--Select Document-- What are the fundamental principles of democratic governance?What is SADC?What is NEPAD?What is the African Union?What is the Pan African Parliament?What are the different spheres of government (national, provincial, local) in South Africa?What are the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the State?What new legislation is being debated in parliament?How does Parliament function in South Africa?What are the functions of South Africa’ provincial legislatures?What is the role of parliamentary committees in South Africa?

Should you wish to obtain Topic Specific Answers please use the menu provided on the left hand side.

Political Governance
What are the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the State?
The South African Constitution creates checks and balances within the state system, called “separation of powers”. This allows for three different arms of the state, viz. the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary, with different levels of responsibility and accountability. The Executive makes and implements policy through ministries and departments. Parliament is also called the legislature and is comprised at national level, of the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), representing provincial legislatures. Parliament is concerned with making the laws of our land, and overseeing implementation that occurs through the Executive. The Judiciary is comprised of all the courts in South Africa, with the Constitutional court being the highest in the land. 

A simplistic diagram to indicate the different responsibilities of the different areas of government can be set out as follows:

	Executive	Legislature (Parliament)	Judiciary
National	Makes Policy; and implements Policy	Makes new Laws and amends existing Laws (guided by Policy)	Enforces Laws and Policies
Provincial
Local