South Africa

ANC wins but misses two-thirds majority

Article published on the 2009-04-25 Latest update 2009-04-25 16:29 TU

Supporters of ruling African National Congress President Jacob Zuma on Friday
(Photo: Reuters)

The final count of election results on Saturday gave the ruling African National Congress (ANC) a sweeping victory.

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Ahead of official results due from the Electoral Commission later Saturday, the final tally showed the ANC on 65.9 per cent of last Wednesday's votes.

The score represents a drop from the 70 per cent the party took in the last elections, in 2004, and also left it marginally short of the two-thirds majority needed to make changes to the country's constitution.

The Congress of the People (Cope), that broke away from the ANC last year, took over seven per cent of the ballots while the Democratic Alliance took almost 17 per cent of the votes cast.

Jacob Zuma, leader of the ANC, is now set to become president next month when the parliament convenes. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned Zuma on Friday to congratulate him on the ANC's success and Zuma also received congratulations from Algeria's President Bouteflika on Saturday.

The turnout in the election was estimated at just over 77 per cent with almost 18 million ballots cast. The African Union, in a preliminary report, declared the election had been free and fair.

Only one South African province voted against the ANC, with the Western Cape giving over 51 per cent of its votes to the opposition Democratic Alliance.