[This is the only area where the ANC did not win outright. I think the ANC is more concerned about the Zulus anyway, and in KZN they won anyway. The Cape, traditionally, is an anti-ANC area. One possible alliance in the cape for white people is with the coloured people who live there. I still think the Cape would be the ideal homeland for White people. Maybe we should hook up with the Coloureds? Do you know that demographically, the Cape has the lowest concentration of black people in all of S.Africa? Yep! Most voting in S.Africa is along racial lines – even now. Its an open secret. Everybody knows it works that way here. Apartheid is alive and well in the minds of everyone in this country in 2006. Jan]

Johannesburg – The ANC powered to victory on Thursday in local government polls but its triumph was dimmed by the loss of Cape Town.

The African National Congress went into Wednesday’s election virtually guaranteed its third major victory since the end of apartheid in 1994, with voter loyalty still strong for the party which under Nelson Mandela led South Africa to democracy after decades of white rule.

But in Cape Town, the official seat of parliament, the ANC looked certain to lose control of city government in a tight race that saw the Democratic Alliance (DA) outpolling the former liberation movement.

Nationally, ANC dominance was confirmed in Wednesday’s polls which saw it amass more than 67% of the vote.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the overwhelming majority of South African voters have placed their confidence in the ANC,” the party said in a statement.

Overall turnout, seen as a gauge of voter sentiment, was put at about 49%, roughly the same as the last municipal polls in 2000 and well below forecasts of as high as 60%.

While ANC officials declared themselves satisfied, some analysts said the party’s failure to rally more supporters to the polls indicated growing frustration over dismal government services in poor areas.

This year’s campaign took place amid violent protests in poor townships across the country, where angry residents criticised the ANC for failing to deliver electricity, water and sewerage after more than a decade in power.

Promises

ANC officials led by President Thabo Mbeki fanned out to promise the government would soon respond, part of a R372bn plan to create jobs and build infrastructure.

Political analysts said the ANC’s performance at the polls indicated that voters – for now – were listening.

“They are going to give the ANC trust, but with that trust they are going to expect a degree of accountability,” said Ebrahim Fakir of the Centre for Policy Studies.

Cape Town proved a much tougher fight for the ANC, which only seized control of the city council in 2002 after it lured opposition legislators under laws allowing cross-party defections.

The port city, the centre of South Africa’s tourism industry and famous around the world for the imposing mass of Table Mountain, saw a racially charged campaign that was sharpened by almost two weeks of power cuts that the DA quickly blamed on government mismanagement.

With 95% of the vote counted late on Thursday, the DA had won 42.6% of the vote against the ANC’s 37.2%, leaving the much smaller Independent Democrats as the kingmakers on the 210-seat council.

The ANC avoided a similar fate in the capital Pretoria, moving towards outright victory after early results showed a surge in support for the DA, which analysts said had capitalised on white voter anger over government plans to rename the city Tshwane.

Final audited results from the ballot for some 45 000 local councillors in 277 municipalities and the country’s six major cities were expected over the weekend.

Source: News24.Com
URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Pol…/p>