South Africa is a democratic republic with a bicameral parliament. The President is the head of state and is elected by the parliament. Elections are held every five years and the two most important parties are the socialist African National Congress (ANC) which has held power since 1994 and the Democratic Alliance (DA). The most recent national and provincial elections were held on 22nd April 2009, and were the fourth general elections to have taken place since the end of apartheid. The National Assembly has 400 seats elected by proportional representation based on a closed list system. In the recent elections, the African National Congress (ANC) received 65.9% of the vote, giving them 264 seats (5.4% less than in previous elections), and Jacob ZUMA was elected as President of the Republic.

The opposition party, the Democratic Alliance received 16.7% of the vote and 67 seats, allowing it to considerably increase its share of the vote (the increase is reported to be around 34%). For the first time, a breakaway faction of the ANC, which split from the party following the election of Jacob Zuma as party leader, ran for the elections. The Congress of the People came third with 30 seats and 7.4% of the vote. Women make up 44.5% of the Lower Chamber (178 seats) and 29.6% of the Senate (16 seats) , making South Africa the worlds third best country in terms of gender equality in parliament.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission , 77.3% of the 23,180,000 strong electorate voted in the elections. The results mean that the ANC no longer has the two third majority it needs to make constitutional changes. The party also won in 8 out of the 9 South African provinces, with the exception of Western Cape, where the election was won by the Democratic Alliance, with 51.4 % of the vote.

The Independent Electoral Commission has highlighted incidents recorded at polling stations (lack of ballot papers, arguments and outbreaks of violence), but stressed that generally speaking, observers considered the elections to be fair and free. In the 2009 elections, citizens living outside of the country were able to vote for the first time, subject to being on the electoral register. This decision was passed by the Pretoria Supreme Court in February 2009, following the favourable ruling by the Constitutional Court and on account of a claim made by the Freedom Front Plus Party in favour of a South African teacher living in London who had been denied the right to vote in previous elections.

The President is the head of the executive and nominates the Vice-president and the Ministers. He is responsible for assigning their powers and functions and also has the ability to dismiss them. The president may not be re-elected if he/she has served two terms of five years. All but two ministers must be selected from the members of the National Assembly. Out of the thirty four members of the cabinet, fourteen are female. Ministers are responsible individually and collectively before the Parliament.

The judiciary is legally independent, but recent reports from civil organisations indicate that it is underfunded and understaffed. In 2009, of the 205 serving judges, 79.5% were male and 20.4% female.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, created after the end of apartheid, identified 21,769 people as victims of manifest human rights violations. Of the total number identified, 16,837 have claimed for damages and as of May 2009, 15,881 have received compensation.

According to the Constitution, discrimination on the grounds of race, disability, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, culture, language, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation or marital status is prohibited. However, some groups claim that discrimination continues to take place. Civil servants have the responsibility to promote equality, including in education and the workplace.

The police are accused of using excessive force. Accusations of beatings, rape and torture are also reported, as are attacks on people accused of witchcraft.

In spite of laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, LGBT students face the harsh reality of prejudice characterised by homophobic insults and comments in schools and tertiary institutions, in spite of the policies which seek to protect pupils and students. The Education Act states that schools should serve those they educate without any discrimination although recent investigations carried out by LGBT groups associated with ILGA , have revealed that lesbians and gays suffer from discrimination in schools, with the problem occurring frequently in places such as KwaZulu-Natal. It is estimated that 42% of lesbian women and 68% of gay men have experienced insults, violence and prejudiced comments in school on account of their sexual orientation. The investigation also shows that in Gauteng, 14% of homosexuals and lesbians report having experienced sexual violence in school, and that in KwaZulu-Natal approximately 19% of lesbians and gays reported having been subject to some form of aggression in the school environment. NGOs working for gay and lesbian rights reported circumstances in which discrimination has occurred based on cultural or religious factors.
Efforts to curb corruption have been put in place although there remains a broad public perception of official corruption. In its 2009 annual report on corruption, Transparency International ranked South Africa 55th out of 180 countries with a score of 4.7 out of ten (10 being the least corrupt).

The law guarantees freedom of expression and of the press, and independent media exist and express a wide variety of opinions. The majority of the population rely on radio broadcasts for information. The government is accused of being sensitive to criticism, something which is said to result in self-censorship by some journalists. The Foreign Publication Board reviews materials imported into the country and can edit or ban materials which are deemed pornographic, but Internet access is not restricted. In 2010, South Africa dropped five points in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters without Borders on account of a number of acts of aggression perpetrated during the Football World Cup, but above all on account of the behaviour of the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) towards the press. In April 2010, Julius Malema, president of the ANC Youth League insulted the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent Johah Fisher and expelled him from his press conference. Additionally, the authorities are studying two proposals which may jeopardise freedom of press through the creation of a media and communications court and regressive reforms of the information law. There are no major restrictions on Internet access, however the cost remains too high for the majority of the population.

The country is a destination, transit route and point of origin for people trafficking for prostitution and forced labour. Organised criminal groups are said to traffic women into the country for the sex industry, while young men are trafficked for agricultural work. Direct international air transport links between South Africa and its reachable borders mean it is vulnerable to illegal immigration, trafficking and international organised crime. In recognition of some of these vulnerabilities, the South African government has significantly increased international cooperation in order to prevent terrorist attacks, most notably before and during the 2010 Football World Cup.
HIV-AIDS is an extremely sensitive topic in the country, with some 5.7 million people living with the virus, including approximately 3.2 million women and 280,000 children (from 0 to 14). The prevalence of HIV among women who attend prenatal care centres is 29%. Among adults (from 15 to 49), the prevalence of HIV is 18.3% although a significant drop in the prevalence of the disease among young people (under 20) has been observed. However, there is significant variation throughout the provinces, going from 39.1% in KwaZulu-Natal to 15.1% in the province of Western Cape.

South Africas policy is changing after previously having suffered heavy criticism from social organisations involved in the fight against AIDS. In its annual budget for 2010,2011, the country has committed US $1,100 million to the fight against HIV-AIDS, the largest investment in a developing country.
Education International and the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) continue to develop programmes to train teachers in HIV-AIDS prevention. Programmes and materials have been developed for use in schools. Campaigns to reduce or eliminate discrimination against people with HIV-AIDS have been developed, but the social stigma remains.

The governance and funding of schools must ensure that disadvantaged children are given priority in education, which is compulsory for ages 7 to 15, and children cannot be refused admission to public schools due to a lack of resources. About 97% of children in the compulsory education age group are enrolled in school and those not enrolled are reported to be children with special needs. Unplanned pregnancies and domestic responsibilities continue to contribute to high drop-out rates and lower secondary school achievement among adolescent girls. The availability and quality of primary schooling in rural areas constitutes a serious problem. Provincial education departments are responsible for their schools, and educational facilities are unevenly distributed, with poorer provinces having the worst facilities. A lack of teachers and materials, overcrowding in classrooms and vandalism make schools unattractive places for teachers to work and for children to learn. Rape, sexual abuse, acts of aggression and sexual harassment suffered by girls at school from teachers, students and other members of the school community continue to be reported as serious problems. Schools must disclose sexual abuse to authorities and administrators stand accused of cover-ups or delaying disciplinary action. The level of sexual violence increases the risk of girls contracting HIV-AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases. Corporal Punishment is prohibited in schools (National Education Policy Act, 1996), however there are still cases in which physical violence is used to discipline pupils.
The South African basic education department published a handbook in July 2010 (Speak Out! Handbook) which sought to help young people deal with sexual abuse occurring at school or in the home. The document is designed to help young people understand how to quickly spot harassment and sexual violence. It also includes legal information about sexual rights, advice to protect pupils from abuse and describes the signs which show that someone is suffering from sexual abuse. Specifically, the material emphasises the obligation of teachers to stop any sort of abuse, as well as the severity of circumstances where a teacher is involved in abuses. It includes information to allow teachers to report the violation of victims rights.

Children begin school at the age of 6 and the programme lasts for one year. At this level 8% of education is private and The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) is 11%.

Education is compulsory from the age of 7 to 15 with primary school starting at the age of 7 and lasting for 7 years. At this level 2% of education is private and the NER is 84% (49% female). Of the students who enrol in Grade 1, 79% continue to the last grade of primary school and 5% of students repeat grades. 220,950 teachers (74% female) work at this level, and 79% are correctly trained. The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 30:1.

Secondary education begins at age 14 and lasts 5 years. At this level 3% of education is private and 10% of students in upper secondary education study in technical vocational programmes. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) is 93% (95% in lower secondary and 88% in upper secondary) and 11% of students repeat grades. There are 149,046 secondary teachers, 67,185 (49% female) in lower secondary and 81,861 (51% female) in upper secondary, with 89% having the correct training. The PTR is 28:1 in lower secondary and 31:1 in upper secondary.

744,489 students (54% female) study in tertiary institutions, with a GER of 15%. Of the 49,974 international students studying in South Africa, 36,203 are from Sub-Saharan Africa and the remaining 13,767 are from unspecified countries. There are 5,619 South African students studying abroad, mainly in the USA (1,971), the UK (1,408), Australia (643), Cuba (340) and Germany (196).

Discrimination based on disability is prohibited in employment, and people with disabilities are legally protected from harassment. The Employment Equality Act sets out directives for the recruitment of people with disabilities, and employers with more than 50 workers are required to create an affirmative action plan for equality for disabled employees in the workforce. However, even in the case of public sector employees, who should act as an example, disabled employees only represent 0.02% of the workforce. South Africa has a policy and action plan for educating disabled children, but research into the education of disabled children notes that while a high percentage appear to be integrated into primary education, the conditions and quality of the service received are improving extremely slowly. The official reason is that there just are no other services and special needs children are into the mainstream schools by their parents or the mainstream education system. Teachers in local schools require training, support and equipment as well as appropriate curricula for the successful integration of disabled children. Urban children with disabilities have more opportunity for suitable education than those in rural areas. The government operates detention facilities where young people are sometimes held with adults. These young people receive little education and are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse.

Reports from Human Rights Watch (Africa) and Amnesty International have condemned acts of violence against refugees and immigrants, with repeated threats and violence being largely perpetrated with impunity. Human Rights organisations note the indifference or negligence with which the police forces have dealt with these episodes, involving refugees from Ethiopia and other countries. A court decision allowing asylum seekers the right to work and study has still not been consistently applied. Attacks on Somali refugees in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng have been repeated and effective action has not been taken against those alleged to be responsible.

South Africa is second only to India in the number of languages in use and has 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. In addition to these, 8 additional, non-official languages are also spoken: Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, Phuthi, San and South African Sign Language. Among all these languages, English is the lingua franca. Black Africans are not a homogeneous group, but include many ethnic groups, such as Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North Sotho), Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele. Of these, the Zulu, Xhosa, Bapedi and Venda are unique to South Africa. The nomadic Khoikhoi were the first indigenous people in the country and live mainly in the south-west of the Cape. Only a few thousand remain and currently work on farms. The Khoikhoi have the same rights as other citizens, although have minimal access to education and live in isolation. Education and healthcare systems are being reorganised to benefit all groups more equally although imbalances continue in the workplace.

Academic freedom is constitutionally guaranteed in South Africa. However, there are still cases in which sanctions are applied to academics or students where they have criticised the university and its management. The threat of dismissal is seen as an attempt to silence academics. Attempts to control and undermine independent academic research have also been reported and there have been cases in which the email accounts of university staff have been monitored.

Despite having equal legal, family and property rights in terms of inheritance, divorce and custody of children, women continue to suffer from discrimination. Economic discrimination is reflected in pay, credit and access to land. Black South African women have lower incomes and less job security than white women and men. Most women are engaged in poorly paid work with little job security or benefits. Traditional leadership structures in rural areas do not grant land tenure to women, in spite of the law, and this is a precondition for access to housing subsidies. Domestic violence is frequent. Rape is also a very serious problem, and incidences have increased. Amnesty International notes that the number of reported rapes is believed to be only a third of the estimated number of actual rapes. Women are trafficked to South Africa for prostitution. A law prohibiting virginity testing is not enforced, and virginity tests occur in KwaZulu-Natal as part of traditional ceremonies.

The law prohibits the employment of anyone under the minimum school leaving age of 15. Minors from 15 to 18 may not work in places that risk their well-being, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral or social development. Child labour laws in the formal sector are monitored and the legislation is enforced although child labour remains widespread in the informal and agricultural sectors. The death of many parents caused by HIV-AIDS has increased the number of children who are required to support themselves and their siblings. Children are forced into prostitution and employment under conditions which are akin to slavery.

During the South African World Cup, the International Labour Organization (ILO) commemorated the World Day against Child Labour with an urgent call to reach the goal of eradicating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

The law prohibits the employment of anyone under the minimum school leaving age of 15. Minors from 15 to 18 may not work in places that risk their well-being, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral or social development. Child labour laws in the formal sector are monitored and the legislation is enforced although child labour remains widespread in the informal and agricultural sectors. The death of many parents caused by HIV-AIDS has increased the number of children who are required to support themselves and their siblings. Children are forced into prostitution and employment under conditions which are akin to slavery.

During the South African World Cup, the International Labour Organization (ILO) commemorated the World Day against Child Labour with an urgent call to reach the goal of eradicating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.