Since 1994, South Africa has been a democracy, led by a government decided by the South African people in four-yearly national elections. This essay delves specifically into the 2014 election and will delve into every aspect of this election. South Africa is a multi-party, three-tier constitutional democracy. The three branches of the state in South Africa are the executive (the Presidency and its cabinet), the legislative (Parliament) and the judiciary. The legislature has between 350 and 400 seats composed of representatives from various parties determined through proportional representation by the country's quadrennial national elections. that is, if 15% of the country votes for “Party A”, Party A will hold 15% of the seats in Parliament. Parliament discusses and decides on the bills presented by the municipalities and decides on the President of the country, therefore the majority party with the most seats generally has its leader as president. The President chooses the rest of the cabinet ministers and is the pinnacle of South Africa's government. The multi-party system in South Africa allows a wide variety of choices for voting citizens in South Africa. Elections held every four years not only determine the country's legislature but also how the respective municipalities are governed; these local governments also rely on proportional representation. Municipal leaders choose local leaders and both govern for five years until the next set of elections, unless they are unable to hold office for any reason, in which case elections are held again for that specific municipality. Dividing government into sectors allows South Africans to have a different sheet of paper to deal with any issues that are/may emerge with the parties and therefore helps to give the voter an advantage in being able to cast an informed vote. The internet will have a major influence on how South Africans vote in the 2014 elections as social media allows people to stay in the news feed at all times. With web pages giving supporters the chance to stay in touch with the party of their choice and media like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube giving parties the chance to campaign on screens, the 2014 elections will see much greater engagement by the younger generations. The media allows voters to become more involved in elections. The 2014 elections are the fifth series of national elections in South Africa. These elections will allow every entitled citizen to showcase the true nature of democracy as they will have the freedom to choose how they believe South Africa should be governed..