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S African ruling ANC wins overall victory by garnering 66% of votes

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-25 18:38

JOHANNESBURG -- The South African ruling African National Congress (ANC) has won overwhelmingly  in Wednesday's national elections by garnering just over 66 percent of the votes,  the tally from the Independent Electoral Commission (ICE) in Pretoria, the administrative capital of the country, showed early on Saturday morning.

Observers of the Electoral Commissions of the Southern African Development Community visit the Independent Election Commission results center in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, April 24, 2009. [Agencies] more photos

As 18 million votes, or 98 percent of the total vote,  have been counted by 10 am on Saturday morning in South Africa's general elections, the  ruling African National Congress (ANC) claimed a sure victory by securing around 66 percent of the vote.

But the ANC now looks set to lose its two-thirds majority in parliament by a narrow margin. The South Africans will have to wait until Saturday afternoon to learn the official result of the elections.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said it would make a formal announcement in Pretoria at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The ANC was presently lying at 66.05 percent of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) at 16.49 percent and the newcomer Congress of the People (COPE) at 7.44 percent, which would give it a solid presence in the National Assembly.

The IEC also had to process 12 official objections from opposition parties on suspected irregularities before it could reveal the final result of the poll.

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The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairwoman Brigalia Bam said the voter turnout in elections was about 77 percent. More than 23 million South Africans had registered to vote in the national elections.

In general, the things were going on smoothly and orderly in the elections, she said.  

The ANC needs 66.7 percent of the votes to ensure the two- thirds majority in parliament.

The South Africans went to voting stations on Wednesday to elect a new National Assembly and nine Provincial Legislatures. The National Assembly will then pick a new president, widely expected to be ANC leader Jacob Zuma.