Sweet taste of victory for ANC
2004-04-16 10:41
Johannesburg - The African National Congress celebrated on Friday its biggest electoral triumph in a decade of power with President Thabo Mbeki set to address his supporters at a victory rally.
The former freedom movement which swept to power led by Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994 won almost 70% of the vote in the third democratic elections on Wednesday, preliminary results showed.
"The results show that people really appreciate what we have achieved in the last 10 years," ANC spokesperson Steyn Speed said.
The ANC was also leading in two key provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, but it remained unclear whether it would govern there given the possible alliances at play.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance, which draws most of its support from whites, won almost 13% of the vote, a stronger showing than in the previous elections, according to preliminary results.
But the New National Party was given a sound drubbing and was headed to political oblivion, picking up less than 2% of the vote, results showed.
The Independent Electoral Commission cited preliminary estimates that showed turnout was likely to be around 75% of the nearly 21 million registered voters, down from the previous two democratic elections.
Voters on Wednesday cast ballots to elect the 400 members of the National Assembly and representatives to the nine provincial legislatures.
The new assembly will convene next week to elect a president, with Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela in 1999, certain to win a second and final term.
Mbeki, 61, was due to address the ANC victory celebration later on Friday and possibly give clues as to how the party intends to use its mammoth two-thirds majority in parliament to lead the country in the next five years.
The ANC held a two-thirds majority in the previous parliament with 275 seats but this was achieved through defections from opposition party and not by popular mandate.
In the leadup to the vote, Mbeki has signalled that he would not seek changes to the constitution with the massive majority to allow him to remain in office beyond a second term in 2009.
Rather Mbeki has told voters flat-out that they should expect no major policy shifts during his second term in office.
The opposition however has pressed its view that Mbeki has failed to deliver on key problems of Aids, unemployment, poverty and crime.
In a statement released late Thursday, the ANC said the outcome of the elections showed that "the overwhelming majority of South Africans have given the ANC a decisive mandate to implement programmes to fight poverty and create work."
Watch the provisional results of the national and provincial elections as they come in on News24.com