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 South Africa’s ruling party Africa National Congress (ANC) is reported to be on the verge of a decisive victory in this year’s general elections, having taken more than two-thirds of the votes counted so far.
ANC has over 67% of the 13 million vote counts, with the opposition parties Democratic Alliance 16%, and ANC splinter party Congress of the People (Cope) falling further behind with slightly over 7%.
The final results are expected to be announced by Friday afternoon, but the outcome seems to be a forgone conclusion and this could be noticed from the way Zuma and his jubilant supporters thronged the streets in Johannesburg to celebrate the 67-year-old’s ‘election victory’.
With about 24 million registered voters in the fourth election since end of apartheid 15 years ago, the voter turnout is reported to have been as high as 80%.
The Democratic Alliance pulled ahead of ANC in the Western Cape Province, South Africa’s most preferred tourist destination which ANC won by over 45 percent in 2004, giving the ruling party an early scare, before the big rebound.
The ruling party is also poised to win with a two-thirds parliamentary majority, or more, that will let it change the constitution and embed its leadership.
The 67-year-old Zuma will certainly become the president of Africa’s most powerful nation only three weeks after being cleared of corruption charges by the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, after an eight-year-long legal tussle that also smeared his reputation.
His first major task will be to deal with the global economic downturn that is devouring world economies. He would also need to convince foreign investors who are less enthusiastic about his leadership style especially on dealing with trade unions, besides having to oversea infrastructure upgrade and security beef-up in preparations for the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup gala.
But at the time being, the man who loves to dance on stage can only look forward to when, and not if, he will be sworn in as the third elected president of the Rainbow nation since end of apartheid.
His predecessors, Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela is an icon in the hearts of South Africans having orchestrated a “Rainbow Nation”, while his immediate successor, Thabo Mbeki “African Renaissance” poses the question: who will be Jacob Zuma? View Gallery 
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