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ANC wins S African election handsomely

The sun rises as South African voters queue to cast their ballots in Cape Town's Marconi Beam township on Wednesday. PHOTO: REUTERS

The African National Congress (ANC) steamed towards victory in South Africa's election yesterday, with declared results showing it on course for its biggest win since it toppled apartheid 10 years ago.

Ballots counted from half the country's 17,000 voting stations showed the ANC winning 68.42 percent of the vote against the total 66.35 percent it scored in 1999 and the 63 percent which made Nelson Mandela president in 1994.

Political analysts said the former liberation movement was now virtually guaranteed a two-thirds majority in parliament, which would allow it to amend the Constitution at will.

"Our prediction is the ANC should be at around 69 percent," said Hans Ittmann of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, noting that many traditional ANC strongholds had not yet reported results.

But the ruling party was battling for two key provinces and faced a strengthening challenge from the Democratic Alliance (DA), which campaigned on South Africa's huge problems with AIDS, crime and unemployment after a decade of ANC rule.

The DA, a largely white party which has sought to cement its position as the official opposition, almost doubled its support from the 1999 elections with a total of 14.86 percent of the national vote, according to results so far.

The main loser appeared to be the New National Party (NNP), heir to the grouping that built apartheid, which was at just 2 percent against almost 7 percent in 1999.

"The NNP have caused their own death ... they're on the way out," said Patricia de Lille, whose new Independent Democrat party picked up some of the votes among the NNP's remaining base of mixed-race voters.

"We are excited about the results so far," ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said. "The hurricane is beginning to blow. It's blowing in our favor."

The ANC, now led by President Thabo Mbeki, appeared strong across the country with results putting it ahead in all nine provinces -- albeit in some cases by small margins. Turnout estimates were about 74 percent.

This was below the huge 89 percent in the last poll in 1999 but showed a continuing enthusiasm for multiracial democracy.

Wednesday's vote appeared smooth despite scattered accusations of intimidation and fraud in traditional hotspots and tension in the battleground province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) launched its first challenge to the vote in the province, a move analysts said could raise tensions further in a region which has a long history of political bloodshed. A heavy security presence kept a lid on political tensions in KwaZulu-Natal, where the IFP is fighting to keep the only provincial government under its control.
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