Mbeki: No constitutional changes

2004-04-16 13:38

Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki pledged Friday not to disappoint South Africans and to deliver on his campaign promises following the landslide electoral win of his African National Congress party.

"I think it's a very good result," said Mbeki in his first public remarks about the outcome of the elections on Wednesday, South Africa's third since the end of apartheid.

"And that is also a challenge to the ANC not to disappoint the expectations of these millions of people who voted for us so overwhelmingly," he added.

"I am quite certain that the ANC will not disappoint that expectation," he said during a brief appearance at the offices of the independent electoral commission.

"The ANC has a duty, an absolute duty, to make sure that it does all these things that it committed itself to do," he added.

The ANC won its biggest electoral victory in 10 years of power in South Africa, clinching nearly 70% of the vote and a massive two-thirds majority in parliament that would in theory allow it to change the constitution.

Allay concerns

But Mbeki again sought to allay concerns that the ANC would make a power grab.

"I'm quite sure we have no plans to make any constitutional changes," said Mbeki.

Mbeki said the ANC was open to enter into a coalition government in KwaZulu-Natal for the sake of peace, stability and nation-building.

However, the form of the coalition government would depend on the total number of votes political parties in the province would have obtained by final count.

"We want to look at the final figure in KwaZulu-Natal and I hope that by later today that will be clear. We will then discuss the matter after," Mbeki told reporters at the Independent Electoral Office in Pretoria. - AFP

- SAPA