Pretoria - The ruling African National Congress (ANC), which is still leading the national list in the 2009 General Elections, has reached more than 1 million votes in four provinces.
Based on the results displayed on the leader board at the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) Results Operation Centre on Friday morning, the ANC has over one million votes in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
While there has been reports that the ANC might have obstacles in the Eastern Cape after the formation of the Congress of the People (Cope), the ruling party is currently cruising smoothly with 1 472 003 in the province, followed by Cope with 289 008 votes. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is in third place with 215 295 votes.
The ANC has managed to retain its majority rule in Gauteng with 1 948 622 followed by DA with 727 838 and Cope in the third position with 237 142.
In KwaZulu-Natal, which has been declared by political analysts as ANC's strong-hold, has received 1 381 657 followed by its provincial rivals Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 517 005 and DA with 193 078.
In Mpumalanga the ruling party is leading with 1 055 220 votes followed by DA with 95 284 and Cope in the third position with only 35 306.
These results indicate that the ANC might retain its two-thirds majority in the 2009 General Elections.
Meanwhile, the new kid on the block, Cope is currently doing well in five provinces compared to the official opposition, the DA.
Cope, which currently has 82 884 votes in Limpopo, could become a strong provincial opposition with the ANC which leads with 907 228 votes. The DA is in the third position with 44 811 votes.
Meanwhile, in the Free State, Cope is behind the ruling party, followed by the DA. The ANC has 96 710, while Cope has 567 175 votes, followed by the DA with 92 574 votes.
In the Northern Cape, Cope is also following the ANC (163 128) with 45 763 votes, while the DA is in the third position with only 31 419 votes.
In the North West, Cope has been performing satisfactory in second position with 80 873 votes, while the ruling party is in the first spot with 706 385 and its main opposition, DA is in the third position with 77 922 votes.
Although DA is not doing well in most of the provinces, it is clear that it will win the Western Cape as it is currently leading with 624 559 followed by the ANC with 378 794 and Cope with 95 042, while the Independent Democrats (ID) led by Patricia de Lille is fourth with 68 072 votes.
