African National Congress
T he organisation was founded, in 1912, by leaders from all
spheres in the black community in Bloemfontein.
By virtue of numbers garnered in the last election in 1999,
the ANC is the single largest party in the country (66 percent),
province (42 percent), and the City of Cape Town (38 percent).
Ebrahim Rasool, provincial leader for the party, is the Provincial
minister responsible for economic affairs which entails the
provincial budget and creating investment opportunities in
the Western Cape.
The ANC won sympathy from the international community because
its leaders like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were imprisoned
for treason against the Apartheid state.
Democratic Alliance
The opposition Democratic Alliance stands for
free-market policies and mirror those of Western Europe.
This has often seen it come into conflict with the national
and provincial arms of government where the ANC holds power,
and follows a policy of social democracy on issues like
the economy and poverty alleviation.
The DA, considered by many South Africans and, sections
of the media to be a party for English-speakers, it recently
elected an Afrikaner- Theuns Botha- as its provincial leader.
Leaders within the party have realised that in order to
pose a credible opposition to the ANC they have to lure
black members to join its ranks. The party used to be called
the Democratic Party but merged with several smaller parties
and changed to the Democratic Alliance
Pan Africanist Congress
The PAC founded by Robert Sobukwe, its core constituency
being the poor and landless, does not feature in the provincial
legislature because it did not garner enough votes in the
last elections. The party broke away from the ANC in 1959
led by Robert Sobukwe, a staunch Africanist. The PAC is
most famous for its Anti-Pass Campaign of the 1960s. The
massacre at Sharpeville was the culmination of this campaign.
Sobukwe was imprisoned, released in 1969 due to ill health,
he died 1977 of cancer.
New National Party
Then: The Second World War, although
not fought on South African soil had an impact on the shaping
of this country, for it indirectly influenced the outcome
of the 1948 elections when the National Party triumphed.
Following WW2 there had been more strikes by black workers
and the white minority felt threatened. The National Party,
led by DF Malan, exploited this situation for their political
gain. The party came to power and legislated for the separation
of racial groups.
Now: World politics also had
an effect on the National Party of the late 1980s with the
fall of communism being the biggest factor that led the
party to change its policies on the African National Congress
and other liberation organisations, culminating in the unbanning
of these organisations in 1990. The party has tried to appeal
to all South Africans, in the early 1990s opening up its
membership to all races. The party is the 3rd largest party
in parliament and the 2nd largest in the Western Cape legislature.
UDM
The United Democratic Movement was started by Bantu Holomisa,
a former Bantustan leader, after he broke away from the
ANC. The party has a relative large support base in the
Eastern Cape with lesser support in the other provinces.
The party has no representation in the Western Cape legislature.
It got 3,4 percent of the national vote in the last elections.
ACDP
The African Christian Democratic Party has support across
the country. With relative conservative policies, the party
for instance is against abortion and is in favour of the
return of the death penalty. The ACDP has one representative
in the Western Cape legislature. The party received 1,4
percent of the national vote in 1999.
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