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ANC heads for victory over splinter group
Ed Harris24 Apr 2009
South Africa's ruling ANC was today heading for election victory as it looked set to see off a reinvigorated opposition challenge.
Party leader Jacob Zuma was easily on course to become president, weeks after beating corruption charges that threatened to derail his campaign.
Early results suggested the African National Congress would win 62 per cent of the vote, which severely dented the hopes of the Congress of the People party, formed by ANC dissidents, of giving the ruling party its first challenge since the end of apartheid in 1994.
Cope won 7.6 per cent of the early votes counted. The biggest challenge was from the Democratic Alliance with 20.7 per cent.
Opposition parties hoped to deprive the ANC of the two-thirds parliamentary majority which would let it change the constitution. "If I were to make a prediction now, I would think the ANC would be in the mid-sixties, just below two-thirds," said former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. Final results are expected tomorrow.
