1.
Western Cape
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The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated in the south-western part of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces in terms of area and population, with an area of 129,449 square kilometres and 5.8 million inhabitants. About two-thirds of these live in the metropolitan area of Cape Town. The Western Cape was created in 1994 from part of the former Cape Province, the Western Cape Province is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from the Cape of Good Hope, in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It stretches about 400 kilometres northwards along the Atlantic coast and about 500 kilometres eastwards along the South African south coast and it is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape and on the east by the Eastern Cape. The total land area of the province is 129,462 square kilometres and it is roughly the size of England or the State of Louisiana. Its capital city and largest city is Cape Town, and some major cities include Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl. The Garden Route and the Overberg are popular tourism areas. The Western Cape is the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, the coastline varies from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The only natural harbour is Saldanha Bay on the west coast, however a lack of fresh water in the region meant that it has only recently been used as a harbour. But fresh water coming off Table Mountain and Devils Peak allowed the early European settlers to build Cape Town on the shores of this less than satisfactory anchorage, the province is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a set of parallel ranges of sandstone folded mountains of Cambrian-Ordovician age. The valleys between ranges are very fertile as they contain the weathered loamy soils of the Bokkeveld mustones. The far interior forms part of the Karoo and this region of the Province is generally arid and hilly with a prominent escarpment that runs close to the Provinces most inland boundary. The Escarpment marks the edge of South Africas central plateau. The principal rivers of the province are the Berg and Olifants which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Breede and Gourits which drain into the Indian Ocean. The vegetation is extremely diverse, with one of the worlds seven floral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province, namely the Cape Floral Kingdom. These evergreen heathlands are extremely rich in diversity, with at least as many plant species occurring on Table Mountain as in the entire United Kingdom
2.
Parliamentary system
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In a parliamentary system, the head of state is usually a different person from the head of government. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, eventually these councils have slowly evolved into the modern Parliamentary system. The first parliaments date back to Europe in the Middle Ages, for example in 1188 Alfonso IX, the modern concept of parliamentary government emerged in the Kingdom of Great Britain and its contemporary, the Parliamentary System in Sweden. In England, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments, the first, in 1258, stripped the King of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from the towns. Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, the monarch, in theory, chaired cabinet and chose ministers. In practice, King George Is inability to speak English led the responsibility for chairing cabinet to go to the minister, literally the prime or first minister. By the nineteenth century, the Great Reform Act of 1832 led to parliamentary dominance, with its choice invariably deciding who was prime minister, hence the use of phrases like Her Majestys government or His Excellencys government. Nineteenth century urbanisation, industrial revolution and, modernism had already fueled the political struggle for democracy. In the radicalised times at the end of World War I, a parliamentary system may be either bicameral, with two chambers of parliament or unicameral, with just one parliamentary chamber. Scholars of democracy such as Arend Lijphart distinguish two types of parliamentary democracies, the Westminster and Consensus systems, the Westminster system is usually found in the Commonwealth of Nations and countries which were influenced by the British political tradition. These parliaments tend to have a more style of debate. The Australian House of Representatives is elected using instant-runoff voting, while the Senate is elected using proportional representation through single transferable vote, regardless of which system is used, the voting systems tend to allow the voter to vote for a named candidate rather than a closed list. The Western European parliamentary model tends to have a more consensual debating system, Consensus systems have more of a tendency to use proportional representation with open party lists than the Westminster Model legislatures. The committees of these Parliaments tend to be more important than the plenary chamber, some West European countries parliaments implement the principle of dualism as a form of separation of powers. In countries using this system, Members of Parliament have to resign their place in Parliament upon being appointed minister, ministers in those countries usually actively participate in parliamentary debates, but are not entitled to vote. Some countries such as India also require the prime minister to be a member of the legislature, the head of state appoints a prime minister who will likely have majority support in parliament. The head of state appoints a minister who must gain a vote of confidence within a set time. The head of state appoints the leader of the party holding a plurality of seats in parliament as prime minister
3.
South African general election, 2014
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The 2014 South African general election was held on 7 May 2014, to elect a new National Assembly and new provincial legislatures in each province. It was the election held in South Africa under conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994. It was also the first time that South African expatriates were allowed to vote in a South African national election. The National Assembly election was won by the African National Congress, the official opposition Democratic Alliance increased its share of the vote from 16. 7% to 22. 2%, while the newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters obtained 6. 4% of the vote. Eight of the nine provincial legislatures were won by the ANC, the EFF obtained over 10% of the vote in Gauteng, Limpopo and North West, and beat the DA to second place in the last two. In the other six provinces won by the ANC, the DA obtained second place and this included KwaZulu-Natal, where the DA for the first time beat the Inkatha Freedom Party to second place. In the Western Cape, the province not won by the ANC. South Africa has a system of government, the National Assembly consists of 400 members elected by proportional representation with a closed list approach. Two hundred members are elected from party lists, the other 200 are elected from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa was chosen by the National Assembly after the election, the provincial legislatures, which vary in size from 30 to 80 members, are also elected by proportional representation with closed lists. The premiers of each province will be chosen by the majority in each provincial legislature. The National Council of Provinces consists of 90 members, ten elected by each provincial legislature, the NCOP members will be elected by the provincial legislatures in proportion to the party makeup of the legislatures. On 26 November 2013 the Electoral Amendment Act,2013, came into force and it allows South African citizens resident outside South Africa to register and vote in the election of the National Assembly. A new regulation added in 2013 that was enforced for the first time on 7 May 2014 is the prohibition of photographing marked ballot papers, which aims to inhibit voter intimidation. They were re-elected with increasing majorities in 1999 and 2004, the ANC is led by Jacob Zuma. In 2012, Zuma was re-elected to a second term as President of the African National Congress, beating his only rival and deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe. Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as Deputy President of the ANC, succeeding Motlanthe who had declined a second term after losing to Zuma, the official opposition Democratic Alliance received 16. 7% of the vote in 2009, up from 12. 4% in 2004. At provincial level, the DA has been in power in the Western Cape province since 2009, traditionally, the DA was seen as a party rallying against apartheid laws, especially in the 1980s
4.
Constitutional Court of South Africa
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The Constitutional Court of South Africa is a supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa. It was originally the final court for constitutional matters. Since the enactment of the Superior Courts Act in 2013, the Constitutional Court has jurisdiction to hear any matter if it is in the interests of justice for it to do so. The court was first established by the Interim Constitution of 1993 and it has continued in existence under the Constitution of 1996. The court sits in the city of Johannesburg and it also has occupied a purpose-built complex on Constitution Hill. The first court session in the new building at this location was held in February 2004, the Constitutional Court consists of eleven judges who are appointed by the President of South Africa from a list drawn up by the Judicial Service Commission. The judges serve for a term of twelve years, the court is headed by the Chief Justice of South Africa and the Deputy Chief Justice. The Constitution requires that a matter before the Court be heard by at least eight judges, in practice, all eleven judges hear almost every case. Decisions are reached by a majority and written reasons are given, the movement for the establishment of the Constitutional Court in South Africa started in 1920 by African National Congress. By the year 1956, judges and liberals in the country put up bill of rights as a support for the creation of the court, the first meeting of selected members of the court took place in 1994. In 1995, President Nelson Mandela was at the court to deliver a speech for its commissioning, according to South African History Online Mandela says “The last time I appeared in court was to hear whether or not I was going to be sentenced to death. Fortunately for myself and my colleagues we were not, today I rise not as an accused, but on behalf of the people of South Africa, to inaugurate a court South Africa has never had, a court on which hinges the future of our democracy. Constitution Hill is the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Constitution Hill precinct is located at 11 Kotze Street in Braamfontein, Johannesburg near the western end of the suburb of Hillbrow. The hill overlooks downtown Johannesburg to the South and the northern suburbs of Houghton, Parktown, Sandton. The court building itself was built using bricks from the demolished awaiting-trial wing of the former prison, inside the main room, a row of horizontal windows has been set up behind the seats of the judges. While the windows are at the head-height of judges on the inside, the first court session in the new building at this location was held in February 2004. The court building is open to the public who want to attend hearings or view the art gallery in the court atrium. The court houses a collection of more than 200 contemporary artworks chosen by Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs, including works by Gerard Sekoto, William Kentridge, the entrance to the court written in all 11 official languages of South Africa
5.
Cape Town
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Cape Town is a coastal city in South Africa. It is the second-most populous urban area in South Africa after Johannesburg and it is also the capital and primate city of the Western Cape province. As the seat of the Parliament of South Africa, it is also the capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the city is famous for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. As of 2014, it is the 10th most populous city in Africa and it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. The city was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, in 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by both the American New York Times and the British Daily Telegraph. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was first developed by the Dutch East India Company as a station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India. Jan van Riebeecks arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa, Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa, the earliest known remnants in the region were found at Peers Cave in Fish Hoek and date to between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago. It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as Cape of Good Hope because of the optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India. Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497, in the late 16th century, Portuguese, French, Danish, Dutch and English but mainly Portuguese ships regularly stopped over in Table Bay en route to the Indies. They traded tobacco, copper and iron with the Khoikhoi in exchange for fresh meat, the settlement grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labour. This labour shortage prompted the authorities to import slaves from Indonesia, many of these became ancestors of the first Cape Coloured communities. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important, the Dutch Republic being transformed in Revolutionary Frances vassal Batavian Republic, Great Britain moved to take control of its colonies. Britain captured Cape Town in 1795, but the Cape was returned to the Dutch by treaty in 1803, British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Cape Town was permanently ceded to Britain and it became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony, whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s. With expansion came calls for independence from Britain, with the Cape attaining its own parliament. Suffrage was established according to the non-racial, but sexist Cape Qualified Franchise, the discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1867, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted a flood of immigrants to South Africa
6.
Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
7.
Helen Zille
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Otta Helene Helen Zille is a South African politician. She also worked with the Black Sash and other groups during the 1980s. Zille was selected as World Mayor of the Year in 2008 - from a field of 820 candidates. She was also chosen as Newsmaker of the year 2006 by the National Press Club in July 2007, Zille speaks English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, and German. In 2017, Zille was charged with bringing the DA into disrepute after issuing controversial tweets about colonialism, Helen Zille was born in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Her mother was a volunteer with the Black Sash Advice Office and she was educated at Johannesburgs St Marys School, Waverley while her family at the time lived in Rivonia. She studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, around 1969, she joined the Young Progressives, the youth movement of the liberal and anti-apartheid Progressive Party, beginning her political journey. She married Professor Johann Maree in 1982, and they have two sons, Paul and Thomas and she is a member of the Rondebosch United Church in Cape Town. Zille began her career as a correspondent for the Rand Daily Mail in 1974. During September 1977, Minister of Justice and the Police J. T. Kruger announced that anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko had died in prison as the result of a hunger strike. Zille and her editor Allister Sparks were convinced Krugers story was a cover-up, the Rand Daily Mails lead story, headlined No sign of hunger strike—Biko doctors, sent shockwaves through South Africa. Kruger immediately threatened to ban the paper, while Zille received death threats, Zille and Sparks were represented at the subsequent quasi-judicial Press Council by leading defence lawyer Sydney Kentridge. The two were found guilty of tendentious reporting, and the paper was forced to issue a correction. Kentridge later helped confirm the accuracy of Zilles account when he represented the Biko family at the inquest into his death and that inquest found Bikos death had been the result of a serious head injury but failed to find any individual responsible. Zille resigned from the Rand Daily Mail along with editor Allister Sparks, after the owner, Anglo American. Zille was heavily involved in the Black Sash movement during the 1980s and she served on the regional and national executives of the organisation, and was also vice-chair of the End Conscription Campaign in the Western Cape. During this time she was arrested for being in an area without a permit. Zille and her husband later offered their home as a house for political activists during the 1986 State of Emergency
8.
City of Cape Town
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The City Council is the legislative body of the City of Cape Town. It is composed of 231 councillors elected by a system of mixed member proportional representation,116 councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting, one from each of the 116 wards of the City, while the other 115 are elected from party lists to create overall proportionality. The mayor of the City is elected by the City Council, the Cape Town City Council is unusual among municipal legislatures, both in and out of South Africa, in its numerical size, which is larger than the national legislatures of many countries. The council is divided into 24 subcouncils which deal with local functions for between three and six wards, a subcouncils consists of the ward councillors and a similar number of proportionally-elected councillors assigned to the subcouncil. Subcouncils are consist of geographically clustered wards with proportional councillors assigned to them, the following table shows the results of the election of 18 May 2011 in the City of Cape Town, The Democratic Alliance won 78 of the individual ward elections, and the ANC won 33. As a result, the seat allocation was as follows
9.
Democratic Alliance (South Africa)
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The Democratic Alliance is a South African political party and the official opposition to the governing African National Congress. The present leader is Mmusi Maimane, who succeeded former Mayor of Cape Town, the party is broadly centrist, though it has been attributed both centre-left and centre-right policies. It is a member of the Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network, the DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. The party adopted its current name on 24 June 2000, most recently, it has integrated the smaller Independent Democrats and the tiny South African Democratic Convention. The DA has been governing the Western Cape, one of South Africas nine provinces, since the 2009 general election, having won a bigger majority at the most recent election in 2014. It is the party to have increased its share of the vote in every national election held since 1994. The party draws support from all population groups in South Africa. Since 2016, the DA also governs several of South Africas major metropolitan municipalities, although the Democratic Alliance in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers. The modern day DA is in part a product of the white parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party. The Progressives sought to change the system from within, but in doing so choose to comply with Apartheid legislation outlawing multi-racial membership. During this time, the party was led by liberal-minded opponents of apartheid, such as Jan Steytler, Helen Suzman, Zach de Beer, Colin Eglin, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and Harry Schwarz. In 1989, it would merge with two smaller reformist organisations to become the Democratic Party, a name that was retained into the 1990s when freedom was achieved. It was marginalized by the National Partys shift towards the center after 1990, the party also became kingmakers in the Western Cape province, where it formed a coalition government with the NNP. With a fractured national opposition standing against an increasingly dominant governing party, to this end, the DP reached a merger agreement with the NNP and the much smaller Federal Alliance in 2000. Together they formed the Democratic Alliance, the merger was ultimately aborted, with both the NNP and FA leaving the DA. Many former NNP members remained, however, and the new name was kept, the DP was disbanded after the 2003 floor crossing period, establishing the DA at all levels of government. The party consolidated its status as the opposition in the 2004 general election. Having gone into opposition in the Western Cape in 2001 when the NNP formed a new coalition with the ANC, in the 2006 municipal elections, the DA narrowly gained control of its largest city, Cape Town, in a multi-party coalition
10.
Courts of South Africa
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The courts of South Africa are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in South Africa. They apply the law of South Africa and are established under the Constitution of South Africa or under Acts of the Parliament of South Africa, despite South Africas division into nine provinces, the country has a single national court system. The courts are funded and supported by the national Department of Justice, the ordinary courts are the district and regional magistrates courts, the provincial divisions of the High Court, and the Supreme Court of Appeal. The Constitutional Court is the highest court for constitutional matters, specialist courts have been established for various matters, including Labour Courts, the Land Claims Court, Special Income Tax Courts, and the Electoral Court. African customary law is administered by chiefs and headmens courts, subject to the Council of Traditional Leaders, the Constitutional Court is the final court of appeals for all matters relating to the Constitution of South Africa, and its decisions are binding on all other courts in South Africa. The Constitutional Court was established by the Interim Constitution and continued under the Final Constitution, the Constitutional Court has its seat on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. The Supreme Court of Appeal is the court of last resort in all except constitutional matters, the court sits in Bloemfontein, the chief judge is called the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal. It has its origin in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa, the provincial divisions of the High Court of South Africa have general jurisdiction over their defined areas. They hear appeals from the courts within their area. A local seat of the Limpopo Division at Thohoyandou is already in existence, the origins of the High Court lie in the Supreme Courts of the four colonies from which the Union of South Africa was formed, these became provincial divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa. The 1996 Constitution renamed the provincial and local divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa, as well as the bantustan Supreme Courts, to High Courts. Since that time some changes have made to rationalise the areas of jurisdiction of the courts. The Superior Courts Act,2013 restructured the High Courts into divisions of a single High Court of South Africa, South Africa is divided into approximately 350 magisterial districts, each district is served by a district magistrates court. They can hear civil cases where the value of the claim is no more than R200,000, the magisterial districts are grouped into regions, each region has a regional court which may sit at multiple locations. In criminal cases, regional courts have jurisdiction over all crimes except treason, and can impose a sentence of no more than fifteen years imprisonment and they can hear civil cases where the value of the claim is no more than R400,000 as well as divorce cases. Parliament has established specialist courts to handle specific areas of law or types of case, in some cases these courts have exclusive jurisdiction and the matters are excluded from the jurisdiction of the High Court and the magistrates courts. The Labour Appeal Court has status similar to the Supreme Court of Appeal, there is no further appeal except on constitutional matters, in which case appeals may be heard by the Constitutional Court. It also deals with other cases involving agricultural labour tenants
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