South African Democracy Essay

South Africa is a unique country compared to other African countries when it comes to democratization. South Africa after decolonization was considered by many scholars a type of democracy, specially a parliamentary regime. The only problem with that regime was apartheid, since it did not allow many of the citizens vote for their own representation and president. South Africa never had a dictator or an autocratic regime. Thus, the country’s first multi-party election is considered to be held after the end of apartheid. South African regime after the multi-party elections grew stronger in democracy with free and fair elections. However, South African still experiences some setbacks that make it hard to consider a totally perfect democracy.

If looked at the presidential elections outcomes from 1994, the first election after apartheid, to 2014, there has been a presidential turnover. No president has refused to leave office, and the transition from president to president was smooth. This smooth presidential turnover can be contributed to the fact that all the presidents have been elected from the same party. Since the end of apartheid, the ANC has gained majority power and has retained power. This is true on the national level, but if looked at local levels, in some regions the opposition is gaining majority power. One theory as to why the ANC has dominated the elections is the fact that ANC was the leading opposition during the apartheid era. It still conducts itself as more of a national movement than a political party. The older generation feels a loyalty to the ANC and this is seen since the apartheid was abolished in 1994. The citizens who experienced apartheid still are able to vote. The younger, more educated voters are voting in large for the opposition party, Democratic

In Freedom House’s report for 2012, the freedom rating and political rights have increasing indicating a worse score. This increase is due to the fact that the government has been engaging in political repression. The government has proposed two bills, Media Appeals Tribunal and Protection of Information Bill, which would significantly reduce press freedom. There has been also a handful of documented case in which the government has unlawful banned protests that are protected in the Constitution. Police repression has been a major problem, often times targeting journalists and activists. The Right2Know Campaign has reported some instances in which protestors have been harassed by political intimation from political parties. These activities show that even though there a free and fair elections, the human rights of the people are being violated. This shows a conflicting political scenario. On one hand the government is having peaceful presidential turnover, and free and fair elections. However, on the other hand the government has engaged in actions that promote political repression. Actions such as these decrease the democracy because democracy is not only about free and fair elections but about freedom of the individuals as