ANC victory dance as NNP fades

2004-04-16 19:46

Johannesburg - The African National Congress is celebrating its most decisive victory in a decade of multiracial democracy, while the party that gave South Africa apartheid heads toward political obscurity.

With results reported from more than 95% of polling districts, the ANC had just under 70% of the parliamentary vote, assuring President Thabo Mbeki of a second term.

The ANC was also leading in votes for nine provincial assemblies, although in KwaZulu-Natal it was neck-and-neck with the Inkatha Freedom Party.

Mbeki said during a triumphant visit to the centre where results from Wednesday's vote were being compiled: "It is quite clear the ANC has got the overwhelming support and confidence of the people of South Africa.

"It also, I think, poses a challenge to the ANC not to disappoint the expectations of the millions of people who voted so overwhelmingly for the ANC."

Party support has tumbled

South Africa's third all-race national election dealt a heavy blow to the New National Party, the forbear of which presided over almost half a century of white minority rule.

Party support had already tumbled from 20% in 1994 to just under 7% in 1999. With now less than 2%, it appeared destined to be little more than a regional party.

However, an alliance with its former ANC foes could still give the New National Party a role in the next national and Western Cape provincial governments.

Results were preliminary until certified by the Independent Electoral Commission. Parties had until 21:00 on Friday to lodge any objections.

While a new black elite is changing the face of South African suburbs and boardrooms, the country continues to be plagued by poverty, unemployment, crime and Aids.

Millions still live in squalid townships, and the gap between rich and poor is increasing.

Mbeki pledged to create jobs and improve lives during an unusual door-to-door campaign that took him from tin shacks to comfortable middle-class living rooms across the country.

"The ANC has the duty, the absolute duty, to make sure that it does all those things that it committed itself to do," he said on Friday.

Mbeki then headed to a victory celebration at a Johannesburg convention centre, where hundreds of party faithful sang and danced.

Achieved an historic result - Leon

The Democratic Alliance was running a distant second with just more than 12% of the vote, up from 9% in 1999, said electoral officials.

Party leader Tony Leon said: "Today, the Democratic Alliance has earned the right to celebrate.

"We have achieved an historic result - one that lays the foundation for a strong, positive alternative government to the African National Congress in South Africa."

But, despite a determined effort to woo black voters, gains came mostly at the expense of other parties in a fragmented opposition.

The new president will be sworn in April 27, the day South Africa celebrates a decade of multiracial democracy.

- AP