South Africa: Party registration

Updated July 2006

The right of South Africans to form political parties is enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution (1996, Article 19.1.), which provides that, "Every citizen is free to make political choices", which includes the rights to create political parties, to take part in party activities and recruit members and to campaign for a political party or cause. Consequently, political party formation is rather free and uncircumscribed (Lodge & Scheideggar 2005, 7). Parties are, however, required to register with the Independent Electoral Commission in order to participate in public elections (Electoral Act 1998, 26), and some constraints (noted below) have been placed on registration.

In terms of the Electoral Commission Act of 1996, Section 1, a party is defined as "any registered party, and includes any organisation or movement of a political nature which publicly supports or opposes the policy, candidates or cause of any registered party, or which propagates non-participation in any election". One of the functions of the Electoral Commission is to "compile and maintain a register of parties" (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 5(f)). The Electoral Commission is empowered to make regulations regarding the registration of parties in terms of the Act (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 23(c)). The Act lays out the registration process in broad parameters only, so, in terms of this provision of the Act, the Electoral Commission has issued regulations to flesh out the details of the registration process, the Regulations for the Registration of Political Parties 2004 ("Regulations 2004").

Registration process

Responsibility for the administration of the registration process is vested with the chief electoral officer (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 15(1)), to whom applications for registration are made. On the prescribed form a party wishing to apply for registration must submit its name, abbreviation, a distinguishing emblem in colour and its constitution (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 15(2)). In terms of the Regulations (2004, Annexure 1) the name may not be more than 60 letters long and the abbreviation may not have more than eight letters. A party that is not already represented at some elective level of government (national, provincial or local) is required to furnish the party's deed of foundation, a registration fee of R500 (or R200 for parties contesting only municipal elections) and proof of publication in the Gazette of a notice of application (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 15(3); Regulations 2004, 3, 4).

Once a party has been registered, a certificate of registration is issued by the chief electoral officer and the registration is published in the Gazette (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 15(5)). Parties that are not represented in a legislative body must renew their registration before 31 December every year (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 15(6); Regulations 2004, 10). The chief electoral officer must be notified of any changes to the registration details of a party within 30 days of the change (Regulations 2004, 9).

Refusal of registration, appeals and deregistration

The chief electoral officer may not register a party if its name, abbreviation or emblem resembles that of another party sufficiently to deceive or confuse voters, or incites violence or hatred, or causes offence on the grounds of race, gender, sex, ethnicity, colour, sexual orientation, age disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture or language (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 16(1)). There are no prescriptions prohibiting the formation of political parties based on ethnicity, religion, regionalism, tribalism or advocacy of succession from the republic, probably because such prohibitions would violate the freedom to form political parties established by the Bill of Rights (Constitution 1996, Article 19.1.).

Appeals against decisions by the chief electoral officer to register or not register a party may be made to the IEC within 30 days of notification of the decision (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 16(2)).

The registration of a party may be cancelled if the IEC, after notification of the party and an inquiry, has determined that the party concerned no longer functions or does not intend to participate in an election or if the party notifies the IEC that it has dissolved or will dissolve on a particular date (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 17).

Registered, participating and represented parties

Extracted from: Susan Booysen and Grant Masterson 2009 "Chapter 11: South Africa" IN Denis Kadima and Susan Booysen (eds) Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa 1989-2009: 20 Years of Multiparty Democracy, EISA, Johannesburg, 407-408.

The number of political parties in South Africa has increased over the years, from around 70 in the late 1990s, to 146 in late March 2008 and 157 in September 2008 (Tlakula 2009), dropping to 156 just before the 2009 election. Of the 146 parties of March 2008, 101 were registered at the national level and 45 at municipal level (Electoral Commission 2008, 39). The reasons for the high number of parties include the fact that it is easy and inexpensive to start a political party (Booysen, 2009). Unrepresented parties are required to renew their annual registration before 31 January of the particular year (Electoral Commission Act No. 51 of 1995, Chapter 4, Section 15(6)).

The number of registered political parties in South Africa thus continuously fluctuates, and the number of registered parties is also far larger than the number of contesting and represented parties. To illustrate the three-way discrepancy between registered, participating and represented political parties, at the time of the 2009 elections there were:

156 registered political parties (118 registered on national level. Electoral Commission Undated);
40 parties in total participating in elections (national and provincial);
26 parties contesting national elections;
13 parties winning representation in the National Assembly, two of them, Cope and the APC, were first-time election contestants;
9 represented parties in the National Assembly winning 1 per cent or less of the national vote (the comparative figures in the preceding three elections were 8 in 1994, 12 in 1999 and 11 in 2004); and
4 parties only in the National Assembly race winning more than 4 per cent of the national vote.

The following numbers of political parties contested for representation in the nine provincial legislatures in April 2009: 17 in the Eastern Cape, 14 in the Free State, 20 in Gauteng, 17 in KwaZulu-Natal, 18 in Limpopo, 15 in Mpumalanga, 16 in North West, 13 in Northern Cape, and 22 in the Western Cape (Electoral Commission 2009, 72). A fraction of them won representation in the provincial legislatures.

References

BOOYSEN, S 2009 "South Africa: Political Parties and Political Participation", For the Konrad Adenhauer Stiftung (KAS) Democracy Report 2009, Bonn, KAS.

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SA 1996, [www] http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/index.htm [opens new window, incorporates all amendments until 13th Ammendment (2007)] Act No. 108 of 1996; 14-16 Amendments available at http://www.info.gov.za/view/DynamicAction?pageid=612 [opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010); approved by Constitutional Court December 4, 1996; took effect February 4, 1997; amended 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

ELECTORAL ACT 73 1998, includes amendments of 2000 and 2003, [www] http://www.elections.org.za/Documents/iec-a6_act.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

ELECTORAL COMMISSION 2008 Annual Report 2008, Pretoria.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION 2009 Elections 2009 - to the future, information brochure, Pretoria, IEC.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION UNDATED "Party Details", database accessed 26 June 2009 , [www] http://www.elections.org.za/Registered_Parties/Selection_Party.asp?bLoad=1 [opens new window] (accessed 31 Mar 2010).

ELECTORAL COMMISSION ACT NO 51 OF 1996, [www] http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1996/a51-96.htm [opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

LOCAL GOVERNMENT: MUNICIPAL ELECTORAL ACT 27 2000, [www] http://www.capegateway.gov.za/Text/2003/a27-00.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

LODGE, T & SCHEIDEGGAR, U 2005, South Africa: Country Report based on Research and Dialogue with Political Parties, International IDEA/EISA, [www] http://www.idea.int/parties/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm& PageID=15063 [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

REGULATIONS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES 2004.

TLAKULA, P 2009 "Launch of Electoral Commission 2009 election logo", speech on 17 September 2009.