In 1994 which political party was in power

Already, such rivalries have affected the ability of the ANC to agree on candidates to represent the party across more than 90 wards. His deputy vice president, David Mabuza, already has announced his intentions to compete against Ramaphosa at that conference.

However, control of municipal councils provides the ANC with a huge source of patronage —particularly via access to municipal jobs for local-level party branch members. The electoral outcome will be equally consequential for the other two main opposition parties, the DA and EFF.

Now under the leadership of John Steenhuisen, the party may not be able to break perceptions that it is mostly representative of white privilege and may not gain much ground beyond its traditional stronghold of Cape Town and the Western Province.

Reports indicate the EFF has gained much more financing for advertisements and handouts than were available in the previous local contest. In fact, DA-EFF coalitions established after the elections ultimately crumbled in several councils because the two parties operate at opposite sides of the ideological spectrum.

On the other hand, without more substantive experience governing at the local level through such coalitions, it will be difficult for the EFF to gain widespread voter confidence in national elections. Trust has declined over the last six years while disapproval rates remain stubbornly high Figure 1. Moreover, South Africa continues to have the highest rates of distrust in local government across the continent, rivaling only more politically restricted regimes like Gabon, Morocco, and Sudan Figure 2.

The risk of destabilizing conflicts and large-scale violence was considerably less in December than at the beginning of the year owing to five generally positive factors.

The new democratic political system passed its first test: the conducting of peaceful elections. A human rights regime was established through a Bill of Rights in the Constitution and the creation of a powerful Constitutional Court.

The NP and the ANC committed themselves to solve their conflicts through a policy of national reconciliation. South Africa's international isolation was broken, with all that entails in terms of new possibilities, rights and responsibilities. Most of the fundamental causes of violence and conflict are deeply rooted and structural in nature.

Their gradual elimination requires time, resources and a conducive external environment. There is a huge discrepancy between what is desirable and what is possible with regard to socio-economic reconstruction and the reform and legitimization process of the state apparatus at various levels. The four-year transition period, from February to April , was characterised by political violence between the ANC and IFP, manifested as a low intensity war over the previous two decades.

The South African transition process, and the negotiations leading to the elections, attracted a substantial amount of attention both locally and internationally. It was the first election in which all South Africans, registered on a common voters roll, could vote.

The IEC is the institution responsible for running and administering elections. The elections were the end of a long and harsh struggle for freedom within South Africa, and a continuous international campaign against Apartheid.

The National Party NP had characterised itself as the party of law and order, supporting a free market economy and being committed to a non-racial democracy in which minority and cultural rights would be protected.

The Inkatha Freedom Party IFP had also advocated free economy as well as the eradication of corruption, exploitation and intimidation.