Final South African election results give the ruling African National
Congress a big win, but just short of the two-thirds majority mark it
easily crossed in the last election.
The vote sets the stage for Jacob Zuma's rise to the presidency, having overcome sex and corruption scandals.
Officials
said early Saturday the ANC had won more than 11 million votes, winning
support from more than half of all registered voters.
Seats in parliament are based on election results. Parliament then elects the president.
A
two-thirds majority in parliament which would have enabled the party to
change the constitution without cooperation from other parties.
Such a majority would have also allowed the ANC to pass legislation and set a budget without a challenge.
Despite
the national victory, the ANC appears to have lost control of the
Western Cape province to the opposition Democratic Alliance.
The
new opposition party that split from the ANC last year, the Congress of
the People (COPE), had a bit more than seven percent of the vote.
Party officials said they are pleased with that performance.
The
Independent Electoral Commission estimates that around 77 percent of
South Africa's 23 million registered voters turned out to cast their
ballots.
On Friday, the African Union observer mission called Wednesday's elections free, fair and transparent.
Although
the vote was peaceful in much of the country, a COPE official in
Eastern Cape province was shot dead, in what party officials are
calling a political killing.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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