Post-elections: The Road To Establishing The National Assembly Of The Seventh Democratic Parliament

Moloto Mothapo

In democratic countries such as South Africa, Parliament plays a crucial role in making legislation and holding the government to account. Under a proportional representation electoral system, Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected to represent the people of the country and act as their voice. Parliament, therefore, is accountable to the people of South Africa.

Every five years, the people of South Africa have the opportunity to cast their votes for a new Parliament. Each new five-year term of Parliament is numbered. For example, in the elections of 1994, people voted for the first democratic Parliament, referred to as the First Parliament. The Second Parliament followed after the general elections in 1999, the Third Parliament in 2004, the Fourth Parliament in 2009, the Fifth Parliament in 2014, and the Sixth Parliament in 2019.

On Wednesday, South Africans cast their votes in the country’s seventh non-racial democratic election to