MBEKI
SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters):
SOUTH AFRICA'S ruling ANC wound up its campaign yesterday confident of another overwhelming victory in local elections despite voter anger over poor services.
"I don't think there is any danger or threat to the popularity of the ANC (African National Congress)," President Thabo Mbeki said in an interview published in the Sunday Independent newspaper.
The country has been rocked by riots in poor townships among residents angry at the sloppy provision of services like sanitation and road maintenance - key responsibilities of local government.
Many townships have gained paved roads, clean water and electricity since the end of apartheid a dozen years ago, but others are still waiting.
FREQUENT OUTAGES
National electricity provider Eskom says about 70 per cent of households now have electricity compared to 36 per cent when apar-theid ended in 1994.
The flip side of this has been frequent outages among users hooked up to a grid in a state of decay.
About 73.5 per cent of the population now gets free basic water services, a far better record than almost any other African country. But many of those who are not getting it must walk for miles with buckets to obtain water.
Independent pollster Markinor said its latest survey showed the ANC was likely to take 65 to 70 per cent of the vote, gaining on the 59 per cent it garnered in the last local poll in 2000.
But this would be no better than the 70 per cent it got in the 2004 national vote, suggesting the former liberation movement may have hit a political ceiling.
