ANC Eyes Big Victory in South African Polls
Thu Apr 15, 2004 02:18 AM ET
By Wambui Chege
PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling African National Congress powered toward another big victory on Thursday as analysts said it could grab at least two-thirds of the vote in the country's third post-apartheid elections.
With one-fourth of polling stations declared, the party which led South Africa from white rule to democracy in 1994 was ahead with 65.81 percent, closing in on the 66.35 percent it scored in the last election in 1999.
But the ANC was battling for two key provinces and faced a rising challenge from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which ran a campaign highlighting South Africa's huge problems with AIDS, crime and unemployment.
"We are excited about the results so far," ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said. "The hurricane is beginning to blow. It's blowing in our favor."
(snip/...)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4833020