By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — When the election results were at last announced on May 6, the African National Congress had swept in with 62.7% of the national vote and 252 seats in the 400-seat national assembly. The ANC won landslide victories in six provinces and scraped home in the Northern Cape.
The National Party (NP) vote just topped 20%, guaranteeing that former president F.W. de Klerk will be one of two deputy presidents. The ANC's Thabo Mbeki was appointed senior deputy president on May 6. The NP will have 82 seats in the National Assembly.
The other parties represented in the national parliament will be the Inkatha Freedom Party (10.5% and 43 seats), the Freedom Front (2.2% and 9 seats), the Democratic Party (1.7% and 7 seats), the Pan Africanist Congress (1.3% and 5 seats), and the tiny right-wing African Christian Democratic Party (0.5% and 2 seats). Under the interim constitution, a party is automatically entitled to a position in the cabinet if it secures 5% of the vote.
However, in his victory speech on May 2, Nelson Mandela hinted that the PAC and perhaps even the Azanian People's Organisation — which called for a boycott of the election — would be offered seats in cabinet. It is believed that both have turned down the offer.
The counting of votes had been dogged by delays. As the ANC edged closer to a 66.7% majority, which would have enabled it to write a new constitution alone, if it so chose, powerful sections of society began to show nervousness. On May 4 and 5, the value of the rand fell, and share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange dropped.
On May 4 the IEC announced the discovery of an attempt to tamper with its computers, boosting the tallies of five "small parties" at the expense of the ANC. The IFP was a major beneficiary. When it became apparent on May 6 that the ANC would not make the two-thirds majority, the value of the rand climbed, and share prices jumped.
The poor performances of the Democratic Party and the PAC were two notable aspects. The DP has traditionally painted itself as a defender of human rights and individual freedom. However, in this election it focused its fire on the ANC and conducted a right-wing law and order campaign. It promoted free market economics under the guise of "freedom".
The DP was endorsed by South Africa's largest company, Anglo American, and the majority of the English-language big business press. But in the end, its anti-ANC scare campaign only convinced its supporters to vote for the NP.
The PAC performed below even the modest results predicted in recent opinion polls. Several surveys show that while the ANC is the most popular party, when people are asked their second choice, a large number nominate the PAC.
In the Northern Transvaal, the ANC has a whopping 91.6% of the vote and 38 seats in the 40-seat provincial parliament.
In the Eastern Cape the ANC bolted in with 84.4% to the NP's 9.8%. In the Eastern Transvaal: ANC 80.7%, NP 9%. North West: ANC 83.3%, NP 8.8%. Orange Free State: ANC 76.7%, NP 12.6%. PWV: ANC 57.6%, NP 23.9%. The only significant vote for the IFP outside KwaZulu/Natal was 3.6% in the PWV.
In the sparsely populated Northern Cape, the ANC defied predictions and scraped in with 49.7% of the vote. The NP scored 40.5%. The ANC will have 15 seats in the 30-seat provincial parliament, the NP 12 seats, the FF 2 and the DP 1.
In the Western Cape, the NP won comfortably with 53.2% to the ANC's 33%. NP hardliner Hernus Kriel, former minister for law and order, is to become the provincial premier.
In both the Northern Cape and Western Cape so-called coloured voters are in the majority. The ANC had to battle against a blatantly racist NP campaign to frighten coloured voters. The NP campaign reached a disgusting low when it issued a comic book that claimed that the ANC's slogan would be "Kill a Coloured, Kill a farmer".
The Inkatha Freedom Party of Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi won control of the KwaZulu/Natal provincial legislature. In the only result that diverged substantially from preceding opinion polls, the IFP gained 50.3% compared to the ANC's 32.2%. The ANC in Natal expressed displeasure at massive irregularities reported in IFP-controlled areas. However, an ANC southern Natal spokesperson said the result would be respected "in the national interest".
The May 6 Weekly Mail reported that it had obtained a confidential IEC report on northern Natal which confirmed that ballot boxes had been stuffed with thousands of bogus votes for the IFP, that IEC officials and ANC party agents had been forcibly removed from voting stations in KwaZulu, and complete voting stations had been removed to areas under the control of IFP supporters. As many as 500,000 votes originated from "pirate stations" operated in IFP areas.
Many commentators have also pointed out that many people in Natal voted for the IFP because they believed IFP supporters would resume the violence if they lost.
The low NP and FF votes (11.2% and 0.5% respectively) in Natal indicate that many right-wing whites voted for Buthelezi. The IFP's premier-elect, Frank Mdlalose, is widely described as a "moderate". He had been sidelined in the party until Buthelezi's sudden decision to participate in the election.
The overwhelming victories in most provinces will give the ANC a comfortable majority in the Senate. Each regional parliament will elect 10 senators. All national laws, with the exception of the budget, must be approved by the Senate as well as the National Assembly.
At the time of writing, at least 25 members of the South African Communist Party had been elected to the National Assembly on the ANC list of national candidates, and several others are expected to be elected from the provinces.
Three SACP members are likely to be in the cabinet, the most well known being Joe Slovo, who will take the housing and social welfare portfolio. Sydney Mufamadi is likely to be minister for police services and Jeff Radebe minister for public works. SACP veteran Raymond Mhlaba will be premier of Eastern Cape province.