The Minority Front is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. The party represents all minorities of South Africa, however, its support comes mainly from the South African Indian community. Its voter base is in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The eThekwini district, (

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

), is the cultural and demographic centre of South Africa's Indian community. The party was founded in 1993 and led by Amichand Rajbansi until his death in December 2011.

History

The Minority Front was formed as a successor to the National People's Party (NPP), which was an important party led by the late Mr. A. Rajbansi in the Indian-only House of Delegates in the

Tricameral Parliament The Tricameral Parliament, officially the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, was the legislature of South Africa between 1984 and 1994, established by the South African Constitution of 1983, which gave a limited political voice to ...

. Rajbansi's widow and colleague in the

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members i ...

, Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi, was voted in as leader in January 2012. A leadership and family battle erupted when an attempt was made to replace Thakur-Rajbansi as leader, with Amichand Rajbansi's son, Vimal, and first wife, Asha Devi Rajbansi, asking her to step down, and a breakaway conference (not recognized by the IEC) elected Roy Bhoola, who Thakur-Rajbansi had attempted to remove from public office. Thakur-Rajbansi was declared the undisputed leader in December 2013, after the parties settled their disputes in a confidential agreement.

Election results

National elections

, - ! Election ! Total votes ! Share of vote ! Seats ! +/– ! Government , - !

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, 13,433 , 0.07% , , – , , - !

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, 48,277 , 0.30% , , 1 , , - ! 2004 , 55,267 , 0.35% , , 1 , , - ! 2009 , 43,474 , 0.25% , , 1 , , - !

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 22,589 , 0.12% , , 1 , , - !

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 11,961 , 0.07% , , ±0 ,

Provincial elections

! rowspan=2 , Election ! colspan=2 , Eastern Cape ! colspan=2 , Free State ! colspan=2 ,

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

! colspan=2 , Kwazulu-Natal ! colspan=2 ,

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

! colspan=2 , Mpumalanga ! colspan=2 , North-West ! colspan=2 , Northern Cape ! colspan=2 ,

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

, - ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats , - !

, - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , 1.34% , , 1/80 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - !

, - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , 2.93% , , 2/80 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - ! 2004 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , 2.61% , , 2/80 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - ! 2009 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , 2.05% , , 2/80 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - !

, - , , - , - , , - , 0.07% , , 0/73 , 1.02% , , 1/80 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - !

, - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , 0.52% , , 1/80 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , -

Municipal elections

, - ! Election ! Votes ! % , - ! 1995–96 , , , - !

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, , 0.3% , - ! 2006 , 84,785 , 0.3% , - ! 2011 , 113,195 , 0.4% , - !

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, 13,407 , 0.03% , - !

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, 8,304 , 0.03% , -

Organisation and Structure

Head Office

The Minority Front's primary office is at 13175 Peak Street, Arena Park, Westcliff, Chatsworth, Durban.

Minority Front Women's League

MF Womens League Image 1.jpg MF Womens League Image 2.jpg

Minority Front Youth League

Minority Front: National Assembly

Minority Front Leadership

Amichand Rajbansi.jpg, Amichand Rajbansi: Founder and past leader of the Minority Front (1993–2011). Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi.jpg, Hon. Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi: Leader of the Minority Front (2012-current).

Events

A Rajbansi receiving Lifetime Achievement Reward.jpg, The late Mr A Rajbansi receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the India International Friendship Society in New Delhi (2008). MF Womens League Election Manifesto Launch 2019.jpg, MF Women's League at the 2019 Election Manifesto Launch in Chatsworth. MF Leader with Supporters at the 2019 Election Manifesto Launch.jpg, MF Leader, Hon Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi pictured with supporters at their 2019 Election Manifesto Launch in Chatsworth. Combo Court Black Area - Ladysmith.jpg, Opening of the Acaciavale Primary School Sports Facility in 2009 by Former MEC of Sport 2009, the Late Mr A Rajbansi

References

{{Authority control 1993 establishments in South Africa Indian diaspora in South Africa Political parties established in 1993 Political parties in South Africa Political parties of minorities