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The Republic of South Africa is a unitary parliamentary democratic republic. The President of South Africa serves both as head of state and as head of government. The President is elected by the National Assembly and must retain the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also elect provincial legislatures which govern each of the country's nine provinces. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has dominated South Africa's politics. The ANC is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in most provinces. The ANC received 40.18% of the vote during the 2024 general election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance (DA), led by John Steenhuisen, which received 21.81% of the vote in the 2024 election. Other major political parties represented in Parliament includes uMkhonto we Sizwe, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The formerly dominant New National Party (NNP), which both introduced and ended apartheid through its predecessor the National Party (NP), disbanded in 2005 to merge with the ANC. Nelson Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999 and his successors were Thabo Mbeki (1999−2008), Kgalema Motlanthe (2008−2009) and Jacob Zuma (2009−2018). Zuma was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa after his resignation on February 2018. The 2024 general election was held on 29 May 2024, with the ANC losing its majority in the national parliament for the first time in South Africa's democratic history, though it still remained the largest political party. Despite losing the majority in 2024, the ANC managed to retain power with a coalition government. South Africa is a democracy. Universal suffrage was granted in 1994 with the end of apartheid. Since then, elections have been open and competitive, and the lives of South Africans have improved across multiple metrics. However, it has faced challenges as a multi-racial, young democracy. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated South Africa a "flawed democracy" in 2022.