Between April 27, 1994 and February 3, 1997 South Africa was governed under the terms of the interim Constitution of South Africa. Clause 88 of the interim Constitution required that any party holding twenty or more seats in the National Assembly could claim one or more cabinet portfolios and enter the government. This arrangement was known as the provision for a Government of National Unity (GNU).

In the election of April 27, 1994 the African National Congress obtained the majority of seats in the National Assembly, and thus could form the government on its own. The two chief parties who made use of the provision for a GNU were the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party, both of which obtained cabinet portfolios for their leaders and other Members of Parliament.

President Nelson Mandela also invited other parties to join the cabinet, even though they did not obtain the minimum twenty seats in the National Assembly.

The requirement for the GNU lapsed at the end of the first Parliament in 1999. Even so, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Azanian People's Organisation continued to hold seats in the government, as minority partners, until the elections of 2004.