South Africa: ANC Loses Support in Heartland

23 April 2009
allAfrica.com
blog

9.05pm: The African National Congress has lost support in the region of the country popularly held to have been the crucible of the struggle against apartheid.

Electoral officials in the Eastern Cape declared tonight that the party had won the election in the Eastern Cape with a majority of 68 percent, the independent television news channel, e.tv, reported. This is an 11 percent drop in support since the 2004 election.

The party formed by leaders who broke away from the ANC after the firing of former president Thabo Mbeki last year, the Congress of the People (COPE), drew 13.6 percent of the vote, becoming the official opposition in the provincial legislature.

The Eastern Cape is the home province of the last three leaders of the ANC: Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela and Mbeki.

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