Voters will be faced with their biggest choice yet in a national election after a record number of 48 political parties met the legal requirements to contest this year’s elections, the Electoral Commission (IEC) said in a media release.
This is 19 more parties than contested the 2014 national elections. The parties which will contest the national elections (in alphabetical order) are:
| AFRICAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY |
| AFRICAN CONGRESS OF DEMOCRATS |
| AFRICAN CONTENT MOVEMENT |
| AFRICAN COVENANT |
| AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC CHANGE |
| AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CONGRESS |
| AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS |
| AFRICAN PEOPLE’S CONVENTION |
| AFRICAN RENAISSANCE UNITY |
| AFRICAN SECURITY CONGRESS |
| AFRICAN TRANSFORMATION MOVEMENT |
| AFRIKAN ALLIANCE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRATS |
| AGANG SOUTH AFRICA |
| AL JAMA-AH |
| ALLIANCE FOR TRANSFORMATION FOR ALL |
| AZANIAN PEOPLE’S ORGANISATION |
| BETTER RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION |
| BLACK FIRST LAND FIRST |
| CAPITALIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA |
| CHRISTIAN POLITICAL MOVEMENT |
| COMPATRIOTS OF SOUTH AFRICA |
| CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLE |
| DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE |
| DEMOCRATIC LIBERAL CONGRESS |
| ECONOMIC EMANCIPATION FORUM |
| ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS |
| FORUM 4 SERVICE DELIVERY |
| FREE DEMOCRATS |
| FRONT NASIONAAL/FRONT NATIONAL |
| GOOD |
| INDEPENDENT CIVIC ORGANISATION OF SOUTH AFRICA |
| INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY |
| INTERNATIONAL REVELATION CONGRESS |
| LAND PARTY |
| MINORITY FRONT |
| NATIONAL FREEDOM PARTY |
| NATIONAL PEOPLES AMBASSADORS |
| NATIONAL PEOPLE’S FRONT |
| PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA |
| PATRIOTIC ALLIANCE |
| PEOPLE’S REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT |
| POWER OF AFRICANS UNITY |
| SOCIALIST REVOLUTIONARY WORKERS PARTY |
| SOUTH AFRICAN MAINTANANCE AND ESTATE BENEFICIARIES ASSOCIATION |
| SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS OF TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES |
| UNITED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT |
| VRYHEIDSFRONT PLUS |
| WOMEN FORWARD |
The deadline also saw a new record number of parties contesting all provincial elections with the largest number of parties contesting Gauteng (36) and the smallest number contesting the Northern Cape (21)
| Province | Number of parties contesting 2019 provincial elections | Number of parties which contested 2014 provincial elections |
| Eastern Cape | 26 | 18 |
| Free State | 28 | 16 |
| Gauteng | 36 | 22 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 31 | 18 |
| Limpopo | 34 | 20 |
| Mpumalanga | 28 | 16 |
| Northern Cape | 21 | 16 |
| North West | 29 | 16 |
| Western Cape | 34 | 25 |
The following parties will contest the provincial elections in the Eastern Cape:
| PARTIES CONTESTING EASTERN CAPE LEGISLATURE |
| AFRICAN CHANGE ACADEMY |
| AFRICAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY |
| AFRICAN CONTENT MOVEMENT |
| AFRICAN COVENANT |
| AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CONGRESS |
| AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS |
| AFRICAN PEOPLE’S CONVENTION |
| AFRICAN TRANSFORMATION MOVEMENT |
| AL JAMA-AH |
| ALLIANCE FOR TRANSFORMATION FOR ALL |
| AZANIAN PEOPLE’S ORGANISATION |
| CHRISTIAN POLITICAL MOVEMENT |
| CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLE |
| DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE |
| ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS |
| FORUM 4 SERVICE DELIVERY |
| GOOD |
| INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY |
| INTERNATIONAL REVELATION CONGRESS |
| NATIONAL FREEDOM PARTY |
| PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA |
| PEOPLE’S REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT |
| PLAASLIKE BESORGDE INWONERS |
| SOCIALIST REVOLUTIONARY WORKERS PARTY |
| UNITED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT |
| VRYHEIDSFRONT PLUS |
