ANC retains strong lead

With about half of the voting districts tallied, results show the ruling African National Congress (ANC) sweeping closer to victory in South Africa's fifth post-apartheid election.

It appears that the ANC has received about 63 percent of the votes, with just under a third of overall ballot papers counted, making it extremely likely that President Jacob Zuma will return for a second five-year term.

But the opposition has made sizeable gains, with the ANC again expected to see its share of the vote drop from the 66 percent it saw in 2009 and in the election before that. This time around, it could mean the ANC will fall short of the two-thirds majority needed for constitutional amendments.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party still expected to receive "an overwhelming mandate."

Lower voter turnout

Also on the decline was voter turnout: About 72 percent of registered voters cast ballots, down from 77 percent in 2009. This translates to about 25 million people who voted, or half the population of South Africa, including several hundred thousand first-time voters who grew up after apartheid was abolished.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) received a significant boost, raising its share to 23 percent, up from 17 percent in 2009, while the new far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party was in third place with about 4 percent. The party advocates the seizure of white-owned land without permission.

The DA leader, Helen Zille, said she expects the party's result to not move much from where it currently stands.

"We'll see how it goes, of course we hope it will be more, we did as much as we could," Zille told news agency AFP.

Zuma 'less beholden to the left'

The results appear to give Zuma the mandate to push through pro-business reforms, while facing leftist and union opposition. His approval ratings have dipped since South Africa's top anti-corruption agency accused him of "benefiting unduly" from a multimillion dollar security upgrade to his private home.

The ANC, which has governed since the late Nelson Mandela was swept to power in 1994, has been criticized for the country's 24 percent jobless rate and the wide divide between the rich and the poor.

South African political analyst Nic Borain said he expects Zuma to appoint a technocrat Cabinet with the express purpose of rolling out policies to boost growth.

"With this, he is much less beholden to the left," Borain said.

"There's no deeply insightful change, but the bottom line is that by 2019 they are going to have to be growing this economy and making sure they can still raise tax revenue," he added.

jr/mkg (dpa, Reuters, AFP)