South Africa Vote Redraws Political Map

South Africa's general elections have set out a new political landscape in the country

"In the past opposition parties were concentrated in one province," University of South Africa political analyst Dirk Kotze told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday, April 24.

"Now two opposition parties are developing a national presence."

According to the latest election results, the ruling ANC won about two thirds of the vote so far.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) won about 16 percent and Congress of the People (COPE) seized about eight percent.

A dozen smaller parties divided up nearly 10 percent of the ballots.

The final results are expected later Friday.

Analysts said the DA consolidated its role as the leading opposition party in the national vote and was set to win a majority in the provincial contest in the Western Cape, home to Cape Town.

"We've got to realign politics in South Africa and that's what I'm going to spend the next five years doing," DA leader Helen Zille said.

A record 80 percent of 23 million registered voters have reportedly turned out at nearly 20,000 polling stations on Tuesday, causing ballot shortages and overflowing boxes.

The long lines were reminiscent of South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, when iconic Nelson Mandela became president following the end of apartheid.

New Voice

Analysts believe that COPE, formed by politicians who broke from the ruling ANC, would become an important voice in parliament.

"COPE won't have a significant role, but at least we can be sure there will always be someone who will ask the difficult questions to the ruling party," said Steyn-Kotze.

At COPE's launch last year, the party was hailed as the first viable opposition to emerge from the ranks of the liberation struggle against apartheid.

COPE said it had won over many supporters from the minor parties.

"Almost all of them have been obliterated out of parliament, so to speak," COPE spokesman Onkgopotse JJ Tabane told AFP.

But Tuesday's elections also showed that the opposition parties remained weak and fractured.

"The fragmentation that existed among opposition parties has been reduced," Kotze said.

"There is more concentration of the votes that were not given to the ANC."

Even parties that once enjoyed significant regional loyalty, like the mainly Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party, saw their support dwindle.

But analysts opine that the parties could increase their support if they entered into alliances to coordinate their efforts.

"We must bear in mind that South Africa's democracy is 15 years old and it takes time to have a vibrant and competitive politics," Steyn-Kotze said.