PRETORIA, April 25 (AFP) - South Africa's ruling ANC won an absolute majority in general polls today, with president-in-waiting Jacob Zuma facing huge expectations from the poor in a flailing economy.
With 99 percent of votes from Wednesday's election tallied, unofficial figures released by the electoral commission showed the African National Congress had won over 11.6 million votes, more than half of the nation's 23 million registered voters.
While the ANC fell just short of two-thirds of the vote with 66.03 percent, the way was clear for the party to elect the popular but controversial Zuma as the new head of state in a parliamentary vote in early May.
Official results were set to be confirmed later today.
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| A young ANC supporter, standing next to a Zuma banner, waves a flag during victory celebrations in Johannesburg. Reuters |
Thousands of supporters celebrated as the final votes were counted, packing into an exhibition centre on the outskirts of Soweto where party heavyweights vowed to follow through on campaign promises to boost the lot of the nation's weak and vulnerable."
Immediately after the counting finishes, the real work starts. We must all roll (up) our sleeves and start working," said Paul Mashatile, premier of Gauteng, the country's economic hub that includes Johannesburg.
"Those who live in shacks or have no jobs want us to work for them. We must deliver," he added.
Groups of people in "Vote Zuma" T-shirts sang in Zulu, "We are taking Zuma to Pretoria."
The party had said that Zuma would address the rally, but later cancelled his appearance without explanation.
Even with the last ballots still to be counted, none of ANC's rivals could overtake the party. A breakaway group, the Congress of the People (COPE), took 7.4 percent.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance was at 16.5 percent, but looked set to grab the Western Cape province, which includes Cape Town, with an outright majority for the first time.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Zuma to congratulate him on his party's success, a spokesman in London said, to show "our desire to work closely with the new South African government."
The African Union declared the election free and fair in a preliminary report commending the smooth conduct of the elections.
While the ANC had held a two-thirds majority, allowing it to make constitutional changes, it was unclear whether calculations of parliamentary seats would see it maintain this in the national assembly.
"It's really one of those cliffhangers of this election," political analyst Susan Booysen told AFP, but added that the party had yet to use its supermajority to impose major amendments.
Zuma -- whose woes include being fired as deputy president, a rape acquittal, and the recent dropping of graft charges due to political meddling -- will enter office under intense scrutiny that bodes well for clean governance, she said.
"Mr Zuma knows he's so watched. There are few presidents anywhere in the world that come into power so watched," said Booysen. "The question marks are really never going to go away. But it is going to be business and let's move forward from now."
Dissatisfaction with public services and political crises over the past few years, as well as the scandal around Zuma, are credited with luring a record 23 million people to register to vote.
Turnout was estimated at about 77 percent.
Zuma has experienced massive support from his mainly working-class devotees who hope the populist leader is their ticket to improved public services and more jobs.
But he will take power as the economy is slipping into a recession, with thousands of workers in the crucial mine industry laid off earlier this year.
The son of a housekeeper, Zuma is seen as the antithesis of former president Thabo Mbeki who managed impressive economic growth, but failed to tackle the world's largest HIV rates while minimising the nation's staggering crime rate.
Zuma was a stalwart of the struggle against white minority rule, and spent a decade jailed alongside Mandela on Robben Island. |
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