Abstract
The article aims to provide an analysis of 2014 general elections in Republic of South Africa. The author analyses of key political, demographic and economic factors (both at national and at provincial level) to describe the context of the fifth general elections in May 2014.
Then the author turns his attention to the electoral campaigns and describes political strategies of main political parties. In the final part he presents the electoral results and principal changes in voting patterns.
The article argues that the most interesting questions about the parliamentary elections were not concerned with who was about to win but with the capability of minor political parties to challenge the African National Congress' ultradominant position and its aim to gain the constitutional majority in the National Assembly. In the conclusion the author analyses the most important trends of 2014 general elections from the point of view of electoral geography.