ANC propelled to best victory yet

The governing African National Congress surged toward its most dramatic victory yet today as South African voters showed their loyalty to the party that led them out of apartheid.

With results reported from more than 90% of polling districts, the ANC had just under 70% support nationally, assuring President Thabo Mbeki a second term.

The party was also leading in all nine provinces. The Independent Electoral Commission must confirm the results of Wednesday’s vote before they are official.

The winner of just the third all-race national election was a foregone conclusion, but the size of the majority showed South Africans still willing to wait for more tangible benefits of democracy.

While a new black elite is changing the face of South African suburbs and boardrooms, millions of others remain mired in poverty, and the gap between rich and poor is increasing.

“The overwhelming majority of South Africans have given the ANC a decisive mandate to implement programmes to fight poverty and create work,” the party said in a statement. “We are humbled by the vote of confidence that they have shown in the country’s democracy and in the ANC.”

The white-led Democratic Alliance was running a distant second with around 13% of the vote, electoral officials said. It was an improvement over 9% in 1999. But despite a determined effort to woo black voters, gains came mostly at the expense of other parties in a fragmented opposition.

More than 70% of the 20.6 million registered voters cast ballots on Wednesday, according to preliminary estimates. That is a drop from the 89% turnout in 1999, but significantly higher than is typical in older democracies.

Long lines formed outside polling stations around the country as people of all races voted together for a 400-member National Assembly, which meets next week to select the president.

Nine provincial assemblies were also elected and will in turn select delegates to the 90-member National Council of Provinces, parliament’s second chamber.

The new president will be sworn in April 27, the day South Africa celebrates a decade of multiracial democracy.