Comprehensive guide to all South African national elections from 1994 to 2024 detailing the candidates, election outcomes, political parties, and political system.
Since gaining independence in 1994, South Africa has held seven general and six local municipal elections, which are held every five years although there is a 2-year gap between the two.
The president of South Africa is elected by the National Assembly the lower house of parliament during the first sitting of the national legislature after general elections.
Members of the National Assembly, provincial legislatures (MPLs), and delegates of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) are elected during general elections.
To be eligible to vote in South Africa, one must be a citizen, register to vote, and be 18 years or older; all national elections are administered by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
South African national and provincial legislatures
| National Council of Provinces (NCOP) | National Assembly | Provincial legislatures | |
| Description | The upper house of parliament | The lower house of parliament | 9 provincial legislatures |
| Members | Delegates | Member of Parliament (MP) | Members of Provincial Legislatures (MPLs) |
| Quantity | 90 | 400 | 30-80 depending on the registered voting population |
| Term | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
South African elections from 1994 to 2024
| South African General Election Results | South African Municipal Election Results |
| 1994 | 1995 / 1996 |
| 1999 | 2000 |
| 2004 | 2006 |
| 2009 | 2011 |
| 2014 | 2016 |
| 2019 | 2021 |
| 2024 |
South Africa’s 1994 General Election Results
South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 were administered by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to elect members of the National Assembly, Senate, and Provincial Legislators.
- Election date: 27 April 1994
- Final election results announcement: 6 May 1994
- Political parties contesting: 19
- Registered voters: 22,700,00 (approximate)
- Total votes cast: 19,726,610
South Africa’s 1994 National Assembly Election Results
| Party | Leader | Votes | % of votes | Seats |
| African National Congress (ANC) | Nelson Mandela | 12,237,655 | 62.65 | 252 |
| National Party (NP) | FW de Klerk | 3,983,690 | 20.39 | 82 |
| Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) | Mangosuthu Buthelezi | 2,058,294 | 10.54 | 43 |
| Vryheidsfront/Freedom Front (VF/FF) | Constand Vijoen | 424,555 | 2.17 | 9 |
| Democratic Party (DP) | Zach de Beer | 338,426 | 1.73 | 7 |
| Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) | Clarence Makwetu | 243,478 | 1.25 | 5 |
| African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) | Kenneth Meshoe | 88,104 | 0.45 | 2 |
| Africa Muslim Party (AMP) | Imtiaz Suleman | 34,466 | 0.18 | 0 |
| African Moderates Congress Party (AMCP) | 27,690 | 0.14 | 0 | |
| Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa (DPSA) | Kenneth Mopeli | 19,451 | 0.10 | 0 |
| Federal Party (FP) | 17,663 | 0.09 | 0 | |
| Minority Front (MF) | Amichand Rajbansi | 13,433 | 0.07 | 0 |
| Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights (SOCCER) | James Mange | 10,575 | 0.05 | 0 |
| African Democratic Movement (ADM) | Oupa Gqozo | 9,886 | 0.05 | 0 |
| Women’s Rights Peace Party (WRPP) | 6,434 | 0.03 | 0 | |
| Ximoko Progressive Party (XPP) | Samuel Nxumalo | 6,320 | 0.03 | 0 |
| Keep it Straight and Simple Party (KISS) | Claire Gaisford | 5,916 | 0.03 | 0 |
| Workers’ List Party (WLP) | Neville Alexander | 4,169 | 0.02 | 0 |
| Luso-South African Party (LUSO) | 3,293 | 0.02 | 0 | |
| Total valid votes | 19,533,498 | 99.02 | 400 | |
| Invalid votes | 193,112 | 0.98 | ||
| Total votes | 19,726,610 | 100 |
South Africa’s 1994 National Assembly Election Results by province
| Party | EC | E TVL | KZN | NC | NTVL | NW | OFS | PWV | WC | Total valid votes |
| ANC | 2,411,695 | 1,072,518 | 1,185,669 | 201,515 | 1,780,177 | 1,325,559 | 1,059,313 | 2,486,938 | 714,271 | 12,237,655 |
| NP | 302,951 | 134,511 | 591,212 | 169,661 | 69,870 | 160,479 | 198,780 | 1,160,593 | 1,195,633 | 3,983,690 |
| IFP | 6,798 | 20,872 | 1,822,385 | 1,902 | 2,938 | 7,155 | 8,446 | 173,903 | 13,895 | 2,058,294 |
| VF/FF | 18,656 | 45,964 | 17,092 | 17,480 | 29,000 | 49,175 | 50,386 | 154,878 | 41,924 | 424,555 |
| DP | 35,435 | 5,492 | 60,499 | 5,235 | 3,402 | 5,826 | 7,365 | 126,368 | 88,804 | 338,426 |
| PAC | 56,891 | 17,800 | 23,098 | 3,941 | 20,295 | 24,233 | 23,310 | 52,557 | 21,353 | 243,478 |
| ACDP | 10,879 | 4,474 | 17,122 | 1,294 | 5,042 | 3,901 | 4,523 | 20,329 | 20,540 | 88,104 |
| AMP | 1,235 | 906 | 6,790 | 320 | 437 | 1,386 | 324 | 7,413 | 15,655 | 34,466 |
| AMCP | 4,919 | 2,625 | 3,305 | 864 | 3,168 | 3,244 | 2,644 | 5,635 | 1,286 | 27,690 |
| DPSA | 1,098 | 834 | 1,927 | 415 | 722 | 2,088 | 8,796 | 2,424 | 1,147 | 19,451 |
| FP | 750 | 527 | 3,347 | 162 | 310 | 500 | 519 | 6,844 | 4,704 | 17,663 |
| MF | 981 | 503 | 6,410 | 494 | 662 | 772 | 490 | 1,575 | 1,546 | 13,433 |
| SOCCER | 918 | 636 | 2,311 | 245 | 666 | 959 | 857 | 2,953 | 1,030 | 10,575 |
| ADM | 1,869 | 611 | 3,819 | 189 | 597 | 701 | 553 | 1,062 | 485 | 9,886 |
| WRPP | 524 | 311 | 955 | 151 | 273 | 568 | 398 | 1,850 | 1,404 | 6,434 |
| XPP | 574 | 416 | 1,501 | 113 | 1,354 | 578 | 683 | 828 | 273 | 6,320 |
| KISS | 900 | 415 | 1,010 | 293 | 365 | 548 | 403 | 1,107 | 875 | 5,916 |
| WLP | 374 | 309 | 1,193 | 167 | 259 | 331 | 258 | 554 | 724 | 4,169 |
| LUSO | 263 | 269 | 961 | 138 | 253 | 252 | 203 | 490 | 464 | 3,293 |
| Total | 2,857,710 | 1,309,993 | 3,750,606 | 404,579 | 1,919,790 | 1,588,255 | 1,368,251 | 4,208,301 | 2,126,013 | 19,533,498 |
South Africa’s 1994 Senate Election Results
After South Africa’s new constitution was adopted in 1997, the Senate became the National Council of Provinces. Each party retained the same number of members but they were divided into permanent and special delegates.
| Party | EC | FS | G | KZN | M | NW | NC | NP | WC | Total |
| ANC | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 60 |
| NP | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 17 | |
| IFP | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| FF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| DP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Total | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 90 |
South Africa’s 1994 Provincial Legislature Election Results
| Party | EC | FS | G | KZN | M | NW | NC | NP | WC |
| ANC | 48 | 24 | 50 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 15 | 38 | 14 |
| NP | 6 | 4 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 23 |
| IFP | 0 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FF | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| DP | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| PAC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ACDP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 56 | 30 | 86 | 81 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 40 | 42 |
South Africa’s 1995 Municipal Elections
- Election date: 1 November 1995
- Delayed elections
- Western Cape province municipal election date: 29 May 1996
- Kwazulu Natal province municipal election date: 26 June 1996
