Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

South Africa

In South Africa NIMD facilitates interparty dialogue on policy issues of national interest.

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Programme news

Outcomes of the Africa Regional Conference in Maputo, Mozambique

News Article - 21 September 2011

On 19-21 September 2011, NIMD organised a regional conference on Constitutional Reforms and Constitutionalism in Africa in Maputo, Mozambique. At the end of the conference, participants issued a communiqué that outlined key outcomes and conclusions of the deliberations.

Kenyans study electoral system in South Africa

Video - 2010

Video report of a visit by Kenyan politicians and electoral commission officials to South Africa, 28 November - 3 December 2009

President Museveni of Uganda endorses interparty dialogue

News Article - 27 May 2010

NIMD’s Africa Regional Programme conference is being hosted by the Ugandan political parties who, on 5 February 2010, launched an interparty dialogue platform known as the Interparty Organisation for Dialogue, (IPOD).

Kenyans study electoral system in South Africa

News Article - 11 December 2009

From November 28 to December 3 representatives of the political parties in Kenya visited South Africa to study their experience with constitutional and electoral reform.

Allister Sparks on South African politics

News Article - 25 June 2009

"The Road ahead under President Zuma, is the title of my lecture, even though roads ahead are difficult to predict", said Allister Sparks, one of South Africa’s finest political analysts at a lunch lecture at NIMD on June 19th.

Africa: new birth of democracy

News Article - 15 October 2008

A governance monitor finds democratic governance to be steadily improving in 31 out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries.

Tanzanian electoral reform process gets a boost from South Africa

News Article - 18 August 2008

From 27 – 31 July 2008 the Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD) undertook a study visit to South Africa to enrich their own national reform debate.

Southern African exchange: Zambian political parties visit South Africa

News Article - 20 December 2007

An exchange of experiences about the functioning of different democratic systems

Programme information

Working with the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) in Johannesburg, NIMD’s programme in South Africa contributes to efforts aimed at building trust and understanding among political parties. In 2008, the programme facilitated a series of interparty dialogue meetings on policy issues of national interest.

Political parties in parliament

• African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
• African National Congress (ANC)
• African Peoples Convention (APC)
• Azanian People’s Party (AzaPO)
• Democratic Alliance (DA)
• Federation of Democrats (FD)
• Freedom Front Plus (FF+)
• Independent Democrats (ID)
• Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
• Minority Front (MF)
• National Alliance (NA)
• National Democratic Convention (Nadeco)
• Pan African Congress (PAC)
• United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP)
• United Democratic Movement (UDM)
 

Key achievements

• The political parties have acknowledged the need for dialogue outside parliament, which provides an opportunity to develop the current meetings of the South African Forum of Political Parties (SAFPP) into a more institutionalized interparty dialogue.
• Forum meetings have had some impact on interparty cooperation in parliament. For instance, a representative of a small opposition party participating in the Forum has been invited to take a seat in a parliamentary commission. 

Key national partner

• Centre for Policy Studies (CPS)

Key international partners

• Royal Netherlands Embassy
• Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)
• Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA)