This is no surprise to anyone… Not even the other parties who were really fighting for second place.

Jacob Zuma, the scandalized president of the African National Congress, will be the next president of South Africa. The ANC itself has won its two-thirds majority, and the count keeps rising. Zuma predicts the party will win 70% of the seats in Parliament.

That’s more than enough to be able to change the constitution.

The ANC is ahead in eight of the nine provinces. It might lose the Western Cape, were Cape Town is located, and is the stronghold of the Democratic Alliance party that won about 16% of the vote.

COPE, the ANC branch-off party that split over the treatment of Thabo Mbeki, won just under 8% of the vote.

Now the ANC is celebrating, dancing on stages and waiting for May when the new Parliament and president take power.

Then it’ll be on to the real task of governing and fulfilling of campaign promises. There’s a lot of work to do… The country’s still staring at soaring poverty and unemployment levels, and the poor are counting on Zuma to make good on his promises.

I just spoke to Gareth Stokes, editor with MoneyWeek SA, who I interviewed for my latest investment report and video. It’s election day in South Africa, and I wanted an on-the-ground report about how things were going. Here’s Gareth’s take on the day so far…

It’s 18:15 and the voting is well underway. Voting stations opened at 07:00 and will close at 21:00 so there’s still quite a way to go. I drove by some of the local stations and the queues are long; but everything is proceeding peacefully. Took me two hours from beginning to end to cast my votes. Counting begins after 9pm and we will probably have a good indication of the final results within 48 hours. Pre-election polls (not as accurate as those used in the US) forecast 67% for the ruling party (African National Congress) and around 13% for the next biggest party, the Democratic Alliance. Incidentally there are 26 parties on the national ballot - of which eight are expected to secure 99% of the vote (meaning the other 18 share 1% and are pretty much non-entities).
 
Electoral officials expect more than 80% of the 23m registered voters to make their mark.
 
What else can I say - it’s been a very quiet and uneventful day. There was a crime related shooting at a rural voting station early this morning (one of the electoral officers was wounded in an attempted robbery) and there have been one or two claims of ballot fixing (involving 100 ballot papers)…

I’ll post again tomorrow if there are any results… And I have more to share in Taipan Insider tomorrow.

I just finished my article for Taipan Insider… South Africa’s elections are happening this Wednesday, and Jacob Zuma is predicted to be the next president, with his ANC party taking many of the seats in Parliament.

I’m working on my in-depth research report on the country, and the accompanying video, but I wanted to share a couple links with you about the elections.

South Africa: Township reports
Zuma to Lead South African Democracy Hurt by His Rise
South African Party Leader Shrugs Off Suspicions

Yesterday was action-packed, and today was all business. Let me fill you in on what I’ve been doing.

First off, if you’re coming to South Africa, you must see Cape Town. In fact, unless you’re coming for business and have to see Johannesburg, fly into Cape Town. There are even direct flights from Atlanta. Not that there aren’t things to do in Jo’burg. Its proximity to some game reserves, like Kruger and Pilanesburg make it a good stopping off point.

But Cape Town…

My attraction was instant. I’m a sucker for mountains, and if you put mountains by the ocean, you’ve got me hook, line, and sinker. Driving into Cape Town from the airport, Roger, my driver let me film part of the route.

As Table Mountain grew in the distance, I kept switching between the video camera and the digital camera, and then just looking in awe as we came around the bend to see the Waterfront with a live Jazz stage at full tilt.

It was the tail end of the city’s annual Jazz Festival… and I’d missed it. Not to worry, my tour of Cape Town more than made up for it, with the creme de la creme being the top of Table Mountain.

But let me back up. My hotel, the Protea Hotel President is situated in the residential area called Bantry Bay. It’s just after the city and just before Camps Bay, the city’s best beach. A good location. Quiet, and a bit removed from the hectic city, but easy to get to and from…

In fact, I picked up a double-decker topless tour bus just around the corner from The President. I’d bought a tour on the popular Red Route when I booked my room. I made my way to the top deck and took out my video camera. It was about 10:30 in the morning and the sky was nice and clear, offering spectacular views of Table Mountain and the Lion’s Head.

The bus wove its way through the touristy Waterfront and then into the heart of the city.

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