South African general election, 2004

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Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress (ANC) of President Thabo Mbeki, which has been in power since the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority.

These were the third elections held since the end of the apartheid era. The South African National Assembly consists of 400 members, elected by proportional representation. Two hundred members are elected from national party lists, the other 200 are elected from party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa is chosen by the National Assembly after each election.

The ANC, which has been in power since 1994, obtained 69.7% of votes cast on the national ballot, theoretically allowing them to change the constitution — though they have pledged not to. About 56% of eligible voters took part in the election, with the ANC receiving support from about 38% of all eligible voters^[1].

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, also obtained an increased percentage on the national ballot, most likely from former supporters of the New National Party, possibly losing some support to Patricia de Lille's new Independent Democrats. The New National Party, a descendant of the ruling party of the apartheid era, lost most of their support, dropping from 6.9% in 1999 to 1.7% (it was 20.4% in 1994), many of their supporters being unhappy with their alliance with the ANC. The Independent Democrats surprised many observers by obtaining more votes than the New National Party, becoming the fifth largest party. The Inkatha Freedom Party lost some support, including the majority in their stronghold province of Kwazulu-Natal, while the United Democratic Movement also lost support, barely hanging on as opposition in their stronghold, the Eastern Cape.

[edit] Final results

[edit] Contested seat

The first official results were successfully challenged by the ACDP, resulting in them gaining one of the two seats previously awarded to AZAPO. Thus AZAPO only got one seat. [1]

[edit] Corruption allegations

South African national police commissioner Jackie Selebi told the South African Parliamentary ad hoc committee on safety and security that the police had arrested a group of people alleged to have links with Al-Qaida five days before the elections suspected to be trying to disrupt the election. Work by the South African police service led to the arrests of people in Jordan, Syria, and the United Kingdom. Quantities of South African passports were found in London indicating corruption in the Department of Home Affairs [2]

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[edit] References

1. ^ McKinley, Dale T. (2004-04-29). South Africa: A disillusioned democracy. Green Left Weekly. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.

[edit] External links

• Official IEC election results
• South African general election, 2004 on electionresources.org
• Election results from the South African Broadcasting Corporation