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south africa elections 2014
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma will be sworn into office for a second term, following the African National Congress’ victory at the polls.
The ANC won a commanding victory in the country’s general election on May 7.
More than 4,000 guests are expected at the ceremony in Pretoria, including Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Neither the US or UK are sending a representative but officials from Russia, China and India are attending.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma will be sworn into office for a second term
President Jacob Zuma was officially elected for a second five-year term on Wednesday by the ANC-dominated parliament.
The expected formality of the re-election was disturbed only by lawmakers from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who turned up at parliament in red overalls and hardhats.
The EFF, led by former ANC member Julius Malema, said they dressed as maids and miners to show they intend to represent the interest of workers.
South African media say Saturday’s inauguration ceremony will be as much about celebrating Nelson Mandela and 20 years of democracy as about officially sealing Jacob Zuma’s re-election.
Jacob Zuma will take the oath of office shortly after prayers open the ceremony at 11:00 local time.
Several heads of state will be in attendance, including Robert Mugabe, Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
The US is not sending a representative but a White House statement said President Barack Obama spoke to Jacob Zuma on Friday to congratulate him on his re-election.
The centrepiece of the event is a 90-minute cultural show, with performances from local musicians, dancers and a youth choir.
Proceedings will be broadcast at 45 public viewing sites across the country as well as being shown live on television and radio.
Around 20,000 people are also expected to descend on the Union Building in Pretoria, the site of the ceremony, to watch on large TV screens.
Jacob Zuma will get back to work immediately after the national celebrations and is expected to announce his cabinet on Sunday.
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South Africa’s ANC (African National Congress) has won a commanding victory in the country’s general election, partial results show.
With about 80% of the results in, the ANC has 63% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is in third place with 5%.
The electoral commission said voting passed off peacefully in most areas, with turnout at just over 72%.
The ANC victory in South Africa’s general elections would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term (photo Reuters)
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela – the country’s first black president – and mark 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
Dissatisfaction with the government has been growing over high levels of unemployment, a lack of basic services and allegations of widespread corruption.
The ANC is likely to use its impressive mandate to try to drive through its National Development Plan – rejecting nationalization, and emphasizing investment and infrastructure.
The business-friendly plan has alarmed South Africa’s powerful unions – some of which may soon break away to form their own party, he says.
He adds that, on 5%, the EFF are no threat to the ANC but their aggressive populism will keep ministers on their toes, and South African politics more abrasive than ever.
The DA has increased its share of the vote from 17% in the last election to 22%, according to the latest results.
Early on Thursday, DA leader Helen Zille told AFP news agency that she expected her party’s final vote to be around the 23% margin.
“We’ll see how it goes. Of course, we hope it will be more. We did as much as we could,” she is quoted as saying.
The DA has been trying to make inroads into the black electorate – its support is mainly concentrated in the Western Cape which has a large white and mixed-race population.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 were able to cast their ballots for the first time, although only a third of those entitled to do so had registered to vote.
The ANC victory would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term. He was dogged by allegations of corruption in the build-up to the election after an independent inquiry found he had “unduly benefited” from an expensive government-funded upgrade to his private residence.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Wednesday, Jacob Zuma said he thought “the results will be very good”, but added that the campaign had been “very challenging”.
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The partial results in South Africa’s polls show that governing African National Congress (ANC) has taken an early lead in the general election.
With 31% of votes counted, the ANC had 58.7% of the vote followed by the Democratic Alliance on 27.7%.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power although analysts say anything less than 60% of the vote for the party will be seen as a major upset.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power in South Africa (photo AFP)
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was in third place with 4.2%.
The electoral commission said voting passed peacefully in most areas.
Turnout was just over 72%, with about 25 million people registered to vote in 22,000 polling stations across South Africa.
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela – the country’s first black president – and mark 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 were able to cast their ballots for the first time, although only a third of those entitled to do so had registered to vote.
An ANC victory would return President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term. In the last election in 2009, the ANC saw a drop in support, polling 66% of the vote.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Wednesday, Jacob Zuma said he thought “the results will be very good”, but added that the campaign had been “very challenging”.
The party emerging as the ANC’s main challenger is the Democratic Alliance (DA) – a liberal pro-business party, led by anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille, which is trying to make inroads into the black electorate.
The EFF, launched last year by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, hopes to get its first parliamentary seats with its campaign for nationalizing the mines and the forced redistribution of farmland.
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South Africa is voting in general elections as it marks 20 years since the end of white-minority rule.
The African National Congress (ANC) is tipped to win, returning President Jacob Zuma for a second five-year term.
These are the first elections since the death in December of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president.
Correspondents say voting has begun smoothly with long queues and there is an air of excitement, especially amongst first-time voters.
Those born after the end of apartheid in 1994 are casting their first national ballots.
Correspondents say police have been deployed to areas where there have been scene of violent protests and political tensions.
South Africa is voting in general elections as it marks 20 years since the end of white-minority rule
The ANC is expected to win more than 60% of the vote, but its campaign has been hit by concern over economic problems such as high unemployment and a number of corruption scandals.
Opinion polls show there is disaffection with the country’s leadership but it is not clear whether this will translate into a significant swing to either main opposition party – the Democratic Alliance, led by anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille – or the newly launched Economic Freedom Fighters, headed by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema.
The polling station is at Orlando West High, a school steeped in the anti-apartheid struggle history and not far from Nelson Mandela’s old home.
Those lining up acknowledge the problems of corruption and high unemployment but say they are voting for all the years black people were denied the right to vote under racial oppression.
The ANC’s campaign has drawn heavily on past glories and on the outpouring of grief over the death last year of Nelson Mandela.
“Do it for Madiba, Vote ANC!” campaign posters read, referring to Nelson Mandela by his clan name.
But many commentators say this election could be the last to be dominated by South Africa’s post-apartheid legacy.
About a quarter of South Africa’s workforce is jobless and unemployment is the major issue among young voters, followed by education.
Some 22,000 polling stations are open at schools, places of worship, tribal authority sites and hospitals, while dozens of vehicles serving as mobile voting centers will operate in remote areas.
About 25 million people have registered to vote – roughly half the population.
Police say at least one officer will be on duty at every polling station and troops have also been deployed to keep order at various hotspots.
There was rioting in Bekkersdal township, south-west of Johannesburg, on Tuesday and reports that some temporary polling stations had been burned down.
Bekkersdal has suffered intermittent unrest since last year as residents protested over a lack of public services. Many have vowed to boycott the election.
Polls opened at 07:00 and are due to close 14 hours later.
President Jacob Zuma cast his ballot at his Nkandala homestead in rural KwaZulu-Natal while Helen Zille voted in Cape Town, which is under the control of her party.
The full result is not expected before Friday.
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SABC, South Africa’s public broadcaster, refused to broadcast a campaign ad from the Economic Freedom Front (EFF) as it incited violence.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) denied that the advert was banned because it came from the EFF.
EFF’s election ad calls for people to “destroy e-Tolls”, a controversial new road tolling system.
The EFF, set up by ex-ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, is contesting an election for the first time next month.
Julius Malema likened the SABC’s actions to those used by the apartheid government, which censored messages with anti-government sentiment
“Once you suppress the people contesting elections it means you not ready to give us free and fair elections because unfair coverage leads to unfair elections,” Julius Malema told reporters in Johannesburg.
However, SABC spokesman Kaiser Kganyago said it was to do with regulations, not politics.
SABC refused to broadcast a campaign ad from the Julius Malema’s EFF as it incited violence (photo SABC)
“They submitted it, we looked at it, and we found that we couldn’t put it on air,” the South African Press Association news agency quotes him as saying.
“The EFF, like any other political party, signed the code of conduct with the IEC [Independent Election Commission] that says it will not incite violence…. [the advert] goes against the code.”
The SABC has reportedly written to the EFF telling them to amend the advert, but the party has refused to do so.
Earlier this month, the SABC also rejected an ad from the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s main opposition party, saying it used language that promoted violence and amounted to a “personal attack” against President Jacob Zuma.
However, the ad was eventually aired after the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (ICASA) complaints and compliance committee ruled in the party’s favor.
EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlovu said their party had also lodged an ICASA complaint.
The ad, which has been posted on YouTube, starts with a widow of one of the striking miners killed by police in August 2012 in what is called the Marikana massacre.
It is followed by a message from Julius Malema asking South Africans to vote against the “empty promises of the last 20 years”, then several slogans appear across the screen, one of which says: “Destroy e-tolls physically!”
Julius Malema was once a close ally of Jacob Zuma but was expelled from the governing African National Congress (ANC) in 2012 for sowing divisions in the party.
Opposition parties have in the past accused the SABC of a bias towards the ANC and censoring messages, which the broadcaster denied.
However, the refusal by the SABC to air these adverts plays into that perception.
After a hotly contested election campaign, South Africans go to the polls on May 7.
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