WESTERN CAPE NEWS - The elections in the Western Cape will be fiercely contested. Altogether 34 parties in the province, including the bigger parties like the ANC, DA, the EFF and the IFP, have registered for the elections on 8 May. They will be competing for the 42 seats in the Western Cape provincial legislature.
At present the DA is the governing party with 26 seats. The ANC has 14 seats, the ACDP one and the EFF also one.
A total of 48 parties have registered for the national elections. At stake are 400 seats in the National Assembly and also membership of the National Council of Provinces. The ANC is at present the governing party on national level with 249 seats. The DA is the official opposition with 89 seats. The third largest party is the EEF, with 25 seats in the National Assembly.
Gauteng is the province where the most parties will participate - altogether 36.
Courtney Sampson, Western Cape provincial electoral officer, told the George Herald that the 34 parties contesting the elections in the Western Cape, is the biggest number yet in the province, as is the 48 registered for the national ballot.
South Africa has seen a steady increase in the number of political parties contesting national elections since 1999, when 16 parties contested the national ballot and 13 parties won representation in the National Assembly.
In 2004 a total of 21 participated and 12 won seats. Five years later, in 2009, 27 parties were on the ballot list and 13 had members elected to the National Assembly. In the 2014 elections 29 parties took part and 13 won seats.
For more information visit the IEC website.
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