W Cape, KZN race tight
2004-04-15 06:26
Cape Town - As expected, the race for control of the South African provinces of the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal remains tight.
In the Western Cape, with 23% of the votes counted, the African National Congress (ANC) was only slightly ahead of the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), with early figures indicating that a hung legislature could result.
The ANC was leading with 36.9%, with the DA polling 35.7%. The New National Party (NNP), which was once dominant in the province, slipped behind the DA with 11.74%.
A strong "fourth force" was Patricia de Lille's Independent Democrats with 8.11%. The ACDP was polling 3.25% and the Freedom Front Plus with 1.29%. The other parties polled 3% collectively.
If the trend holds, the ANC will not have a sufficient majority even with its political partner, the NNP, falling short of the critical 50% threshold.
However, with the rural votes likely to be the last counted, the ANC is likely to strengthen its position.
Nevertheless a coalition government, possibly of opposition parties, could be an upset result.
The NNP got 38% of the vote in 1999 in the Western Cape, so it looks as if its support has dropped more than two thirds in its key stronghold.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC currently holds 47%, with the IFP in second position with 34%, followed by the DA with 10%. However, again the rural vote, which will be the last to be counted, is likely to favour the IFP.
In all the other provinces, the ANC is on course for victory. In Gauteng it has garnered 52.35% so far, followed by the DA with 30.04%, while in the Eastern Cape, the ANC has 75.89% of the vote, followed by the DA with 13.67%, SABC news reported.