Politics in South Africa

The African National Congress is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in eight of the nine provinces, having received 65.9% of the vote during the 2009 general election and 66.3% of the vote in the 2006 municipal election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance, led by Helen Zille, which received 16.66% of the vote in the 2009 election and 14.8% in the 2006 election. Other major political parties represented in Parliament are the Inkatha Freedom Party, which mainly represents Zulu voters, with 4.55%; and the Congress of the People with 7.42% in the 2009 election. The formerly dominant New National Party, who introduced apartheid through its predecessor the National Party, disbanded in 2005 to merge with the ANC. The current South African president is Jacob Zuma.