National Assembly of South Africa in the context of "Politics of South Africa"

The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence Force. Between 1961 and 1994, the office of head of state was the state presidency.

The president is elected by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, and is usually the leader of the largest party, which has been the African National Congress since the first multiracial election was held on 27 April 1994. The Constitution limits the president's time in office to two five-year terms. The first president to be elected under the new constitution was Nelson Mandela. The incumbent is Cyril Ramaphosa, who was elected by the National Assembly on 15 February 2018 following the resignation of Jacob Zuma.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 2013. Malema is president of the EFF, heading the Central Command Team, which serves as the central structure of the party. It is currently the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly.

The party contested elections for the first time in the 2014 South African general election, garnering 6.35% of the national vote and securing 25 seats in the National Assembly.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP; Zulu: IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko) is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African government of national unity led by the African National Congress (ANC). Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who served as chief minister of KwaZulu during the Apartheid period, founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. He was succeeded as party president in 2019 by Velenkosini Hlabisa.

During the first decade of the post-Apartheid period, the IFP received over 90% of its support from ethnic Zulus. Since then, the party has worked to increase its national support by promoting social and economic conservative policies. In the 2019 general election, the IFP came in fourth place nationally, winning 3.38% of the vote and 14 seats in the National Assembly.

South Africa's Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (Tswana: kabinetemaitlhomo; Sotho: sekabinete; Northern Sotho: kabinete ya lekgotlakganetšo; Afrikaans: skadukabinet; Zulu: izingqapheli zesigungu sesishayamthetho; Southern Ndebele: ikhabinethi elingisako; Xhosa: ikhabhinethi yeqela eliphikisayo; Swazi: ikhabhinethi lelindzele; Tsonga: khabinete yo xopela; Venda: khabinethe yo dzumbamaho) consists of Members of the National Assembly who scrutinise their corresponding office holders in the executive branch of government and develop alternative policies for their respective portfolios. The Democratic Alliance (DA) retained their position as official opposition in the 2019 general election and Mmusi Maimane announced his shadow cabinet on 5 June 2019.

Mmusi Maimane resigned as Leader of the Opposition in October 2019. John Steenhuisen was elected as his successor and leads the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. Appointed alongside Steenhuisen was Natasha Mazzone, as Chief Whip, and Annelie Lotriet as Chairperson of the Caucus. Steenhuisen announced his shadow cabinet on 5 December 2020.

The speaker of the National Assembly presides over the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa.

The office of speaker of the National Assembly was preceded by the offices of speaker of the House of Assembly (1910–1984) under the 1909 and 1961 constitutions and speaker of Parliament under the Tricameral Parliament (1984–1994).

Annelie Lotriet (born 8 June 1960) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa since June 2024. She has served in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet since she joined the National Assembly in 2009. She is also a Deputy Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council.

Born in Johannesburg, Lotriet spent the first two decades of her career as an academic in the Free State, teaching at Vista University and then at the University of the Free State. After one term as a local councillor in Mangaung, she entered politics full-time at the 2009 general election. She went on to serve as Shadow Minister of Arts and Culture from 2009 to 2012, Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training from 2012 to 2014, Shadow Minister of Science and Technology from 2014 to 2019, and DA Caucus Chairperson from 2019 to 2022. Most recently, she was Opposition Deputy Chief Whip from August 2022 to June 2024.

The leader of the opposition in South Africa is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government. The House of Assembly was the most important House from 1910 to 1994 and the National Assembly from 1994. The leader of the opposition acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet and the challenge to the government on the floor of Parliament. They thus act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government.

The position of opposition leader in the National Assembly is currently held by John Hlophe of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), who was appointed on 25 June 2024.

General elections were held in South Africa on 7 May 2014, to elect a new National Assembly and new provincial legislatures in each province. It was the fifth election held in South Africa under conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994, and also the first held since the death of Nelson Mandela. 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 (ANC), but with a reduced majority of 62.1%, down from 65.9% in the 2009 election. The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) increased its share of the vote from 16.7% to 22.2%, while the newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) obtained 6.4% of the vote.