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Factors of the 2014 South African Elections Essay

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From 1994 South Africa has been a democracy, it has been led by a government which is decided upon by the people of South Africa in quadrennial national elections. This essay specifically expands upon the 2014 elections and will elaborate on every factor of these elections.
South Africa is a multiparty, constitutional three tier democracy. South Africa’s three arms of state are the Executive (the Presidency and its cabinet), the Legislature (Parliament) and the Judicial. The Legislature has between 350 and 400 seats which are made up of representatives from various parties that are determined through proportional representation from the country’s quadrennial national elections. i.e. if 15% of the country votes for ‘Party A’, Party A will …show more content…

Other political parties include the ANC’s main opposition the DA-Democratic Alliance- holding 67 seats; COPE-Congress of the People- holding 30 seats , the IFP-Inkhata Freedom Party- holding 18 seats; and various other smaller parties. The 2014 elections will see new parties on the voting ballots. The EFF-Economic Freedom Fighters- is a new party whose policy, if elected, will be to bring power back to the people in South Africa and therefore go against capitalism. Agang- meaning ‘to build’-is a party whose statement it is to improve South Africa in all sectors and provide freedom to all. Each party has its own values and goals which means for the people of South Africa that they truly have freedom in choice.
With so many parties, however, choice can be difficult, this is one of the reasons why the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) was created. The IEC is set in the Constitution of South Africa in order to manage free and fair elections through all levels of government. It was created in 1996 and it is obliged to manage all elections, ensure that the elections are fair and just, maintain a voter’s roll to see who is eligible to vote and they must also announce the result of the national elections. The IEC is also responsible for voter safety. They must ensure that the voter is informed about what they do to vote and what parties they can vote for and they must ensure that laws pertaining to elections are as up to date

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