Cyril Ramaphosa in the context of "President of South Africa"

The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election resulted in Nelson Mandela being elected as President of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent national president, has served as president of the ANC since 18 December 2017.

Founded on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein as the South African Native National Congress, the organisation was formed to advocate for the rights of black South Africans. When the National Party government came to power in 1948, the ANC's central purpose became to oppose the new government's policy of institutionalised apartheid. To this end, its methods and means of organisation shifted; its adoption of the techniques of mass politics, and the swelling of its membership, culminated in the Defiance Campaign of civil disobedience in 1952–53. The ANC was banned by the South African government between April 1960 – shortly after the Sharpeville massacre – and February 1990. During this period, despite periodic attempts to revive its domestic political underground, the ANC was forced into exile by increasing state repression, which saw many of its leaders imprisoned on Robben Island. Headquartered in Lusaka, Zambia, the exiled ANC dedicated much of its attention to a campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare against the apartheid state, carried out under its military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe, which was founded in 1961 in partnership with the South African Communist Party (SACP). The ANC was condemned as a terrorist organisation by the governments of South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom. However, it positioned itself as a key player in the negotiations to end apartheid, which began in earnest after the ban was repealed in 1990. For much of that time, the ANC leadership, along with many of its most active members, operated from abroad. After the Soweto Uprising of 1976, the ANC remained committed to achieving its objectives through armed struggle. These circumstances significantly shaped the ANC during its years in exile.

uMkhonto weSizwe Party (Zulu for 'Spear of the Nation' Party'), abbreviated as MKP, and often referred to as the MK Party, is a South African left-wing populist political party founded in December 2023. The party is named after uMkhonto weSizwe (shortened to MK), the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC) which was active during the apartheid regime in South Africa and disbanded after Nelson Mandela's release in the early 1990s. However, the ANC has threatened legal action over the usage of the name, and the formation has been criticised by original MK veterans.

The party rose to prominence in December 2023, when former president Jacob Zuma announced that, while planning to remain a lifelong member of the ANC, he would not be campaigning for the ANC in the 2024 South African general election, and would instead be voting for MK. He stated that "I cannot and will not" campaign for the ANC of current president Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's successor, and that to do so would be a "betrayal".

The 28th South African Parliament is the seventh Parliament of South Africa to convene since the introduction of non-racial government in South Africa in 1994. It was elected in the general election of 29 May 2024 and consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly contains 400 members, while the National Council of Provinces contains 90 members.

Members of Parliament were sworn in on 14 June 2024. The 28th Parliament first convened on 14 June 2024 to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa as President of South Africa.

The foreign relations of South Africa have spanned from the country's time as a dominion of the British Empire to its isolationist policies under apartheid to its position as a responsible international actor taking a key role in Africa, particularly southern Africa.South Africa is a member of the United Nations, the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations. Considered a possible permanent addition to the United Nations Security Council, South Africa was elected in 2006, 2010 and 2018 by the UN General Assembly to serve on the Security Council. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the chair of the African Union from 2020 to 2021, the second time South Africa has chaired the organisation since its formation in 2003.

The 2023 BRICS summit was the fifteenth annual BRICS summit, an international relations conference attended by the heads of state or heads of government of the five member states: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also invited the leaders of 67 countries to the summit.

The minister of agriculture is a minister in the Cabinet of South Africa since 2024, when the corresponding department was split from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. It holds the political executive responsibility for the Department of Agriculture, and for the Agricultural Research Council, the National Agricultural Marketing Council, Onderstepoort Biological Products, the Perishable Products Export Control Board, and Ncera Farms.

The agriculture portfolio was created in the 2024 cabinet reorganisation after the re-election of President Cyril Ramaphosa as part of the government of national unity. The current minister of agriculture is John Steenhuisen.

The third cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, also known as the Government of National Unity (GNU), is the incumbent cabinet of the Government of South Africa. It was appointed on 30 June 2024 after the May 2024 general election resulted in a hung parliament. Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC), having lost its absolute majority, formed a ten-member coalition government.

The coalition was formed on 14 June 2024, when the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, and Patriotic Alliance joined the ANC in supporting Ramaphosa's election to a second full term as President of South Africa. All four original members of the coalition are represented in the cabinet, as are three later entrants, the Good Party, Pan Africanist Congress, and Freedom Front Plus. The United Democratic Movement and Al Jama-ah are represented by deputy ministers, and Rise Mzansi participates in the legislative coalition but is not represented in the national executive.