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Like South Africa's eight other provinces, the Northern Cape is governed by a parliamentary system, in which the Premier of the Northern Cape is elected by the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature and in turn selects the Northern Cape Executive Council. As in most other provinces, the African National Congress (ANC) has led the Northern Cape Provincial Government since the end of apartheid. In the most recent provincial election, held in 2019, the ANC won 18 of 30 seats in the provincial legislature and the Democratic Alliance was the official opposition in the legislature. Pursuant to the same election, Zamani Saul was elected Premier of the province.

Political history

See also: History of the Northern Cape

The Northern Cape was one of three provinces created in the dissolution of the former Cape Province at the end of apartheid; the others are the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.[1] Parts of the Northern Cape also previously belonged to the nominally independent bantustan of Bophuthatswana, a common destination for black residents forcibly resettled by the apartheid government under the Group Areas Act.[2] During the 1980s, anti-apartheid organisations were active in the province's townships, particularly Galeshewe in Kimberley and Pabalello in Upington.[2]

Government

Main article: Government of the Northern Cape

Executive Council

Main article: Executive Council of the Northern Cape

The current composition of the Northern Cape Executive Council is as follows:

Portfolio MEC
Premier Zamani Saul
Sport, Arts and Culture Desery Finies
Transport and Safety Liaison Nomandla Bloem
Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Abraham Vosloo
Health Maruping Lekwene
Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs Bentley Vass
Education Zolile Monakali
Land Reform, Agriculture and Nature Conservation and
Environmental Affairs		 Mase Manopole
Roads and Public Works Fufe Makatong
Social Development Nontobeko Vilakazi
Youth, Women, Disability, Communications and E-Government Venus Blennies

Provincial Legislature

Main article: Northern Cape Provincial Legislature

Elections

In the 2019 provincial election, the African National Congress retained its longstanding majority in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, winning 18 of 30 seats[3] – although this represented a loss of two seats since the 2014 provincial election.[4] In 2019, the largest opposition party in the province was the Democratic Alliance (eight seats), followed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (three seats); the only other party to win representation in the legislature was Freedom Front Plus.[3] In other legislative terms, the Congress of the People[4] and the Independent Democrats[5] have also held seats in the provincial legislature. A series of local by-elections were held in the province in 2020.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Northern Cape". South African History Online. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  2. ^ a b Chitja, Twala (2004). "Resistance and repression in the Northern Cape, 1980–1990". The Road to Democracy in South Africa. South African Democracy Education Trust (1st ed.). Cape Town: Zebra Press. pp. 707–762. ISBN 978-1-86888-501-5. OCLC 55800334.
  3. ^ a b "Northern Cape – Provincial Legislature – 2019". Electoral Commission of South Africa. 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  4. ^ a b "2014 National and Provincial Elections: Northern Cape results". 2014. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  5. ^ "2009 Northern Cape Legislature election results". African Democracy Encyclopaedia Project. 2009. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  6. ^ Sussman, Wayne (2020-11-09). "Northern Cape preview: Lots of political action in the largest, most sparsely populated province". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
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