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Johannesburg: A victorious President Jacob Zuma has pledged to take forward the legacy of anti-apartheid icon and first black president Nelson Mandela and to work with all South Africans to build a better life for all citizens, after his party secured a thumping victory in the elections.
"We accept this overwhelming mandate from our people on an important day in our country's history," 72-year-old Zuma said last evening after the Independent Electoral Commission announced the final results of the national elections.
Zuma-led African National Congress (ANC) won overwhelming majorities in all but one of the nine provinces of the country and secured 62 per cent of votes in the national assembly.
"We dedicate our victory to Madiba's memory and pledge to continue taking forward his legacy and that of his peers and forebears working with all our people," said Zuma, recalling that Mandela took the oath of office on the same day 20 years ago as South Africa's first democratically elected president after decades of white-minority apartheid rule.
"This election victory has reconfirmed just how deeply rooted the ANC is in the hearts and minds of the overwhelming majority of South Africans," said Zuma, who will return as president for a second term, despite concerns over corruption and sluggish economy.
The 102-year-old ANC party won 249 of the 400 seats in the national assembly. The Democratic Alliance will remain the official opposition in the national assembly with 89 seats and will also formed the provincial government in the Western Cape province again, with the ANC as the official opposition there.
New party Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) won 25 seats.
EFF was formed by former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema after he was expelled from the party for his outspoken rhetoric which was against ANC policy on issues such as nationalisation of assets and foreign policy issues.
"We read this vote of confidence to be a strong sign of approval of the good work that we have done in the past 20 years in general and the last five years in particular in building a better life for all.
"It is an affirmation of our assertion that South Africa has a good story to tell and we have made this country a much better place to live in than it was before 1994," Zuma said.
Zuma promised to use the ANC majority to implement policies and programmes to address the lack of service delivery which has seen huge protests in many areas in the run-up to the elections.
"The new mandate is also a licence to continue with our ambitious infrastructure building programme that boosts economic and social development," Zuma said, adding that the emphasis would be on skills development and economic empowerment of youth.
