South African Elections 2009

Printable version

The Library, Documentation and Information Department of the African Studies centre has compiled this dossier to coincide with the general elections in South Africa on April 22, 2009. It contains a selection of titles on elections in South Africa from the library's online catalogue, including monographs, articles, and chapters from edited works, published since 1993. Each title links directly to the corresponding record in the online catalogue, which provides a more detailed description of all titles as well as abstracts of many articles and edited works. The dossier starts with an introduction to South African elections since the end of apartheid and concludes with a selection of links to relevant web sites. Introduction 2004 elections 1999 elections 1994 elections Electoral system, electoral law Elections, politics and governance Selected web resources For further information, please email us at asclibrary@ascleiden.nl or phone +31 (0)71 527 3354.
Introduction South Africa has held general elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislatures on April 22, 2009. The National Assembly consists of 400 members, 200 of whom are elected from national party lists, the other 200 from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa is chosen by the National Assembly after the elections. The 2009 elections are the fourth general elections held since the end of apartheid. After four years of protracted negotiations, the first democratic elections were held on April 26-29, 1994. The ANC won the election with 62.6% of the vote, securing 252 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly. It won seven out of the nine provincial elections but had to concede executive majorities to the National Party in the Western Cape and to the Inkatha Freedom Party in Kwazulu-Natal. Altogether, more than 19.5 million people voted through a liberal dispensation which accorded the ballot to all permanent residents and citizens. On May 9, 1994, the National Assembly unanimously elected Nelson Mandela President of South Africa. In May 1996, the Constitutional Assembly – joint sittings of the National Assembly and the Senate – adopted a definitive constitution. Except for the replacement of the Senate with the National Council of Provinces, the 1996 Constitution retained the government institutions established by the 1993 interim constitution. The NP withdrew from the Government of National Unity in June 1996, an abdication prompted by NP leaders’ perception that they had failed to influence government policy. The second general elections were held in June 1999. This time the franchise was confined to citizens and restricted to those in possession of current identity documents. As a consequence, participation was considerably lower than in 1994: nearly 16 million voters representing 68% of the voting age population. The ANC won a landslide victory of 66.3% of the vote. Nelson Mandela retired as President of South Africa and was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki. President Mbeki led the ANC to a third landslide victory in the general elections of April 14, 2004, increasing its support to 69.6%. The Democratic Alliance, a merger of the Democratic Party and the New National Party, improved upon the results obtained by the DP in 1999 and consolidated its position as the official opposition to the ANC. At the provincial level the ANC for the first time governed in all nine provinces. Given the political hegemony of the ANC, the political system in South Africa has evolved into a dominant party system. However, recently the context of party politics and electoral contestation ahead of the 2009 elections has changed. A sign of the change in the country’s political landscape is the emergence of the Congress of the People (COPE), which split from the ANC in the aftermath of the Jacob Zuma–Thabo Mbeki contest, internal party politics in the wake of the ANC annual conference in December 2008, and the ousting of Mbeki. In the 2009 elections, 28 parties contested seats for the National Assembly. Eleven of them also contested for all nine Provincial Legislatures. Fourteen parties contested the elections for the National Assembly and one or more of the Provincial Legislatures, while three parties contested the elections for the National Assembly only. For the election results see: http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/sou2009results1.htm
2004 Elections Doing politics in Bushbuckridge: work, welfare and the South African elections of 2004 / Isak A. Niehaus In: Africa / International African Institute: (2006), vol. 76, no. 4, p. 526-548 : tab How the ANC won the 2004 elections : perspectives on voting behaviour in South Africa / Sydney Letsholo. - Johannesburg : EISA, 2005. - (EISA occasional paper ; 31)
Democracy, HIV/AIDS and citizen participation : focus on the 2004 South African election / Khabele Matlosa In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 77-96 : tab Les élections de 2004 en Afrique du Sud : les enseignements d'un scrutin gagné d'avance / Thierry Vircoulon In: Afrique contemporaine: (2004), no. 210, p. 13-23 : graf Political party funding in the 2004 election / Dirk Kotzé In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 27-46 : tab South Africa's third democratic election : opportunities and challenges / Khabele Matlosa & Sydney Letsholo In: Outside the ballot box : preconditions for elections in Southern Africa 2004/5 / ed. by Jeanette Minnie. - Windhoek : Media Institute of Southern Africa: (2004), p. 119-137 : tab The election result and its implications for political party configuration / Laurence Piper In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 97-120 : tab The turnover of power in KwaZulu-Natal : a growing commitment to and engagement with the democratic process / Shauna Mottiar In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 47-58 : tab Under strain : the racial/ethnic interpretation of South Africa's 2004 election / Thabisi Hoeane In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 1-26 Women's representation : the South African electoral system and the 2004 election / Amanda Gouws In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 59-76 : tab
1999 Elections The electoral temptation of race in South Africa : implications for the 2004 election / Gavin Davis In: Transformation: (2003), no. 53, p. 4-28 : tab Les leçons des élections du 2 juin 1999 : une victoire exigeante pour l'ANC / Denis Constant Martin In: L'Afrique politique: (2001), p. 253-267 : krt., tab South Africa's 1999 election: consolidating a dominant party system / Kimberly Lanegran In: Africa Today: (2001), vol. 48, no. 2, p. 81-102 : tab
South Africa's second democratic election 1999 : an annotated bibliography / Beth Strachan. - Auckland Park : Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, 2001 Provincial elections and government formation in the Western Cape : the politics of polarisation / Lia Nijzink & Sean Jacobs In: Politikon: (2000), vol. 27, no. 1, p. 37-49 : tab Consolidating democracy : South Africa's second popular election / Tom Lodge. - Johannesburg : Witwatersrand University Press, 1999 Democracy South Africa : evaluating the 1999 election / Yvonne Muthien (ed.). - Pretoria : HSRC, 1999 Election '99 South Africa : from Mandela to Mbeki / Andrew S. Reynolds (ed.). - New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999
Elections '99 / Independent Electoral Commission, IEC. - Auckland Park : Electoral Institute of South Africa, 1999 From transition to consolidation : the 1999 South African general election / Dirk Kotzé In: Africa Quarterly: (1999), vol. 39, no. 4, p. 39-59 Hegemonism, dominance or weak opposition? : the partisan situation on the eve of South Africa's second election campaign / Robert Mattes, Helen Taylor & Cherrel Africa In: Transformation: (1999), no. 38, p. 1-19 : tab
Party presence and voter trust : findings from the EISA pre-election day and exit poll surveys / Tom Lodge & Sibusiso Ntuli. - Johannesburg : Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, 1999 Pre-election focus 1999 : a detailed guide to the 1999 elections / Venitia Govender & Sally Sealey (ed.). - [Johannesburg] : Human Rights Committee, 1999 The South African elections / Stephen Orvis (ed.). - New Brunswick, N.J. African Studies Association, 1999. - (Issue, ISSN 0047-1607 ; vol. 27, no. 2) The South African election of June 1999. - Basingstoke [etc.] : Carfax Publishing, Taylor & Francis, 1999. - (Politikon, ISSN 0258-9346 ; vol. 26, no. 2) South Africa's second democratic election / Dominic Milazi In: Lesotho Social Science Review: (1998), vol. 4, no. 2, p. 83-97
1994 Elections Images of negotiation: the story of an election told through print advertisements / Ruth Teer-Tomaselli In: Critical Arts: (2005), vol. 19, no. 1/2, p. 74-111 The South African voter and the racial census, c 1994 / Pierre Du Toit In: Politeia: (1999), vol. 18, no. 2, p. 6-22 An election to remember : recollections of a United Nations observer to the 1994 South African election / Chisanga Puta-Chekwe. - Lusaka : Bookworld Publishers, 1998 L'acte de vote en Afrique du Sud : remarques à partir des premières élections démocratiques d'avril 1994 / Ivan Crouzel In: Politique africaine: (1998), no. 69, p. 29-39 Race, ethnicity, and voting behaviour: lessons from South Africa / Robert M. Mattes & Amanda Gouws In: Elections and conflict management in Africa / Timothy D. Sisk and Andrew Reynolds, ed. - Washington, DC : United States Institute of Peace Press: (1998), p. 119-142 : tab
Launching democracy in South Africa : the first open election, April 1994 / R. W. Johnson & Lawrence Schlemmer (ed.). - New Haven, Conn., [etc.] : Yale University Press, 1996 Mandela's lost province : the African National Congress and the Western Cape electorate in the 1994 South African elections / Matt Eldridge & Jeremy Seekings In: Journal of Southern African Studies: (1996), vol. 22, no. 4, p. 517-540 : fig., graf., tab Selling change: advertisements for the 1994 South African election / Eve Bertelsen In: African Affairs: (1996), vol. 95, no. 379, p. 225-252 : foto's The Johannesburg massacre: media images of the South African transition / Elaine Windrich In: Africa Today: (1996), vol. 43, no. 1, p. 77-94 Images of change / George Hallett. - Braamfontein : Nolwazi Educational Publishers, 1995 International monitoring of the transition to democracy in South Africa, 1992-1994 / Douglas G. Anglin In: African Affairs: (1995), vol. 94, no. 377, p. 519-543 : tab
Learning to vote : voter education in South Africa's 1994 elections / Valerie Møller & Theodor Hanf / Karen Mac Gregor (ed.). - Durban : Indicator Press, 1995 South Africa : threats to a new democracy : continuing violence in KwaZulu-Natal / Human Rights Watch. - New York [etc.] : Human Rights Watch, 1995. - (Human Rights Watch, Africa, ISSN 1079-2325 ; vol. 7, no. 3) South Africa: the elections 1994 / Chantal Cuddumbey In: L'Afrique politique: (1995), [vol. 2], p. 93-117 : graf., tab The South African general election, April 1994: results, analysis and implications / Tom Lodge In: African Affairs: (1995), vol. 94, no. 377, p. 471-500 Transitions to democracy? : the South African and Mozambican election experiences of 1994 / Jeremy Grest In: Africanus: (1995), vol. 25, no. 1, p. 5-14 United Nations Observer Mission in South Africa (UNOMSA): Security Council resolutions 772 (1992)and 894 (1994) and the South African transition : preventive diplomacy and peace-keeping / Muna Ndulo In: African Yearbook of International Law: (1995), vol. 3, p. 205-238 'Negotiated elections' in South Africa, 1994 / Morris Szeftel In: Review of African Political Economy: (1994), vol. 21, no. 61, p. 457-470 : fig., tab Afrique du Sud: "un homme, une voix" / Marc Aicardi de Saint-Paul In: Afrique contemporaine: (1994), no. 171, p. 3-16
Election '94 South Africa : the campaigns, results and future prospects / Andrew Reynolds (ed.). - Cape Town [etc.] : Philip, 1994 Election special : South Africa's march to democracy / Rhoda Njanana (ed.). - Harare : Southern African Research and Documentation Centre, 1994. - (Unfinished business ; no. 8) Founding democracy and the new South African voter / Lawrence Schlemmer & Ian Hirschfeld (ed.). - Pretoria : Human Sciences Research Council, 1994. - (Information update, ISSN 1017-7485 ; [vol. 3], [no. 2] special) International monitoring of the South African elections / Douglas G. Anglin. - Toronto : [African Studies Association], 1994 Les premières élections générales en Afrique du Sud / Alfred Bosch In: Politique africaine: (1994), no. 54, p. 127-143 Observing South Africa's 1994 national and provincial elections : final report to the European Commission from the European Union Election Unit / European Union Election Unit. - Johannesburg : European Union Election Unit, 1994 Parlamentswahlen in Südafrika / Ulf Engel In: Verfassung und Recht in Übersee: (1994), Jg. 27, Quart. 4, p. 447-490 : tab
SA 27 april 1994 : an authors' diary = SA 27 april 1994 : 'n skrywersdagboek / André Brink (ed.). - Pretoria [etc.] : Queillerie, 1994 South Africa's 1994 elections : the birth of democracy, its future prospects and Norwegian development aid / Elling N. Tjønneland (ed.). - Oslo [etc.] : Norwegian Institute of Human Rights [etc.], 1994. - (Human rights report, ISSN 0804-0672 ; no. 3) South Africa's 1994 election in an African perspective / Roger Southall In: Africa Insight: (1994), vol. 24, no. 2, p. 86-98 : tab South Africa's watershed election / James Hamill & J. E. Spence In: The World Today: (1994), vol. 50, no. 7, p. 128-132 The South African elections of 1994: the remaking of a dominant-party State / Roger Southall In: The Journal of Modern African Studies: (1994), vol. 32, no. 4, p. 629-655 : tab Waarnemer / Albert H. Heuvel. - Baarn : Ten Have, 1994 How the vote will go : a survey of African potential voters in the Eastern Cape / Jan K. Coetzee & Geoffrey T. Wood In: Politikon: (1993), vol. 20, no. 2, p. 25-45 : graf., krt., tab
Electoral system, electoral law Delimitation of local government ward boundaries in the Tshwane municipal area : the challenge of achieving fair political representation / C. J. Napier In: Politeia: (2007), vol. 26, no. 2, p. 179-191 Of no account? : South Africa's electoral system (non) debate / Louise Vincent In: Journal of Contemporary African Studies: (2006), vol. 24, no. 1, p. 81-100 Floor crossing and nascent democracies : a neglected aspect of electoral systems? : the current South African debate in the light of the Indian experience / Clemens Spieß & Malte Pehl In: Verfassung und Recht in Übersee: (2004), Jg. 37, Quart. 2, p. 195-224 : tab Post-election South Africa : the continuing case for electoral reform / Roger Southall In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 154-165 How the South African electoral system was negotiated / Tom Lodge In: Journal of African Elections: (2003), vol. 2, no. 1, p. 71-76 Should prisoners have a right to vote? / Ntusi Mbodla In: Journal of African Law: (2002), vol. 46, no. 1, p. 92-102 Constitutional constraints on South Africa's electoral system / Glenda Fick In: Journal of African Elections: (2001), vol. 1, no. 2, p. 69-77 Electoral management and democratic governance in southern Africa / David Pottie In: Politikon: (2001), vol. 28, no. 2, p. 133-155 : tab The 1994 and 1999 electoral process/systems: promoting democracy in South Africa / Constanze Bauer In: African Journal of Political Science: (2001), vol. 6, no. 1, p. 105-122 : tab
Electoral systems and democratization in Southern Africa / Andrew Reynolds. - Oxford [etc .] : Oxford University Press, 1999. - (Oxford studies in democratization) The right to vote in South Africa : a hundred years of experience / Klavs Skovsholm In: Verfassung und Recht in Übersee: (1999), Jg. 32, Quart. 2, p. 236-252 A systematic view on the electoral reform debate in South Africa / Michael Krennerich & Jacques De Ville In: Verfassung und Recht in Übersee: (1997), Jg. 30, Quart. 1, p. 26-41 : tab The importance of electoral system and constitutional design to the new democracies of southern Africa / Andrew Reynolds. - Toronto : [African Studies Association], 1994
Elections, politics and governance African National Congress change in leadership : what really won it for Zuma? / Claire Ceruti In: Review of African Political Economy: (2008), vol. 35, no. 115, p. 107-114 The political cost of AIDS in Africa : evidence from six countries / Kondwani Chirambo (ed.). - Pretoria : IDASA, 2008 A silent revolution : South African voters, 1994-2006 / Collette Schulz-Herzenberg In: South Africa 2007 / ed. by Sakhela Buhlungu . . . [et al. ]. - Cape Town : HSRC Press: (2007), p. 114-115 : graf., tab Voting behaviour in the SA local government elections of 2006 with specific reference to the youth / Maxi Schoeman & Charles Puttergill In: Journal of African Elections: (2007), vol. 6, no. 1, p. 152-173
Electoral politics in South Africa : assessing the first democratic decade / Jessica Piombo & Lia Nijzink (ed.). - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 Introduction: the contradictions and ironies of elections in Africa / Kwame A. Ninsin, Hala G. Thabet, Adigun Agbaje, Said Adejumobi, John Makumbe, Peter Wanyande, Adam Habib & Sanusha Naidu In: Africa Development: (2006), vol. 31, no. 3, p. 1-10, 11-24, 25-44, 45-61, 62-80 : tab Partisan realignment in Cape Town 1994-2004 / Jeremy Seekings In: Journal of African Elections: (2006), vol. 5, no. 1, p. 176-203 : graf., tab Service delivery and voting behaviour : a comparative overview of the 2004 general election and 2006 municipal elections in South Africa / J. Steyn Kotze In: Politeia: (2006), vol. 25, no. 3, p. 207-218 HIV/AIDS and democratic governance in South Africa : illustrating the impact on electoral processes / Per Strand & Kondwani Chirambo (ed.). - Pretoria [etc.] : IDASA [etc.], 2005 The integration of emotional and cognitive messages in election campaigns: a South African case study / Lynnette M. Fourie & Johannes D. Froneman In: Critical Arts: (2005), vol. 19, no. 1/2, p. 112-126 : ill Elections, constitutionalism and political stability in South Africa / Dren Nupen In: African Journal on Conflict Resolution: (2004), vol. 4, no. 2, p. 119-143 The dominant-party system : challenges for South Africa's second decade of democracy / Heidi Brooks In: Journal of African Elections: (2004), vol. 3, no. 2, p. 121-153 : tab
One woman, one vote : the gender politics of South African elections / Glenda Fick, Sheila Meintjes, & Mary Simons (ed.). - Johannesburg : Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, 2003 Coalition building, election rules, and party politics : South African women's path to parliament / Hannah E. Britton In: Africa Today: (2002), vol. 49, no. 4, p. 33-67 : tab Making sense of the 'Coloured' vote in post-apartheid South Africa : comparing the 1994 and 1999 provincial results in the Western Cape / Sean Jacobs In: Journal of African Elections: (2001), vol. 1, no. 1, p. 23-35 : tab The South African local government elections of December 2000 / Tom Lodge In: Politikon: (2001), vol. 28, no. 1, p. 21-46 : tab L'Afrique du Sud à la veille d'une consultation décisive / Jean François Bayart, Stephen Ellis & Béatrice Hibou In: Politique africaine: (1999), no. 73, p. 137-145
Elections and conflict management in Africa / Timothy D. Sisk & Andrew Reynolds (ed.). - Washington, DC : United States Institute of Peace Press, 1998 The local elections in KwaZulu-Natal: 26 June 1996 / A. M. Johnston & R. W. Johnson In: African Affairs: (1997), vol. 96, no. 384, p. 377-398 : krt., tab Qualitative and quantitative perspectives on voter empowerment in South Africa : the Matla Trust Voter Education Project / Susan Booysen In: Politikon: (1996), vol. 23, no. 1, p. 43-61 : fig., graf 27 April : one year later = een jaar later / André Brink (ed.). - Pretoria [etc.] : Queillerie, 1995 The waiting country : a South African witness / Mike Nicol. - London : Gollancz, 1995 Virtuous trends in South African society / Julia Frielinghaus. - Braamfontein : South African Institute of Race Relations, 1994. - (Spotlight, ISSN 1018-0842 ; no. 2/94) South Africa : the countdown to elections / Southern Africa Project. - Washington, D.C. : Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law, 1993
Selected web resources The ASC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Online Articles A model for election night forecasting applied to the 2004 South African elections / J. M Greben, C Elphinstone & J Holloway In: Orion: Journal of the Operations Research Society of South Africa, vol. 22, no. 1 (2006) http://www.orssa.org.za/wiki/uploads/ORiON/ORiON_22_1.pdf#page=97 A democratising South Africa?: an analysis of the 2004 national election / Leah Shianne Prudhomme Masters Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005 http://eprints.ru.ac.za/153/01/Prudhomme-ma.pdf Prediction of the 2004 national elections in South Africa / J.M.Greben (et al.) In: South African Journal of Science, vol. 101, 4 March, 2005, p. 157-161 http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/bitstream/10204/2154/3/Greben_2005_1.pdf Web Sites The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) Not for profit organization established in 1996 and based in Johannesburg. Its programme areas include balloting & electoral services; conflict management, democracy & electoral education; governance and elections & political processes. Has a country profile South Africa with information on the 2009 elections, an election archive, and legal and general information. http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/southafrica.htm For the election results see: http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/sou2009results1.htm
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) The Electoral Commission of South Africa is a permanent body created by the Constitution to promote and safeguard democracy in South Africa. Its immediate task is the impartial management of free and fair elections at all levels of government. Site contains laws and regulations, registration and voting information, election results since 1994, political parties, IEC processes, and publications. http://www.elections.org.za/ Elections 2009 Election 2009 pages of the South African site News 24. http://www.news24.com/News24/Elections/Home Elections 2009 Election 2009 pages of privately-owned website on South African Policy, Law, Economics and Politics. Has election news, speeches, party announcements, IEC announcements. http://www.polity.org.za/page/elections-page Political parties South African political parties History and policies of the parties represented in South Africa's parliament on SouthAfrica.info, the online gateway to South Africa, published for the International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC) as part of its Brand South Africa campaign. http://www.southafrica.info/about/democracy/polparties.htm Parties participating in the 2009 election (March 2009) List of all parties participating in the national and/or (some) provincial elections http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/sou2009parties.htm
The 11 parties participating in the NA elections and all provincial elections: African National Congress (ANC) http://www.anc.org.za/ Democratic Alliance (DA) http://www.da.org.za/
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) http://www.ifp.org.za/ United Democratic Movement (UDM) http://www.udm2009elections.co.za/
Independent Democrats (ID) http://www.id.org.za/ African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) http://www.acdp.org.za/
Vryheidsfront Plus http://www.vf.co.za/a/index.asp United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) http://www.ucdp.org.za/ Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) http://www.pac.org.za/ African People’s Convention http://www.theapc.org.za/ Congress of the People (COPE) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_the_People_(South_African_political_party)