The African National Congress (ANC) is preparing to celebrate yet another sweeping election victory as loyalty to the party that ended apartheid proved stronger than anger over lack of services in local elections.
With well over two-thirds of the votes in local election poll counted by early Thursday evening, the ANC had won nearly 67 percent, well ahead of its nearest rival, the Democratic Alliance, with 16 percent. Final results were expected by this weekend.
"We are humbled by the amount of confidence the electorate has in the ANC and we hope to live up to it," ANC Secretary-General Kgalema Motlanthe told South African television.
South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was on a high as she visited the Pretoria headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission.
"There is nothing like coming to the results center to prepare for the real celebration," Mlambo-Ngcuka told the South African Press Association.
Asked whether she was happy with the gains for the ANC across the country she replied: "That is us ... did you expect anything else?"
In the last municipal elections in 2000, the ANC won 59 percent of the vote. At national elections in 2004, the ANC swept 70 percent.
The electoral commission said that about 47 percent of the 21 million registered electorate cast their vote, slightly less than the last municipal elections in 2000.
The turnout came as a surprise to many analysts, who had predicted voters would stay away in droves to register their dissatisfaction with the slow progress in improving services like housing and sanitation. The ANC also had been riven by last year's dismissal of popular deputy president Jacob Zuma, embroiled in a corruption scandal and accused of rape.
Jonathan Faull, an analyst with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, said the turnout was a good sign.
"This legitimizes the institutions and holds the elected representatives accountable. It strengthens the democratic process," he said.
Steven Friedman, senior research fellow at the Center for Policy Studies, attributed the turnout and result to the "intense party loyalties," to the ANC, which led the struggle against white racist rule.
"I don't think you are looking for the foreseeable future at ANC voters supporting anyone else in large numbers," Friedman said.
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