2 3
Congress of the People Permanent 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 8
Special 1 1
Independent Democrats Permanent 1 1 2
Special 1 1
Inkatha Freedom Party Permanent 1 1 2
Special 1 1
Freedom Front Plus Special 1 1
United Christian Democratic Party Special 1 1
United Democratic Movement Special 1 1
Total 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 90

Aftermath

The ANC received widespread congratulations for its decisive national victory, both from international and domestic sources. This included the opposition, with DA leader Helen Zille acknowledging that the people had given it a strong mandate to rule. "We trust that the ANC will not abuse this confidence, and will govern well and in the interests of all South Africans."[22] However, with 65.9% of the vote and 264 seats in the National Assembly (down from 74.3% and 297 seats), the ANC no longer had the two-thirds majority it needed to change the Constitution unilaterally. The governing party had lost considerable support in 8 of the 9 provinces, partially compensated for by a big increase in KwaZulu-Natal at the expense of the IFP.

Thanking supporters the following week,[23] DA leader Helen Zille related proudly that her party had achieved all three of its primary objectives: it had kept the ANC below a two-thirds majority (albeit only just), won an outright majority in the Western Cape and significantly improved its standing in parliament.[24] Zille saw the results as a vindication of the party's statement at the beginning of its campaign that the only two genuine political forces in South Africa were the DA and the ANC, with the latter losing support while the former consistently gained it, and voters refusing to waste their ballots on small, insignificant parties.

See also

References

  1. ^ Motlanthe sets election date 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine IOL.co.za, 10 February 2009
  2. ^ "Court backs S Africa expat vote". BBC News. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  3. ^ South African registered overseas voters can vote - People's Daily Online
  4. ^ (Press Statement: Results for the Election of ANC Officials, 19 December 2007) 29 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=./ancdocs/pr/2008/pr0108.html 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Statement of the ANC National Executive Committee, 8 January 2008.) The ANC National Executive Committee confirmed that "the ANC President will lead the ANC election campaign as the organisation's candidate for president of South Africa in the 2009 election."
  6. ^ Winnie set for shock comeback to ANC politics
  7. ^ Perry, Alex. "." TIME. 21 April 2009. . Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  8. ^ "DA election launch in Soweto". News24. 15 January 2009.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Minorities become important as polls loom". IOL. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on 4 June 2009.
  11. ^ . SABC. 12 November 2008. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  12. ^ "DA plans to rule SA from 2014". IOL. 11 November 2008.
  13. ^ "Lekota open to DA Alliance". IOL. 19 November 2008.
  14. ^ "Zille backs Lekota's views". IOL. 19 November 2008.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Zille slams COPE as a ploy to resurrect political careers". 10 January 2009.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^
    • "60 landless people arrested". The Sowetan.[permanent dead link]
    • "Protesters refuse to vote". IOL.
    • "'One house, one vote' for South Africans". BBC. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
    • "'No land, no home, no vote'". Weekend Argus.
    • "Feeling of change in the West Coast air". Cape Argus.
  17. ^ *. TheTimes. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
    • "Tutu decides to vote". IOL.
  18. ^ *. SACSIS. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
    • ""No Vote" Campaigns are not a Rejection of Democracy". Mail and Guardian.
    • "Farm Workers Announce Election Boycott". AllAfrica.
    • . Cape Argus. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
    • . Archived from the original on 26 March 2009.
    • . ekklesia. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
    • "Tutu: Why Steve Biko wouldn't vote". Pambazuka.
    • . Polity. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
    • . Polity. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  19. ^ "IEC Election Report 2009". IEC. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  20. ^ "Building a base for a credible opposition". SundayTribune. 3 May 2009.
  21. ^ Independent Electoral Commission
  22. ^ "Home".
  23. ^ "We fulfilled our key objectives - Helen Zille - NEWS & ANALYSIS | Politicsweb". www.politicsweb.co.za. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  24. ^ "We fulfilled our key objectives - Helen Zille - NEWS & ANALYSIS | Politicsweb".

2009, south, african, general, election, general, elections, were, held, south, africa, april, 2009, elect, members, national, assembly, provincial, legislatures, these, were, fourth, general, elections, held, since, apartheid, 2004, april, 2009, 2014, outgoin. General elections were held in South Africa on 22 April 2009 to elect members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures 1 These were the fourth general elections held since the end of the apartheid era 2009 South African general election 2004 22 April 2009 2014 outgoing memberselected members All 400 seats in the National Assembly of South AfricaTurnout77 30 First party Second party Third party Leader Jacob Zuma Helen Zille Mosiuoa LekotaParty ANC Democratic Alliance COPELeader s seat National List n a National ListLast election 69 69 279 seats 12 37 50 seats Seats won 264 67 30Seat change 15 17 NewPopular vote 11 650 748 2 945 829 1 311 027Percentage 65 90 16 66 7 42 Swing 3 79 4 29 new Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party Leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi Patricia de Lille Bantu HolomisaParty IFP ID UDMLeader s seat National List National List National ListLast election 6 97 28 seats 1 73 7 seats 2 28 9 seatsSeats won 18 4 4Seat change 10 3 5Popular vote 804 260 162 915 149 680Percentage 4 55 0 92 0 85 Swing 2 42 0 81 1 43 President before electionKgalema MotlantheANC Elected President Jacob ZumaANCElection ballot The North Gauteng High Court ruled on 9 February 2009 that South African citizens living abroad should be allowed to vote in elections 2 The judgment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 12 March 2009 when it decided that overseas voters who were already registered would be allowed to vote 3 Registered voters who found themselves outside their registered voting districts on election day were also permitted to vote for the national ballot at any voting station in South Africa The result was a victory for the ruling African National Congress ANC which won 264 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly a fifteen seat reduction compared to the 2004 elections and losing its two thirds supermajority ANC leader Jacob Zuma remained president Contents 1 Background and campaign 1 1 African National Congress ruling party 1 2 Democratic Alliance official opposition 2 Electoral system 3 Boycott 4 Results 4 1 National Assembly 4 2 Provincial legislatures 4 2 1 Eastern Cape 4 2 2 Free State 4 2 3 Gauteng 4 2 4 KwaZulu Natal 4 2 5 Limpopo 4 2 6 Mpumalanga 4 2 7 North West 4 2 8 Northern Cape 4 2 9 Western Cape 4 3 NCOP seats 5 Aftermath 6 See also 7 ReferencesBackground and campaign EditAfrican National Congress ruling party Edit The African National Congress was the ruling party in parliament going into the 2009 elections having won 69 69 of the vote at the 2004 elections During its term in office a number of internal changes occurred the primary one being the election of Jacob Zuma to the party presidency ahead of Thabo Mbeki at the 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress held on 18 December 2007 4 Zuma s victory in the election was partly due to the wide degree of support for him from the ANC Youth League the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions citation needed Subsequent to this in 2008 Zuma s ongoing corruption trial in relation to a multi billion Rand arms deal was dismissed by the courts which insinuated that Mbeki had unduly influenced the investigation into Zuma In light of the court s findings the ANC s National Executive Committee asked Mbeki to resign as president of the country which he duly did on 20 September 2008 Mbeki was replaced by Kgalema Motlanthe who had been elected as ANC deputy president at the 2007 conference Motlanthe was not the presidential candidate of the ANC for the 2009 general election but rather the current President of the ANC Jacob Zuma 5 The ANC s electoral list was led by Zuma followed by Motlanthe Deputy President of South Africa Baleka Mbete finance minister Trevor Manuel and Winnie Mandela former wife of Nelson Mandela 6 The recall of Mbeki amongst other issues created severe tensions and splits within the party and eventually led to the formation of the Congress of the People a new political party formed by former ANC members Nevertheless most pre poll predictions gave the ANC between sixty and seventy per cent of the popular vote even the lowest prediction giving the ANC 47 per cent still rendered it comfortably South Africa s most favoured political party 7 Democratic Alliance official opposition Edit The Democratic Alliance South Africa s main opposition party had undergone a leadership change with Cape Town mayor and former anti apartheid activist Helen Zille having succeeded long serving Tony Leon in May 2007 With a disproportionate focus on the Western Cape province which it had identified as winnable the DA launched its election campaign with the slogan Vote to Win It released its manifesto on 14 February 8 The party was expected to perform strongly in the Western Cape with analysts suggesting it would take control of the province from the ruling ANC 9 The ANC s support in the province was on the wane while the DA had performed well in by elections in the province leading up to the poll 10 The party projected that it would govern in the Western Cape province a task made easier by the ANC COPE split though it expected to need to form a governing coalition in order to do so 11 The party anticipated that it would take control of several other major cities and towns in the 2011 local elections and with what it termed a realignment of SA politics predicted it would take its winning streak into the 2014 elections when it plans to challenge for the mantle of ruling party 12 The DA s relationship with ANC breakaway party Cope started strongly Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota showed a willingness to co operate with Zille in the future 13 14 Subsequently Zille criticised COPE s internal structures and suggested many of the party s new members were merely Mbeki loyalists hoping to resurrect defunct political careers 15 In the closing stages of the DA s campaign it launched its Stop Zuma drive which came under considerable criticism in the press political analysts dubbing the tactic an example of negative politics Zille later retorted however that what was really negative was the idea of handing over the right to change the Constitution unilaterally to Jacob Zuma and his closed crony network as they would abuse that right both to enrich themselves and to protect themselves from prosecution She later claimed the decline in the ANC s support base and the concomitant increase in that of her own party was a result of the DA Stop Zuma campaign Electoral system EditThe 400 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed list proportional representation two hundred members were elected from national party lists and 200 from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces The President of South Africa was chosen by the National Assembly after the election in 2009 the presidential election was held on 6 May The premiers of each province are chosen by the winning majority in each provincial legislature Boycott EditA number of communities organisations social movements and well known personalities threatened not to vote in the 2009 elections 16 The most well known personality was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who at first said he would not vote but then changed his mind 17 South Africa s Poor People s Alliance the Anti Privatisation Forum NOPE and the independent farmworkers union Sikhula Sonke resolved to boycott the election under the banner No Land No House No Vote 18 Results Edit Most popular party in each ward depicted as a map top and as a cartogram in which size is proportional to the number of votes cast bottom African National Congress Democratic Alliance Congress of the People Inkatha Freedom Party Independent Democrats United Democratic Movement The darker shade indicates a majority while the lighter shade indicates a non majority plurality Map showing for each municipality the percentage point change in the ANC s share of the vote since the 2004 election 37 5 50 pp to the ANC 25 37 5 pp to the ANC 12 5 25 pp to the ANC 0 12 5 pp to the ANC 0 12 5 pp away from the ANC 12 5 25 pp away from the ANC 25 37 5 pp away from the ANC 37 5 50 pp away from the ANC The ANC which has been in power since 1994 obtained 65 90 of valid votes cast on the national ballot making it just shy of being able to change the constitution The DA retained its position as the official opposition and also won the election in the Western Cape province with an outright majority Some 23 million people were registered for the 2009 general elections which was about 2 5 million more than in 2004 There was a 77 3 turnout of registered voters 1 34 of whom spoiled their ballots rendering them invalid 19 About 12 million people eligible to vote either did not register to vote about 7 million or did register but did not vote 5 4 million 20 In this election there was a slight decrease in voter abstention though there was at least one high profile election and registration boycotts campaign the No Land No House No Vote Campaign The Independent Electoral Commission made results available on their website as they were received from voting districts filtered by national provincial municipality and voting district 21 National Assembly Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress11 650 74865 90264 15Democratic Alliance2 945 82916 6667 17Congress of the People1 311 0277 4230NewInkatha Freedom Party804 2604 5518 10Independent Democrats162 9150 924 3United Democratic Movement149 6800 854 5Freedom Front Plus146 7960 8340African Christian Democratic Party142 6580 813 4United Christian Democratic Party66 0860 372 1Pan Africanist Congress48 5300 271 2Minority Front43 4740 251 1Azanian People s Organisation38 2450 2210African People s Convention35 8670 201NewMovement Democratic Party29 7470 170NewAl Jama ah25 9470 150NewChristian Democratic Alliance11 6380 0700National Democratic Convention10 8300 060NewNew Vision Party9 2960 050NewUnited Independent Front8 8720 050NewGreat Kongress of South Africa8 2710 050NewSouth African Democratic Congress6 0350 030NewKeep It Straight and Simple Party5 4400 0300Pan Africanist Movement5 4260 030NewAlliance of Free Democrats5 1780 030NewWomen Forward5 0870 030NewA Party2 8470 020NewTotal17 680 729100 004000Valid votes17 680 72998 66Invalid blank votes239 2371 34Total votes17 919 966100 00Registered voters turnout23 181 99777 30Source Election ResourcesProvincial legislatures Edit The following table summarises the results of the elections to the provincial legislatures The majority party in each province is indicated in bold Party EC FS G KZN L M NW NC WCAfrican National Congress 44 22 47 51 43 27 25 19 14Democratic Alliance 6 3 16 7 2 2 3 4 22Congress of the People 9 4 6 1 4 1 3 5 3Inkatha Freedom Party 1 18Independent Democrats 1 2 2African Christian Democratic Party 1 1 1United Democratic Movement 3Freedom Front Plus 1 1Minority Front 2United Christian Democratic Party 2African Independent Congress 1Total 63 30 73 80 49 30 33 30 42Eastern Cape Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress1 552 67668 8244 7Congress of the People308 43913 679NewDemocratic Alliance225 3109 996 1United Democratic Movement93 1964 133 3African Independent Congress17 3060 771NewPan Africanist Congress12 1080 540 1African Christian Democratic Party11 9740 5300Independent Democrats10 4660 4600Azanian People s Organisation4 5980 2000African People s Convention4 5170 200NewFreedom Front Plus4 4280 2000Inkatha Freedom Party2 2700 1000National Democratic Convention2 0270 090NewPan Africanist Movement1 9210 090NewUnited Christian Democratic Party1 9080 0800Christian Democratic Alliance1 6630 070NewNew Vision Party1 2810 060NewTotal2 256 088100 00630Valid votes2 256 08898 59Invalid blank votes32 2991 41Total votes2 288 387100 00Registered voters turnout3 056 55974 87Source Election ResourcesFree State Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress734 68871 1022 3Congress of the People120 01811 614NewDemocratic Alliance119 84411 6030Freedom Front Plus20 7802 0110Dikwankwetla Party11 2571 0900African Christian Democratic Party7 5560 730 1United Democratic Movement3 7220 3600United Christian Democratic Party3 4590 3300Pan Africanist Congress3 4490 3300African People s Convention3 2000 310NewInkatha Freedom Party2 2320 2200Independent Democrats1 6540 1600National Democratic Convention1 0650 100NewPeace and Justice Congress3980 040NewTotal1 033 322100 00300Valid votes1 033 32298 50Invalid blank votes15 7441 50Total votes1 049 066100 00Registered voters turnout1 388 58875 55Source Election ResourcesGauteng Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress2 662 01364 0447 4Democratic Alliance908 61621 8616 1Congress of the People323 3277 786NewFreedom Front Plus67 6601 6310Inkatha Freedom Party61 8561 491 1African Christian Democratic Party36 0990 8710Independent Democrats25 2430 6110United Democratic Movement16 4800 400 1Pan Africanist Congress12 8800 310 1United Christian Democratic Party10 0910 2400Azanian People s Organisation8 9270 2100Movement Democratic Party5 7310 140NewAfrican People s Convention5 1230 120NewChristian Democratic Alliance2 9010 0700African Christian Alliance2 5410 060NewWomen Forward1 9740 050NewGreat Kongress of South Africa1 9090 050NewNational Democratic Convention1 4970 040NewAlliance of Free Democrats1 1010 030NewNew Vision Party1 0790 030NewTotal4 157 048100 00730Valid votes4 157 04898 98Invalid blank votes42 8151 02Total votes4 199 863100 00Registered voters turnout5 555 15975 60Source Election ResourcesKwaZulu Natal Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress2 192 51662 9551 13Inkatha Freedom Party780 02722 4018 12Democratic Alliance318 5599 1570Minority Front71 5072 0520Congress of the People44 8901 291NewAfrican Christian Democratic Party23 5370 681 1United Democratic Movement7 9530 230 1Al Jama ah7 6120 220NewNational Democratic Convention6 8810 200NewIndependent Democrats6 8530 2000Freedom Front Plus5 7600 1700African People s Convention5 0870 150NewSouth African Democratic Congress3 8830 110NewPan Africanist Congress2 5780 0700Women Forward1 8160 050NewUnited Christian Democratic Party1 7980 0500Great Kongress of South Africa1 7300 050NewTotal3 482 987100 00800Valid votes3 482 98798 76Invalid blank votes43 7131 24Total votes3 526 700100 00Registered voters turnout4 475 21778 81Source Election ResourcesLimpopo Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress1 265 63184 8843 2Congress of the People112 3257 534NewDemocratic Alliance51 8563 4820African Christian Democratic Party10 2460 690 1Freedom Front Plus9 0350 6100Pan Africanist Congress7 9340 5300New Vision Party6 4970 440NewAzanian People s Organisation5 6400 3800United Democratic Movement5 1930 350 1African People s Convention4 4550 300NewXimoko Party3 4520 2300United Independent Front1 7690 120NewBlack Consciousness Party1 4320 100NewIndependent Democrats1 3330 0900United Christian Democratic Party1 3200 0900Alliance of Free Democrats1 0410 070NewWomen Forward9770 070NewInkatha Freedom Party9360 060NewTotal1 491 072100 00490Valid votes1 491 07298 51Invalid blank votes22 5491 49Total votes1 513 621100 00Registered voters turnout2 256 07367 09Source Election ResourcesMpumalanga Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress1 110 19085 55270Democratic Alliance97 2047 4920Congress of the People37 7892 911NewFreedom Front Plus11 5900 890 1African Christian Democratic Party6 5650 5100Inkatha Freedom Party6 5400 5000Sindawonye Progressive Party6 4230 4900African People s Convention4 8340 370NewPan Africanist Congress4 0970 3200United Democratic Movement3 3660 2600Azanian People s Organisation2 9280 2300Christian Party2 4350 190NewIndependent Democrats1 5270 1200National Democratic Convention1 3740 110NewUnited Christian Democratic Party9130 0700Total1 297 775100 00300Valid votes1 297 77598 55Invalid blank votes19 1191 45Total votes1 316 894100 00Registered voters turnout1 696 70577 61Source Election ResourcesNorth West Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress783 79472 8925 2Congress of the People89 5738 333NewDemocratic Alliance88 7288 253 1United Christian Democratic Party56 6785 272 1Freedom Front Plus19 4631 810 1African Christian Democratic Party7 3660 6900United Democratic Movement5 4670 5100Independent Democrats4 9840 4600Movement Democratic Party4 4320 410NewAfrican People s Convention3 1160 290NewPan Africanist Congress2 8310 2600Azanian People s Organisation2 7120 2500South African Political Party1 8320 170NewAfrican Christian Alliance1 7500 160NewInkatha Freedom Party1 6190 1500National Democratic Convention9780 090NewTotal1 075 323100 00330Valid votes1 075 32398 08Invalid blank votes21 0071 92Total votes1 096 330100 00Registered voters turnout1 564 35770 08Source Election ResourcesNorthern Cape Edit PartyVotes Seats African National Congress245 69960 7519 2Congress of the People67 41616 675NewDemocratic Alliance50 81712 574 1Independent Democrats19 9954 9420Freedom Front Plus5 0341 240 1United Christian Democratic Party4 8891 2100African Christian Democratic Party4 0411 000 1Azanian People s Organisation2 4390 6000African People s Convention1 3640 340NewPan Africanist Congress8820 2200Inkatha Freedom Party7570 1900United Democratic Movement6040 1500Christian Democratic Alliance4810 120NewTotal404 418100 00300Valid votes404 41898 49Invalid blank votes6 1901 51Total votes410 608100 00Registered voters turnout554 90074 00Source Election ResourcesWestern Cape Edit Main article 2009 Western Cape provincial election PartyVotes Seats Democratic Alliance1 012 56851 4622 10African National Congress620 91831 5514 5Congress of the People152 3567 743NewIndependent Democrats92 1164 682 1African Christian Democratic Party28 9951 471 1United Democratic Movement14 0130 710 1Al Jama ah9 0390 460NewFreedom Front Plus8 3840 4300Pan Africanist Congress4 4670 2300Africa Muslim Party4 3330 2200Christian Democratic Alliance3 9870 2000National Party South Africa3 3780 170NewCape Party2 5520 130NewNational Alliance1 9960 100NewAfrican People s Convention1 7780 090NewUnited Christian Democratic Party1 5520 0800Azanian People s Organisation1 2910 0700United Independent Front1 1780 060NewInkatha Freedom Party1 1580 0600Peace and Justice Congress6300 0300Universal Party5990 0300National Democratic Convention4630 020NewTotal1 967 751100 00420Valid votes1 967 75198 99Invalid blank votes20 0261 01Total votes1 987 777100 00Registered voters turnout2 634 43975 45Source Election ResourcesNCOP seats Edit The National Council of Provinces NCOP consists of 90 members ten elected by each provincial legislature The Members of NCOP have to be elected in proportion to the party membership of the provincial legislature Party Delegate type Province TotalEC FS G KZN L M NW NC WCAfrican National Congress Permanent 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 3 2 35 62Special 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 1 27Democratic Alliance Permanent 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 10 13Special 1 2 3Congress of the People Permanent 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 8Special 1 1Independent Democrats Permanent 1 1 2Special 1 1Inkatha Freedom Party Permanent 1 1 2Special 1 1Freedom Front Plus Special 1 1United Christian Democratic Party Special 1 1United Democratic Movement Special 1 1Total 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 90Aftermath EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it April 2016 The ANC received widespread congratulations for its decisive national victory both from international and domestic sources This included the opposition with DA leader Helen Zille acknowledging that the people had given it a strong mandate to rule We trust that the ANC will not abuse this confidence and will govern well and in the interests of all South Africans 22 However with 65 9 of the vote and 264 seats in the National Assembly down from 74 3 and 297 seats the ANC no longer had the two thirds majority it needed to change the Constitution unilaterally The governing party had lost considerable support in 8 of the 9 provinces partially compensated for by a big increase in KwaZulu Natal at the expense of the IFP Thanking supporters the following week 23 DA leader Helen Zille related proudly that her party had achieved all three of its primary objectives it had kept the ANC below a two thirds majority albeit only just won an outright majority in the Western Cape and significantly improved its standing in parliament 24 Zille saw the results as a vindication of the party s statement at the beginning of its campaign that the only two genuine political forces in South Africa were the DA and the ANC with the latter losing support while the former consistently gained it and voters refusing to waste their ballots on small insignificant parties See also EditAfrican National Congress candidates for the 2009 South African general election List of political parties in South Africa 2011 South African municipal election 25th South African ParliamentReferences Edit Motlanthe sets election date Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine IOL co za 10 February 2009 Court backs S Africa expat vote BBC News 9 February 2009 Retrieved 23 May 2010 South African registered overseas voters can vote People s Daily Online Press Statement Results for the Election of ANC Officials 19 December 2007 Archived 29 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine http www anc org za show php doc ancdocs pr 2008 pr0108 html Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Statement of the ANC National Executive Committee 8 January 2008 The ANC National Executive Committee confirmed that the ANC President will lead the ANC election campaign as the organisation s candidate for president of South Africa in the 2009 election Winnie set for shock comeback to ANC politics Perry Alex South African Election Why It Matters TIME 21 April 2009 Retrieved 21 April 2009 DA election launch in Soweto News24 15 January 2009 permanent dead link Minorities become important as polls loom IOL 7 September 2008 Retrieved 2 July 2009 DA Helen Zille leader of the Democratic Alliance on the party s victory in the Western Cape by elections Archived from the original on 4 June 2009 DA sets its sights on governing Western Cape SABC 12 November 2008 Archived from the original on 29 June 2011 Retrieved 13 April 2016 DA plans to rule SA from 2014 IOL 11 November 2008 Lekota open to DA Alliance IOL 19 November 2008 Zille backs Lekota s views IOL 19 November 2008 permanent dead link Zille slams COPE as a ploy to resurrect political careers 10 January 2009 permanent dead link 60 landless people arrested The Sowetan permanent dead link Protesters refuse to vote IOL One house one vote for South Africans BBC 21 April 2009 Retrieved 4 January 2010 No land no home no vote Weekend Argus Feeling of change in the West Coast air Cape Argus Tutu Why I Won t Vote TheTimes Archived from the original on 8 October 2008 Retrieved 24 April 2009 Tutu decides to vote IOL Elections A Dangerous Time for Poor People s Movements in South Africa SACSIS Archived from the original on 28 April 2011 Retrieved 21 April 2009 No Vote Campaigns are not a Rejection of Democracy Mail and Guardian Farm Workers Announce Election Boycott AllAfrica Why we refuse to vote Cape Argus Archived from the original on 24 April 2009 Retrieved 21 April 2009 NOPE our dreams don t fit on your ballots Archived from the original on 26 March 2009 Grassroots movements plan to boycott South African poll ekklesia Archived from the original on 23 April 2009 Retrieved 24 April 2009 Tutu Why Steve Biko wouldn t vote Pambazuka Nope your vote doesn t make a difference Polity Archived from the original on 27 April 2009 Retrieved 24 April 2009 Farm workers threaten boycott elections Polity Archived from the original on 12 April 2021 Retrieved 24 April 2009 IEC Election Report 2009 IEC Retrieved 21 April 2014 Building a base for a credible opposition SundayTribune 3 May 2009 Independent Electoral Commission Home We fulfilled our key objectives Helen Zille NEWS amp ANALYSIS Politicsweb www politicsweb co za Retrieved 2 June 2021 We fulfilled our key objectives Helen Zille NEWS amp ANALYSIS Politicsweb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2009 South African general election amp oldid 1128320971, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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