List of political parties in South Africa

Updated: 11/4/2025, 4:10:01 AM Wikipedia source

This is a list of political parties in South Africa. For most of its recent history, South Africa has functioned as a democratic state but with a one-party dominant system, with the African National Congress (ANC) as the governing party. Following the 2024 general election this dominance has declined, as a result the country has been governed by a ten-member coalition called the Government of National Unity consisting of the ANC, Democratic Alliance (DA), Patriotic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, Good, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, Freedom Front Plus, United Democratic Movement, Al Jama-ah, and Rise Mzansi. The DA governs the Western Cape Province and a number of municipalities, some in coalitions with smaller parties.

Tables

· Parliamentary parties

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Est.	Main Ideologies	Political position	NationalAssembly	NCOP	Provinciallegislatures	Municipalcouncil seats
	African National Congress	ANC	Cyril Ramaphosa	1912	African nationalismSocial democracy	Centre-left	159 / 400	43 / 90	224 / 487	4,549 / 8,794
	Democratic Alliance	DA	John Steenhuisen	2000	LiberalismFederalism	Centre	87 / 400	21 / 90	97 / 487	1,494 / 8,794
	uMkhonto weSizweEnglish: Spear of the Nation	MK	Jacob Zuma	2023	Zulu nationalismSocialismSocial conservatism	Left-wing	58 / 400	9 / 90	58 / 487	0 / 8,794
	Economic Freedom Fighters	EFF	Julius Malema	2013	Communism Pan-Africanism	Far-left	39 / 400	10 / 90	54 / 487	982 / 8,794
	Inkatha Freedom Party	IFP	Velenkosini Hlabisa	1975	ConservatismConstitutional monarchismZulu nationalism	Right-wing	17 / 400	2 / 90	16 / 487	544 / 8,794
	Patriotic Alliance	PA	Gayton McKenzie	2013	Right-wing populismColoured interests	Right-wingto far-right	9 / 400	2 / 90	10 / 487	85 / 8,794
	Freedom Front Plus	VF+	Corné Mulder	1994	ConservatismAfrikaner interestsself-determination	Right-wing	6 / 400	2 / 90	9 / 487	221 / 8,794
	ActionSA	n/a	Herman Mashaba	2020	Classical liberalismLibertarianism	Centre-right	6 / 400	1 / 90	5 / 487	90 / 8,974
	African Christian Democratic Party	ACDP	Kenneth Meshoe	1993	Christian democracySocial conservatism	Centre-rightto right-wing	3 / 400	0 / 90	2 / 487	49 / 8,794
	United Democratic Movement	UDM	Bantu Holomisa	1997	Social democracy	Centre-left	3 / 400	1 / 90	3 / 487	51 / 8,794
	Rise Mzansi	RISE	Songezo Zibi	2023	Third Way	Centre-left	2 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	0 / 8,794
	Build One South Africa	BOSA	Mmusi Maimane	2022	Liberalism	Centre	2 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	0 / 8,794
	African Transformation Movement	ATM	Vuyolwethu Zungula	2018	Christian democracyConservatism	Centre-right	2 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	53 / 8,794
	Al Jama-ah	ALJAMA	Ganief Hendricks	2007	Islamic democracy	Left-wing (fiscal)Right-wing (social)	2 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	12 / 8,794
	National Coloured Congress	CCC	Fadiel Adams	2020	LocalismCape independence		2 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	8 / 8,794
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	PAC	Mzwanele Nyhontso	1959	African socialismBlack nationalism	Left-wing	1 / 400	0 / 90	0 / 487	21 / 8,794
	United Africans Transformation	UAT	Wonder Mahlatsi	2022	Pan-AfricanismSocialism	Left-wing	1 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	0 / 8,794
	Good	GOOD	Patricia de Lille	2018	Social liberalism	Centre-left	1 / 400	0 / 90	1 / 487	45 / 8,794

· Other parties with representation

Name		Abbrev.	Leader	Founded	Main Ideologies	Political position	Municipal council seats
	National Freedom Party	NFP	Ivan Rowan Barnes	2011	EgalitarianismSocial democracy	Centre-left	52 / 8,794
	African Independent Congress	AIC	Mandla Galo	2005	Social conservatism	Centre-right	43 / 8,794
	Forum for Service Delivery	F4SD	Mbahare Johannes Kekana	2015			32 / 8,646
	Abantu Batho Congress	ABC	Philani Mavundla	2021			25 / 8,794
	MAP16 Civic Movement	MAP16		2018			20 / 8,794
	Congress of the People	COPE	Mosiuoa Lekota	2008	Social democracySocial liberalism	Centre-left	13 / 8,794
	Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa	ICOSA	Jeffrey Donson	2006			8 / 8,794
	African People's Convention	APC	Themba Godi	2007	African nationalismPan-Africanism	Left-wing	14 / 8,794
	African People's Movement	APEMO	Vikizitha Mlotshwa			Centre-left
	United Christian Democratic Party	UCDP	Isaac Sipho Mfundisi	1997	Christian democracyFederalism	Centre-right	6 / 8,794
	Team Sugar South Africa	TSSA	Musa Thwala	2019		Far-left	7 / 8,794
	Plaaslike Besorgde InwonersEnglish: Concerned Local Residents	PBI	Isaac Sipho Mfundisi	2016	Anti-corruption		6 / 8,794
	Bolsheviks Party of South Africa	BPSA	Fanie Mogotji	2016	Marxism–Leninism	Far-left	4 / 8,794
	United Independent Movement	UIM	Neil de Beer	2020	Centrism	Centre-right	4 / 8,794
	African Democratic Change	ADeC	Visvin Reddy	2017	Anti-corruption		3 / 8,794
	Better Residents Association	BRA	Delta Mokoena(imprisoned)	2011	Localism		3 / 8,794
	Azanian People's Organisation	AZAPO	Nelvis Qekema	1978	Black ConsciousnessSocialism	Left-wing to far-left	2 / 8,794
	Democratic Liberal Congress	DLC	Patrick Pillay	2016	LiberalismEnvironmentalism	Centre	2 / 8,794
	International Revelation Congress	IRC	Te Mammba	2013	Social conservatismSocial welfare		2 / 8,794
	Power of Africans Unity	PAU	Julius Nsingwane	2016			2 / 8,794
	South African Maintenance andEstate Beneficiaries Association	SAMEBA	Makgorometse Gift Makhaba	2014			2 / 8,794
	Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats	AASD	Pappie Mokoena	2019	Social democracyPan-Africanism	Centre-left	2 / 8,794
	Africa Restoration Alliance	ARA	Jerome Swartz	2020			2 / 8,794
	Minority Front	MF	Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi	1993	Indian interests		1 / 8,794
	People's Revolutionary Movement	PRM	Nhlanhla Buthelezi	2016	Social conservatismNational conservatism	Left-wing (fiscal)Right-wing (social)	1 / 8,794
	Cape Independence Party	CAPEXIT	Jack Miller	2007	Cape independenceDirect democracy	Right-wing	2 / 8,794
	National People's Front	NAPF	Bheki Gumbi	2018			1 / 8,794

Defunct Parliamentary Parties (1994 – Present) · Defunct parties

Name		Abbrev.	Founded	Dissolved	Main Ideologies	Peak MPs (year)
	Afrikaner EenheidsbewegingEnglish: Afrikaner Unity Movement	AEB	1998	2003	Afrikaner nationalismConservatism	1 (1999)
	Democratic PartyAfrikaans: Demokratiese Party	DP	1989	2000	Conservative liberalismEconomic liberalism	38 (1999)
	Federal AllianceAfrikaans: Federale Alliansie	FA	1998	2007	ConservatismLibertarianism	2 (1999)
	Independent Democrats	ID	2003	2014	PopulismSocial liberalism	7 (2004)
	National PartyAfrikaans: Nasionale Party	NP	1914	1997	Christian democracyConservative liberalism	82 (1994)
	New National PartyAfrikaans: Nuwe Nasionale Party	NNP	1997	2005	Civic nationalismConservatism	28 (1999)

Defunct Parliamentary Parties (1958–1994) · Defunct parties

Name		Abbrev.	Founded	Dissolved	Main Ideologies
	Conservative PartyAfrikaans: Konserwatiewe Party	KP	1982	2004	Afrikaner nationalismSocial conservatism
	Labour PartyAfrikaans: Arbeidersparty	AP	1969	1994	Coloured people's rightsAnti-apartheidLabourismSocial democracy
	National UnionAfrikaans: Nasionale Unie	NU	1960	1966	CentrismSocial conservatism
	New Republic PartyAfrikaans: Nuwe Republiekparty	NRP	1977	1988	ConservatismConsociationalism
	Progressive Federal PartyAfrikaans: Progressiewe Federale Party	PFP	1977	1989	Anti-racismLiberalism
	Progressive PartyAfrikaans: Progressiewe Party	PP	1959	1975	Anti-racismLiberalism
	South African PartyAfrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Party	SAP	1977	1980	ConservatismFederalism
	United PartyAfrikaans: Verenigde Party	UP	1934	1977	Conservative liberalismMonarchism

Defunct Parliamentary Parties (1910–1958) · Defunct parties

Name		Abbrev.	Founded	Dissolved	Main Ideologies
	Afrikaner PartyAfrikaans: Afrikanerparty	AP	1941	1951	Afrikaner nationalismConservatism
	Dominion PartyAfrikaans: Dominiumparty	DP	1934	1948	ConservatismMonarchism
	Herenigde Nasionale PartyEnglish: Reunited National Party	HNP	1940	1948	Afrikaner nationalismSocial conservatism
	Labour PartyAfrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Arbeidersparty	LP	1910	1958	Democratic socialismSocial democracy
	Purified National PartyAfrikaans: Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party	GNP	1935	1940	Afrikaner nationalismSocial conservatism
	Roos Party	RP	1929	1935	Afrikaner nationalismMonetary reform
	Socialist League	SP	1915	1921	Socialism
	Socialist Party	SP	1938	1948	Democratic socialismSocial democracy
	South African PartyAfrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse PartyDutch: Zuidafrikaanse Partij	SAP	1910	1934	Afrikaner nationalismLiberal conservatism
	Unionist PartyAfrikaans: Unionisteparty	UP	1910	1920	MonarchismProtectionism

References

Daily Maverick
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-02-03-nfp-makes-a-comeback-in-kzn-to-irk-slumping-anc-while-ifp-shows-mixed-performance/
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https://ircsa.org.za/message-by-mammba/
IOL
https://iol.co.za/capetimes/news/2022-05-27-vote-recount-cape-independence-party-gets-another-seat-in-metro/
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"Welcome to the Dagga Party Official Website"
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federalpartysa.github.io
https://federalpartysa.github.io/
"Green Party of South Africa"
https://web.archive.org/web/20190101004458/https://www.greensouthafrica.co.za/
Daily Maverick
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-04-16-five-parties-join-forces-with-gayton-mckenzies-pa-to-take-on-da-in-western-cape/
www.organichumanitymovement.org
https://www.organichumanitymovement.org/
"Socialist Green Coalition"
https://web.archive.org/web/20101123034745/http://www.sgc.org.za/
"True Freedom Party | True Freedom Party"
https://web.archive.org/web/20131007033327/http://truefreedomparty.org.za/
trulyalliance.org.za
http://trulyalliance.org.za/
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http://www.womenforward.org.za [permanent dead link]
http://www.womenforward.org.za
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